Lexmark drivers are wrecking my system

So my internet access was done when I got back to paris and I had a brand new Lexmark x1240 printer. I ordinarily avoid brands like lexmark as if they were *the* plague. But since it was a gift and it had a scanner built in I figured "Why not?" So I got the drivers from an internet café, but when I try to run them they INSIST on being installed to drive "C".

Unfortunately my only HD is registered as drive "E" due to another little snafu... but this would've happened anyway if I was in 2003 server. So I just had it put the drivers on my USB key/MP3 player, thinking it was just going to install the drivers there temporarily...

So I install the drivers and test the printer. Works fine. So I take out my USB key.

Next day... printer isn't working. I try to install the drivers. It STILL insists on putting them into a non-existent drive C. Try to put in my USB key... IT'S DEAD NOW. "Impossible!" I think...

So I have this crazy idea for what must have happened... I connect my USB card reader and a gigabyte SD card. Install the drivers on to there... Sure enough, printer works just fine and NOW my SD card has an IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS file on it. The printer is saving it's information on whatever drive is marked "C". My USB key must have been turned into a system drive, and probably nuked itself when I pulled it out. And my 1GB SD card now has these two system files on it.

This is a multi-part problem:

1. Is there any way I can repair my MP3 player?
2. How do I get these STUPID DRIVERS to install to "E" and not "C".
3. What do I have to do to get the io.sys and msdos.sys files off of my SD card now without blowing it up? I just want a regular PnP SD card.

This is the dumbest bit of programming I have tripped over yet.

1. not sure about the mp3 player unless i just played with it (ewwwww)

2. you have to change the registry i think for the default download location (when ever you intsall something, i assume it always poins to c drive)

3. should be able to formatt the card with no problems




side note for mp3 and SD .

check manufac. webpage for any new drivers, or utilities

You can specify the default installation drive / directory in the registry... Start | Run | Type regedit, and click OK | Expand the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion

You'll need to change two values to reflect where you want the default installation directory to be...

ProgramFilesDir
ProgramFilesPath

Double-click (or right click and select "Modify") each of the above String Values and edit the Value Data as appropriate.