CCR not recognising your Cricut

If the drivers for your Cricut haven't been installed correctly CCR won't recognise that you have your Cricut attached. Here's how to go about checking if the correct drivers are installed.

If you are using Windows XP please refer to post number 14 on this thread by Mallory from PC in the CCR forum at the cricut message board. Vista users - the procedures should be the same as for Windows XP.


These are the instructions for Windows 7.

• Disconnect your Cricut from your computer

• Click on the Start icon (bottom left of your screen)

• Click Devices and Printers

(If Devices and Printers isn't showing as an option select Control Panel, then click the Devices and Printers icon)

The next box will show you all the devices you have attached to your computer. At this stage there is no Cricut showing.

• Plug your Cricut into the USB port on your computer and power the Cricut on if it is currently powered off

You should see a new device appear under the heading of Unspecified.

If you are connecting a Cricut Personal, Create or Expression the device will always show up as USB < - > Serial.

If you are connecting a Cricut Imagine, E2 or Cricut Mini they should have their correct name.

Here's what the Device list looks like with three Cricuts attached. Notice the Imagine and E2 are correctly labelled.

• Right click on the device that you are having trouble with and select Troubleshoot

The troubleshooter will open and start gathering information about your device.

• If it finds any problems follow the instructions. This will most like entail installing the Cricut drivers.

• When the Troubleshooter has finished try cutting with your Cricut again.

My Cricut didn't have any errors so this is the box that appears.

CCR and the Cricut Personal

Previous builds of CCR required the Cricut Personal to have a firmware version of 1.40. CCR would prompt you to update your firmware but the update process kept failing. This then rendered the Personal unusable until the firmware was re-done using Design Studio. This put the firmware back to version 1.34.

On 8th October 2011 a CCR update was released that allowed any Personal Cricut to use the older firmware version 1.34 to cut.

To get started using your Cricut Personal:

• Switch your Cricut on and check the screen to see what firmware version you are using. If it's less than V1.34 you will need to use Cricut Design Studio to update it. If you don't have a copy of Design Studio you can download the free trial version and update using that. Here's the link for the trial version: http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx

Once you have download  and installed DS select the Help menu, then Update Cricut Firmware. (Make sure your Cricut is turned off before you start the update). Follow the instructions carefully making sure you select the Cricut Personal as the machine to be updated. You may need to do two passes of the firmware update. If you're prompted to do a second pass make sure you turn your Cricut off again before you start the second pass.

• When the firmware update is complete exit out of Design Studio, switch your Cricut off and unplug it from your computer.
• Plug your Cricut back into your computer and power it (the Cricut) back on. If you have just updated the firmware you may get a windows message saying that the device drivers are being installed. Once they're installed you might see this message box (or a message in the bottom right corner of your screen)

• Open CCR and select the Cricut Personal as the Default Machine from the the Options menu, Project tab
• Create your design and when ready press the green Cut button. (Make sure you have loaded your mat into the Cricut)
•  At the Select Device screen click on the Cricut Personal then press the brown Select Device button.

If you see a message box that says there are no usable devices connected, remove the USB cable from your computer and reinsert it. (Also make sure the Cricut is powered on.)

• At the Cut screen change any relevant settings  (Layer/Multi-cut) and press the green Cut button

The Cricut should then proceed to cut.

• If the green circle in the middle of the cutting screen turns endlessly, press the brown Stop button. This will take you back to the previous screen where you can press Cut again. (This happened to me. The second time I pressed Cut it started cutting on my Cricut straight away).

Debug errors

The other day I went to open CCR and got this error:

Here's a close up:

I've seen many reports of this error on the Cricut message board but had never had the error myself. Until now.....

I tried opening CCR a few times but kept getting the error. I uninstalled CCR, re-downloaded it and installed it again.

Same problem.....

