Windows 10: Games randomly freezing up when trying to access certain .inf / .pnf files

Hi all,I've been trying to diagnose this issue for a long time. Various games randomly lock up for about a second or two every five to ten seconds. This began as a small annoyance, but some of the games it affects have since become unplayable with these freezes. The games otherwise run flawlessly and my computer can definitely run them. Opening procmon revealed that these freezes are always occurring when the program tries to access certain .INF and .PNF files in the Windows folder, giving the error "FILE LOCKED WITH ONLY READERS" with the details "SyncType: SyncTypeCreateSection, PageProtecti

:)

 

inf files and PNF files differ; normal?

Quite normal. Every driver has both an INF and PNF file (same filename, different extensions). INF is a text based file. It tells Windows what devices the driver supports and how to install the driver package (destination directorries to copy files, registry modifications needed, etc). INF is a text based file you can open with notepad. PNF is the compiled version of the INF.

 

inf files and PNF files differ; normal?

Using command prompt or desktop.ini from cmd.exe I have found files in the windows\inf folder that have a conflict. Not all, but a lot of files have the same name with a different extension (inf or PNF). The inf files are dated prior to the laptop build but the PNF files have the current date. Is this normal or is my machine wacked?

 

A service installation section in this INF is invalid

Thanks for identifying the inf file it also worked for me with my Nokia 1520. I think that you still get the same error if you try to update it through Device Manager because it uses the 'PNF' file. This is created from the 'INF' file the first time it
is run and so if there is a 'PNF' file there it will use that rather that use the original 'INF' file. I think that if you deleted the 'PNF' file then it would update ok through Device Manager. I've been retired now for over twelve years and this is something
that I am sure I remember from way back when Windows started to use these files. Thanks for jogging my memory.