penDirector - Why is my pen not being detected when I plug it in?

Question

I've installed penDirector (3.0.1.185) but my pen is not detected when I connect it to the PC via USB. What is the problem?

Answer

So there could be a few things that would cause this behaviour...

1. The first thing to establish is whether the pen is successfully detected via USB on an OS-level. So with the pen docked (and charged = solid green LED), please access Device Manager on the PC. If the pen is successfully detected on the OS-level then there will be a device, "Anoto Digital Pen (COMx)", visible under the Ports (COM & LPT) section.
   
2. If the pen IS correctly displayed (as pic above) but still not detected by penDirector, access the Windows Services and select to manually restart the Anoto Pen Access Framework-service (with penDirector running & pen docked) - is the pen detected by penDirector now?
   
3. If the pen is not detected by penDirector or the OS (Device Manager), please try the following...
   - docking the pen with another PC, with penDirector installed
   - using a different USB port on the PC
   - using a different USB cable
4. Another thing to note is that penDirector must be installed by a user that has Administrator privileges. Otherwise it could happen the application isn't fully installed, i.e. missing the Anoto Pen Access Framework-service (from Step 2).
5. If the pen is still not detected after all of the above, then the likelihood is that the pen received an external impact or electromagnetic discharge & the circuitry inside the pen has become damaged.