installing kinect v2

Question

I am trying to use the kinect v2 preview device but the drivers won't install. After following the steps to install the SDK, I should plug in the kinect (power first, then usb) and the drivers included with the SDK should install. Instead, windows searches for drivers online which ofcourse does not work. In device manager only "Xbox NUI Sensor" appears, not the multiple kinect components that I think should be there.

This is on a Windows 7 machine, I tried it on a Surface Pro (only Windows 8 device here that meets requirements) and it installed correctly, however on running a demo no ready kinect was found. After unplugging it, the Surface reverted to the same behavior where it is detected as Xbox NUI Sensor and nothing works. Uninstalling everything, rebooting between steps, cleaning registry, using different usb3 ports, even using different wall sockets in case the UPS was at fault.. nothing I tried made any change on either machine.

Please help! Thanks.

PS I have already emailed k4w@microsoft to request access to the proper forum. I am posting here in the hopes of getting this fixed asap.

Answer 1

Kinect v2 is USB 3.0 and therefore works only on Windows 8.

Surface Pro first generation may not have sufficient resources to handle Kinect v2 streams (bandwith, CPU and GPU).

Be sure to use the latest Kinect v2 SDK and check if KinectMonitor.exe and KinectService.exe are running.

Hope this helps

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Vincent Guigui Innovative Technologies Expert at OCTO Technology Kinect For Windows MVP award

Answer 2

Well, USB 3 works on Windows 7 but you are right, Windows 8 is required. I just got the invite and there is a different SDK download, one that does not install on 7.