I just bought a ipod mini today and was pretty excited about loading it up with tunes… that was about four hours ago. 
I am running Windows XP on my PC and apparently I don’t have the right USB drivers for the ipod. I have searched high and low…discovered that the Service Pack 2 didn’t have the drivers needed and have tried mightily to find them. But no luck.
So here I am with a brand new ipod and no tunes!
Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted.
i don’t have a clue
i doubt if this is anything u haven’t found
it’s two forum discussions on your problem
i hope something in there helps
this is an ipod update
i really hope u get it sorted out soon
there r few things as irritating as a new toy u can’t play with
the main problem used to be not being able to buy batteries on xmas day, now it’s unupdated drivers in service pack 2
what is the world coming to?
whenever i get new audio equipment, the first song i play on the system is always ‘Move Over’ by Janis Joplin (it’s a medium story)
right now i realise that u’ll probably settle for Scnappi, but in an ideal world, what would be the first song that u would want to play thru your new iPod?
Erin- Youre probably right; Service pack 2 doesnt have the drivers.
So those drivers have gotta come from another source…perhaps on one of the installtion CDs that came with your ipod mini?
I hate to say it (cause i dont always do it) but read the installation documentation before you start plugging anything in or installing anything. Chances are, They’ll want you to install the software before you plug the little beast into your computer.
If the above doesnt get you going…heres the link to the updater that GILD mentioned, but on apples site:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/
I dunno if its any better than GILD’s link, its just another option.
I hope You get it going. I’m real jealous. 
Let us know how it goes.
Thanks for your suggestions and encouragement.
Still no luck though.
Perhaps its not the driver afterall.
The error message says: “USB Device not recognized.”
any other ideas?
Get a Mac? Sorry, that’s not helpful.
It shouldn’t do what it’s doing. I’m surprised that it should require any drivers at all, being such a popular device and supposedly being in compliance with the USB spec. It sounds like there is either something stuck in your registry or something similar, keeping the device from connecting, or possibly there is a defect in the iPod (or the cable). Try it on someone else’s PC and see if it gets recognized. If not, take it back to the store and see if they can do the same.
Heres a link, Erin:
http://forums.ipodlounge.com/archive/topic/95868-1.html
That was the first search result of many useful looking search results here:
Get that thing going! 
wait for john childs to wake up
how new is your PC?
according to the IT guy here at work, u do get USB1 and USB2 ports
if u have an oldish (like three months…) PC, chances are u might have a USB1 port and iPod is likely only compatible with USB2
Well the PC is over a year old but the USB is a USB 2.0 so it really should be the correct port.
Don’t know, I’ll keep on trying a bit longer …I stayed up till 2 am on this and started again at 7 am!
Next I will phone the shop where I bought the ipod mini to see it they have encountered this problem. If all else fails I may have to take the hard drive in to have it looked at. I could just return the ipod but I was kind of keen to have some tunes and I have my playlists all loaded up and just waiting …
I’m not sure that’s correct. I’m fairly certain that I know people using iPods on USB1.1 It will just be slower.
Also, I’m not quite sure when USB2 became mainstream, but I think it’s well over a year now.
USB 2.0 devices, by standard, are backwards-compatible with USB 1.1, so Mike is correct… the only difference you’ll notice is a slower transfer rate.
I had some problems with my spankin’ new Creative MuVo just the other night and found two things helped:
read the manual, follow the instructions closely, install all software on the provided CD before plugging your unit into the computer!
try different USB ports (you should have at least two!)… the ports on the front of my computer didn’t work so well, the ports in the back worked perfectly!
Rather than phoning the shop, why not go straight to the source! Check out the Apple Support site for the iPod, there’s even a section for connection issues that may have your question, and answer, waiting for you!
Rock on!
I had a similar problem a while back, The handy dandy microsoft auto deceted the divice and tryed to load the drivers, only it didnt have the right ones and would just say the divice in not readable. I had to fully uninstall all the files that microsoft loaded into the registry and then load the ones that came with my ipod. After that things worked great.
Gool luck
Mike
Well, not what I expected, but, as a last resort I took the ipod back to the store, turns out it is DEFECTIVE.
So I got a refund but no new ipod as they were sold out.
Sigh…oh well I need to catch up on my sleep anyhow…maybe I’ll try again another day.
Thanks for all your suggestions and encouragement.
ok when you do eventually get a ipod sorted out its not the best of ideas to go out for a ride with it in your pocket(as i have found out).
this is becuase you will take a unexpected bail as you are enjoying the music so much.
in my case i ended up smashing the screen and cracking the case. so i highly recommend either getting a durable solid case with a decent screen protector if you do choose to ride with it, or be wise and take pride in your possesions.
thats all the advice i could give on the subject
joe
no court would ever convict u
r u going to buy iPod again or are u going to look at one of the Gapless alternatives
if you do choose something else, go with a zen micro, the reviews are better than the ipod’s and the sound quality is better. oh, and I think it’s cheaper too.
I don’t do iPod support 
I was busy with lots of interesting threads in R.S.U. today. I pretty much ignored JC. I never even looked at this thread until just now and it’s way late. Almost time for bed.