BT Voyager 105 Modem - Error Loading newdev.dll driver

BT Voyager 105 Modem - newdev.dll errors I recently reformatted and re-installed Windows XP on an old laptop.
After putting all the Windows Updates etc. back on one of the last things I installed was an old BT Voyager 105 Modem.

I downloaded the official modem drivers from BT:
http://www.voyager.bt.com/usb_modems/voyager_105/pc_download.htm

But when installing the modem it failed with the following errors:
"Error message: Error loading newdev.dll"

This was followed by:
"Administrator privileges are required to install, uninstall, or configure the DSL software"

The installation then quit! A quick Google shows many people have the same problem. Some believed it was due to IE8 others pointing to XP SP3 (Service Pack 3).

I managed to fix my problem and install the Voyager 105 by temporarily changing the newdev.dll file (Windows Add Hardware Device Library) for an old one - see below for details...

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My BT Voyager 105 was supplied by my provider Freeola.
The modems are still available from their online shop.
Click the Freeola logo above to visit their website.

For normal broadband use it's best to use an ADSL Router rather than a USB Modem - but the Voyager modem is useful to have for mobile testing and troubleshooting. BT's own engineers use this modem - see bottom of page for hidden display options!

After receiving the "newdev.dll" error message it's immediately followed by an error message documenting "Administrator privileges" this is a red herring and can be ignored.

The real error is with the latest newdev.dll driver file.

Error message: Error loading newdev.dll

Administrator privileges are required to install, uninstall, or configure the DSL software

I 'expanded' different versions of the newdev file for XP and XP SP2 using Microsoft Windows Installation disks that I had, and placed them in the Windows system32 (C:\WINDOWS\system32) folder using Safe Mode.

You need to use Windows Safe Mode else Windows protection immediately replaces the file with the original one!

But using all the different newdev.dll files below all still failed with the same errors.

Failed newdev.dll file versions:

5.1.2600.0 (Windows XP)
5.1.2600.2180 (Windows XP SP1 and 2 ?)
5.1.2600.5512 (Windows SP SP3)

I ended up downloading a version from www.dll-files.com (version 5.0.2146.1) might be a Windows 2000 version - which worked! www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?newdev

After successfully installing the modem I then put the latest newdev.dll file back in place (Version 5.1.2600.5512)

NB. When the installation finally run I did see the following error (displayed on right), which I ignored and things carried on successfully!

Error in newdev.dll Missing entry:CLientSideInstall

BT Voyager 105 Modem - Error loading newdev.dll If I was starting again rebuilding my PC I would try installing the BT Voyager 105 modem as soon as Windows was available rather than putting all the Service Packs on first.

But even using the earliest newdev file I could find on my XP discs it still didn't work for me and I had to use the one possibly from Windows 2000 as mentioned above.

BT Voyager 105 - Hidden GUI Options

1. Open the modem control interface.
2. Click on the "Status" Button.
3. When the small status panel appears,
4. Press CTRL+F1 which enables the hidden features.

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