I thought maybe it had something to do with Adobe Air, but just before I was about to uninstall that I noticed that my Gypsy was plugged into my laptop. Picked it up and noticed that it was powered on.

I disconnected the Gypsy from my laptop and tried to open CCR again. This time it opened with no problems. I tested it a few more times to be sure and each time I opened CCR with the Gypsy attached and powered on I got the Debug error. If the Gypsy was attached but switched off I didn't get the error.

So it appears that both CCR and the Gypsy can't use CCRBridge.exe at the same time. I can't remember whether the Gypsy has always used CCRBridge.exe or whether it previously used a different Bridge to access the computer, but it obviously uses it now.

So, lesson learned. You can have the Gypsy attached to your computer when you use CCR, you just can't have it switched on.

There is a similar error that pops up if you open Cricut Sync when you have CCR open.

First Cricut Sync won't be able to recognise that you have your Cricut attached. This is the message you'll see:

When you press the X button to exit out of Cricut Sync you may see this message:

This time it's Bridge.exe that is the problem.

So if you're trying to update your Cricut using Cricut Sync make sure you don't have CCR running.

Carts missing from CCR

UPDATE: As of 30th November the three missing carts are back in CCR! :)


Just in case you're looking for them, the following carts are currently missing from CCR.

Animal Kingdom
Car Decals
Street Sign


You can stop looking now!!!

CCR is out of Beta

In case you've been vacationing on a desert island recently and haven't heard the news, Cricut Craft Room is now open!

If you haven't updated for a while the current build is 109. (That was just released today!)  If you don't have that and want to update you can download it from http://www.cricut.com/craftroom/default.html

Alternatively, when you open CCR you will be prompted to download the latest build. If you don't want to update just click the Ignore button.

Don't forget there are two versions of CCR. The Desktop version allows you to design, save and cut your files. The Web version allows you to design and save your files. You need to be online to use both versions so don't let the name "Desktop version" fool you!

It's probably a good idea to uninstall your current version of CCR before you download and install the new one. When you open CCR you may be prompted to download/update Adobe Air. CCR needs Adobe Air to work so go ahead and update that.

If you haven't tried out CCR yet........ well...... get cracking!! If you're nervous about downloading it to your computer then give the Web version a try.

So, what else do you need to do to use CCR? Well, that depends on which Cricut you're using.

For the Imagine and the E2 you will need to download Cricut Sync if you don't have it and update your Cricut to the latest programming. Once you have installed CricutSync connect your Imagine or E2 to your computer, open Cricut sync by clicking on the Cricut Sync icon on your desktop and follow the instructions.

For more info on updating your machine follow the instructions at the CricutSync page. Just click on the relevant machine from the left of the page for instructions for your Cricut.

Once you have updated your E2 or Imagine, open up CCR. (You'll need the Desktop version for this bit).

Make sure your Cricut is still connected and powered on.

Once you've logged in and CCR is open at the main screen select the Help menu, then Install Drivers.

Select your machine from the list. The drivers on your machine should be updated.

For the original Expression and Cake machines make sure your firmware is up to date. The easiest way to do that is to use Cricut Design Studio. If you don't have DS you can download the trial version from http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx.

Once you have that installed select the Help Menu, then Update Cricut Firmware. Follow the instructions carefully, making sure you select the Expression as the model you are updating. If you are prompted to do two passes of the the firmware update, make sure you power the Cricut off before you start the second pass.

Once the Expressions firmware is up to date you can then update the drivers using the Help, Install Drivers function in CCR.  (I'm not totally sure if you need to do this.)

If by chance your Expression doesn't work once you have installed the drivers through CCR, go back to DS and update the firmware again and your Cricut will be working again.

For the Cricut Personal, the Cricut Create and the Cricut Cake mini, it appears all you need to do is make sure their firmware is up to date. Follow the instructions above for the Expression, making sure you select your model of Cricut. If you are updating the Cricut Cake mini, make sure you select the Create as the machine.