Nothing in Device Manager

Hi everyone. I really hope I can finally get a resolution to this!
For months now my mp3 player has not been detected by computer and only recently have I aggressively attempted to discover why. When I went to the Device Manager there was nothing in the window, absolutely nothing.

I run: windows XP
Service pack 2
Plug and Play is enabled and set to automatic

I am at a total loss here. I have no idea what to do. Any help is surely appreciated and thank you in advance.

 

Click Start > Run, type "services.msc" (without quotes) and press Enter. Double-click Plug and Play. If you receive a configuration manager message then click OK. Now switch the Startup Type to Automatic, click OK and then restart the computer. You should be able to see your devices listed in the Device Manager.

If the above doesn’t work, have a look at the registry key modification here http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum/windows-xp/15653-device-manager-blank.html

 

As I stated in my original post, the Plug and Play is fine. It's enabled and already set on automatic.

 

Thanks for the link. I have tried about 4 troubleshooting pieces of advice with no luck.

 

You won't lose anything, create a system restore point and give it a meaningful name, e.g. Before changing Device Manager key. If anything goes wrong, which is unlikely, simply restore to this point.

 

I'm sorry...I really don't know what that means. I tried about 4 things from that thread with no results. The security permissions in registry just gave me an error message, no results on the virus some people had and everything was enabled in the msconfig menu.

This blows so hard...

 

The registry editor solution might actually work (receiving the error msg was my mistake and I found the appropriate path to take) but when I take the final step by clicking "OK" to the changes my cursor goes to 'busy' mode and sticks there whenever it floats in front of the registry editor. And it goes into 'not responding' mode. So something IS happening but the changes are not as of yet :/

 

nvm please ignore this reply. website issues.