Arduino Mega 2560 Windows XP driver problem solved

Development Tools IDE 1.x
1

After trying several hours to install the drivers for then Arduino Mega 2560
under Windows XP/Windows 7 I finally find a solution not described in the
Arduino getting started guide or the forum.

So if you get the Device manager error message
"The hardware was not installed because the wizard cannot find the necessary software."
this should solve your problem:

  • Find the product ID of your board. Right click device -> Properties -> Details Tab -> Choose Hardware Ids. In my case this was 0042
  • Open the "Arduino MEGA 2560.ini" file in the drivers subdirectory
  • Update the product ID in the following two lines:
[DeviceList]
%DESCRIPTION%=DriverInstall, USB\VID_2341&PID_0042

[DeviceList.NTamd64]
%DESCRIPTION%=DriverInstall, USB\VID_2341&PID_0042

and save the changes[/li]

  • In the device manager right click device -> Update drivers -> No, not this time, Next -> Install from list, Next
    -> Don't search..., Next -> Have disk -> Browse

  • Select the updated "Arduino MEGA 2560.ini" file and continue as usual with the driver installation.

Hope this will save you some troubleshooting time. XD