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Cannot install a Bluetooth device after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2

Article ID: 840635

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SYMPTOMS

After you install Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), you experience the following symptoms:

You cannot install a Bluetooth adapter, and you experience one or more of the following symptoms:
- If you install a Bluetooth device, the device installation appears to work correctly. However, when you view the devices that appear under Bluetooth radios in Device Manager, the device is incorrectly identified.
- If you try to configure the device, you receive an error message that is similar to the following error message:
  Device not found.
If you perform a slipstreamed upgrade of Windows XP SP2 by using Winnt32.exe, existing Bluetooth devices may stop working correctly. For example, some of the Bluetooth device features may stop working.

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CAUSE

This issue may occur if the following conditions are true:

You install Windows XP SP2 on a computer where the Bluetooth adapter is installed but where the third-party driver for that adapter is not yet installed. Or, you perform a slipstreamed upgrade of Windows XP SP2 on a computer that already has an existing Bluetooth device installed that uses a third-party driver.
The Bluetooth adapter has a Vendor ID (VID) or a product identifier (PID) that matches both a third-party Bluetooth stack and the Bluetooth stack that is included in Windows XP SP2.

This issue occurs because Windows XP SP2 automatically installs the device driver that is included in Windows XP SP2 instead of the third-party driver that you want to install. During a slipstreamed upgrade, Windows XP SP2 overwrites the existing third-party Bluetooth driver with the device driver that is included with Windows.

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue and to successfully install the third-party driver for your Bluetooth adapter, use one of the methods that is described in the following sections.

Method 1: Rename the Bth.inf file

Rename the %WINDIR%\inf\Bth.inf file to Bth.bak before you install or reinstall the third-party device or stack. When you rename the file, you prevent Windows Plug and Play PNP from using that INF file to install the Bluetooth driver that is included with Windows XP SP2. To rename the file, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type %windir%\inf in the Open box, and then click OK.
Right-click Bth.inf, and then click Rename.
Rename Bth.inf to Bth.bak, and then press ENTER.
Install the third-party Bluetooth driver.

Method 2: Update the Bluetooth driver in Device Manager

To replace the Windows XP SP2 installation of the Bluetooth stack, update the driver in Device Manager. When you do this, specify your third-party driver. To update the driver in Device Manager, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type devmgmt.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate the device.
Right-click the device, and then click Update Driver.
Follow the steps that appear on the screen in the Hardware Update Wizard to specify your third-party driver for the Bluetooth device.

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MORE INFORMATION

When you install Windows XP SP2 on a computer where the third-party Bluetooth adapter driver is already installed, Windows XP SP2 does not overwrite that driver. The exception to this behavior is when you perform a slipstreamed upgrade of Windows XP SP2. However, if you install Windows on a computer where the third-party driver is not installed, or if you perform a slipstreamed upgrade, Windows installs the driver that is included with Windows XP SP2 for the Bluetooth adapter.

When you try to install a third-party driver, you are unsuccessful because the Windows XP driver for the Bluetooth adapter is signed. Because the Windows XP SP2 version of this driver is signed, Windows ranks it higher in the Plug and Play scheme than an unsigned driver or a third-party signed driver.

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