SP3 Update and Firewire Speed

CAUTION: The following procedure requires registry modifications. So proceed

at your own risk. The procedure is partially based on Microsoft Knowledge

Base Article 885222.

Many have written about issues sorrounding WINDOWS XP SP3 update and how

Firewire 800 port stops working. I would like to share with you a workaround

I have used successfully.

My PC had WINDOWS XP SP2 and a functioning Firewire 800 port, which I used

to connect SANDISK EXTREME IV CF card reader and download photos from my

Canon DSLR into Lightroom. When I first installed SP3 update from Microsoft

Windows website, the card reader was no longer visible to the computer.

After searching around, I devised the following workaround.

The basic idea is to install SP3 without Firewire. Once that is done, then

install Firewire and tweak it to the maximum speed. So here it goes.

First, remove SP3 if you already have installed it. Before upgrading to SP3,

it is essential to physically remove the PC board containing the Firewire

port from your computer's mother board. This requires turning off the

computer and opening the case. After that, you turn on the computer and run

the SP3 update.

Now, turn the computer OFF and reinstall the Firewire board you removed

earlier. Now when you turn the computer on, SP3 will automatically install

appropriate driver for the Firewire. (It is built into SP3 package).

Now we set the speed of the Firewire port. First we find the device "id" of

your

Firewire. To do this,right click My Computer, click Properties, then

Hardware, then Device Manager). Now look for IEEE 1394 Controller entry, and

click the (+) next to it, which will show "OHCI IEEE 1394 Compatible

controller". Right-click it, then Properties, then Details. Now jot down the

"id" number of the Firewire device. This number is a jumble of random

letters and numbers within two backward slash marks. It may look something

like this: VEN_11BD&DV_0015&SUBSYS_002311BD&REV_00.

Now, we need to edit the Registry. Click START, Run, type "Regedit", OK.

The registry will open. Proceed into it using the following clicks

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

SYSTEM

CurrentControlSet

PCI

(Look for the "id" you jotted down)

Device parameters.

The speed parameter will be given as SIDspeed. Modify its value to 3. If the

SIDspeed parameter is not there, create it (Edit, New, DWORD Value, type

"SIDspeed", ENTER), and then give it a value of 3 by right clicking it and

selecting MODIFY, and entering "3" .)

Quit registry editor and reboot the computer.