Unable To Load Network Device Drivers - Error 31

I'm hoping someone can help me. I have a Gateway laptop running Windows XP Pro - SP2.

My laptop was infected with some sort of Adware that took control over my homepage and blasted me with spyware popups. I already had downloaded "Super AntiSpyware" to my computer so I ran it. It cleaned up the the problem files and asked to reboot the computer. I selected the option to reboot and went through the restart operation. As the computer was coming up, it went to a blue screen and restarted the reboot and paused at the recovery screen. I selected "restart in last known good configuration" and the computer came up fine with the exception being I lost my internet connection options. When I went to view my device manager files, both my Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller and my Broadcom 802.11g Network Adaptors had the caution signs over them with the error code stating "The device is not working because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. Code 31". here's what I've done to try to correct the issue;

Unload the drivers and reload the hardware.
Unload the drivers and reboot the system to let it find the devices
Loaded new updated drivers (via stickdrive from another computer)
Used every option in the troubleshooter
Performed all of the above in both Safe and Normal Modes
Do a System Restore to a date prior to the problem. - Didn't help as System Restore was disabled. Lesson learned.

I keep getting "The device is not working because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. Code 31". Someone suggested there may be a problem with the high and low filters in the registry. I just want to fix the problem.

Help Please!

Since reinstalling the drivers didn't fix it, I'd suspect that either you're still infected or that you've had a massive failure of your motherboard (unlikely).

I'd suggest that you download this free program and use it to clean your temporary files: http://www.ccleaner.com/download
Please use the default settings to clear the temporary files. The more advanced features are dangerous to use, so please avoid them.

Also, I'd suggest that you use a couple of these free online scans to see if there are any traces of infection still on your system. Be advised that some of these scanners will pickup things in "quarantine" from other anti-virus programs - so review the results carefully:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
http://onlinescan.avast.com/
http://ca.com/us/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

<links compiled on 02/14/2008>

John,
I ran the CC Cleaner and it got rid of a lot of stuff. I also ran Bit Defender and Norton's Anti-virus and neither program found anything. The rest of the anti-virus programs require that I have an on-line connection to perform the virus scans. My problem is that my Broadcom 440 10/100 LAN and Broadcom 802.11g Wireless Adaptor devices are the only two hardware devices affected. For some reason Windows is cannot load the drivers because the devices are not working properly. I went into "programs" and saw there was a "system recovery" program. One of the options was "driver recovery" and I selected the Broadcom 802.11g network driver and followed the instructions. After rebooting, the devices were still disabled due to the same issue. There is a lso a "system recovery" button that I'm afraid to try. Unfortunately, I didn't have periodic "system restore" enabled so there's no "good" point to go back to.

I have a trial version of Registry Fix loaded on my system and it came back with a few hundred items that need attention. In order to "fix" the registry problems, I have to purchase the program. Is there any way to look at the registry log that was run to see if the problem is somewhere in there? I read about a similar problem with a different device and the cure was to clear the high and low end filters. This is beyond my abilities and I don't want to make matters worse. Is it possible that I have registry problem?

Thanks for all your help with my problem,

Dave

Since reinstalling the drivers didn't fix it, I'd suspect that either you're still infected or that you've had a massive failure of your motherboard (unlikely).

I'd suggest that you download this free program and use it to clean your temporary files: http://www.ccleaner.com/download
Please use the default settings to clear the temporary files. The more advanced features are dangerous to use, so please avoid them.

Also, I'd suggest that you use a couple of these free online scans to see if there are any traces of infection still on your system. Be advised that some of these scanners will pickup things in "quarantine" from other anti-virus programs - so review the results carefully:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
http://onlinescan.avast.com/
http://ca.com/us/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

<links compiled on 02/14/2008>

I keep getting "The device is not working because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. Code 31". Someone suggested there may be a problem with the high and low filters in the registry. I just want to fix the problem.

Upper and lower filter keys is a fix for problematic optical drives. The yellow exclamation points are indicating the faulty devices. those probably have a corrupt or still missing drivers. I would use John's links and stay away from registry cleaners

At this point, I'm not doing anything unless John tells me to!

Thanks for your input,

Dave

So where is John?

I have the same problem, but it happened after uninstalling Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0. All of my network connections are gone, have the yellow triangles next to each driver and Vista Business cannot load them correctly. It is a Registry problem I am beginning to find out, probably having to deal with system32 files or what not. I am not sure and look forward to someone stepping to the plate with a solution. I have found out there are many folks out there with the same issues.

Thank you

At this point, I'm not doing anything unless John tells me to!

Thanks for your input,

Dave

Well...my question would be...did the original poster follow the last suggestions John made concerning malware scans?

If so, what feedback can you share?

To HombreUSA: You would probably get better feedback/response if you not piggyback on this thread and create your own. I cannot say that you ought to post at BleepingComputer.com - Am I infected What do I do - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/f/103/am-i-infected-what-do-i-do/ but removing an AV program certainly increases one's chances of being infected, IMO.

Louis

Personalized help for issues is available at http://www.protonic.com (the only one that I'm familiar with)
Otherwise, this is an online community dedicated to helping others through a group process.
I do not provide personalized help, nor do I guarantee that I'll even come back to a topic once I've posted there.

Both garmanma and hamluis have experience with these sort of issues, and I'd guess that they probably know more about them than I do.

Well...my question would be...did the original poster follow the last suggestions John made concerning malware scans?

If so, what feedback can you share?

To HombreUSA: You would probably get better feedback/response if you not piggyback on this thread and create your own. I cannot say that you ought to post at BleepingComputer.com - Am I infected What do I do - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/f/103/am-i-infected-what-do-i-do/ but removing an AV program certainly increases one's chances of being infected, IMO.

Louis

Already started my own thread and waiting for replies. You could make suggestions in a positive way and focus on those who truly need help. Do you know what I mean?

Personalized help for issues is available at http://www.protonic.com (the only one that I'm familiar with)
Otherwise, this is an online community dedicated to helping others through a group process.
I do not provide personalized help, nor do I guarantee that I'll even come back to a topic once I've posted there.

Both garmanma and hamluis have experience with these sort of issues, and I'd guess that they probably know more about them than I do.

John,

Thanks for the suggestion. Posted thread at Protonic. We'll get this pup knocked out soon.