How to USB-Tether Android phones with Windows XP, using tetherxp.inf

As Samson has kindly pointed out in the comments, Microsoft has now released a patch for this issue. To download it and for further information, click here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959765

If you prefer not to use Microsoft's hotfix, please read the comments if you are still experiencing issues because a lot of people have posted helpful tips. Thanks everyone.


Greetings fellow Android users! I just got a Samsung Galaxy S2, and had some trouble tethering via USB using the "tetherxp.inf" file. I kept getting the error message: "Cannot install this hardware". So after a bit of poking around, on the Intarwebz, I devised a workaround, and for those of you experiencing the same problem, here's my solution:

1. Plug in your phone, enable USB tethering on your phone, and cancel any hardware wizards that pop up on your computer.

2. On your computer, open up your device manager (Start->run->devmgmt.msc)

Find your phone in "Other devices", for me it was called "SAMSUNG_Android".

3. Once you've found it, double click it and switch to the details tab:

4. Now this is where some of you will get lost, you need to open up the tetherxp.inf file with your favorite code editor (Start->Run->Wordpad) will work, but Notepad will not. I'll use PSPad. And create a new line below "[AndroidDevices.NT.5.1]" containing your Device Instance Id.

5. Alrighty! Now you are ready to test your handiwork! Save the modified tetherxp.inf somewhere, I'm using "C:\temp\tetherxp.inf" as you can see in step 4, then switch to the "General" tab of the device properties, and click "Reinstall Driver...". Select "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)", and click next.

6. Click "Search for the best driver in these locations.", and select the folder in which you saved your modified "
"tetherxp.inf" file.

7. Now, if all goes smoothly, you should be greeted with this happy screen! You have successfully hacked the inf configuration to enable tethering in your device. You should see a new Local Area Network connection appear in your network connections, and it'll give you Internet access! That is, assuming your phone has Internet access.

If you have a Samsung Galaxy SII, you can download my modified tetherxp.inf file here: http://pastebin.com/zHtCiAzx