Unable to Set Up Printer in Control Panel

Last reviewed: January 24, 1995
Article ID: Q83544

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

When you try to add additional printers to Windows, you receive the following message:

   The information file is damaged or not in the system directory.
   Copy the control.inf file from disk #1 ...

RESOLUTION

Delete all *.INF (information) files from the Windows directory. NOTE: Do not delete any *.INF files from the Windows SYSTEM subdirectory.

This error occurs if the *.INF files were placed in the Windows directory erroneously. This could occur due to user error, or third- party installation programs.

Re-creating the WIN.INI file may also help correct this error. For more information about rebuilding the WIN.INI file, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

      create and win.ini and without and third-party

Open the SYSTEM.INI file in a text editor (such as Windows Notepad) and add a semicolon preceding the Device=SYMEVNT.386 line to disable it:

      ;Device=SYMEVNT.386   ;Added By NU8

   Restart Windows to make this change take effect. Disabling this
   statement does not allow Norton Utilities to run properly while in
   Windows.

   NOTE: SYMEVNT.386 is a device driver provided with Norton Utilities and
   Norton AntiVirus. Symantec has released a new version of this file that
   may correct this error. Download file NU8DRV.EXE from the Symantec
   bulletin board service (BBS).

KBCategory: kbprint kb3rdparty kbsetup kberrmsg
KBSubcategory: win31
Additional reference words: 3.10 inf

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Last reviewed: January 24, 1995
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