I thought I'd delve into the microcontroller world by purchasing an Arduino. I was following the installation process on the main site and the hardware isn't being read. It won't show up on the device manager (I'm using Windows XP). Has this been a problem for anyone else? If so, any suggestions?
If the uno is not seen as a comport, then he Arduino UNO.inf file in the driver folder should be selected for installation. Others have seen the boards appear under the USB devices and apparently updated the driver there.
Is it a real Uno? If not, then the .inf file may not be useful at all.
Does it show up in the device manager at all (e.g. under unknown devices)? If not, it sounds like a hardware problem. Maybe try a different USB cable or USB port.
If it shows up, but not as a COM port, try these instructions: http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/UnoDriversWindowsXP