'Unknown Devices' And How To Fix Them

It's common to have mysterious errors in Windows Device Manager, with certain components just showing up as "Unknown Devices." Why does this happen, and how can you fix it?

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[TheInternetHelpdeskPlays]

One little thing you didn't mention, sometimes it can be a malfunction in the USB controller so moving it to a different port may help.
And sometimes with newer usb3 devices, if you plug them in to a usb2 port they also have a chance to fail

[Hyatice]

If your device is configured with Connected Standby or the OEM has otherwise blocked the access to the USB settings in power plan, there is a freeware tool called "PowerSettingsExplorer" which lets you dig in much deeper. If you don't want to do that, you can also futz around with powercfg /qh and find the setting there, then set it via command line.

[BearAerospace]

This motivated me to start mucking around in my usb power settings and the bios and I think my buggy keyboard that didnt want to wake up during boot is fixed now. In addition, I realized XHCI hand-off was disabled which was probably nerfing my external ssd. Thanks Linus!

[Mr.Morden]

My own TLDR: For modern builds of Windows 10 and 11 if you have unknown devices then either you #1 have no internet, #2 have something blocking the install, or #3 some hardware which is really old and the vendor never bothered to release it or fix it so it works. Back in the days of Windows 95-XP there were many devices that required a very specific install procedure. Often the user had to manually dig through sub folders so that Window's "automatic" driver search found the driver. That was because the search didn't actually search, you had to tell it exactly where the driver was down to the folder with the .inf file for your very specific version of the device. This fake search feature was an absolute lie on Microsoft's part that caused so so so many tech support frustrations for me and no doubt the rest of the world.

[austang]

Now this is the type of Techquickie's we need. More stuff like this please!

[TigTex]

Quick tech tip, device drivers for unknown devices might show up in Optional Windows Updates. Avoid using tools that automatically install drivers as most of them might install drivers that you don't need at all or perform worse

[Souchirouu]

I'm a big fan of SDI (Snappy Driver Installer) an open source project that is designed specifically for finding the latest drivers and is especially good at finding drivers for old or rare stuff that might not have an official download anymore. It is also a great tool to change to a different version of a driver if you think that might be the issue.

[Lordsun]

Great info! Years of troubleshooting meant I knew most of those things, so it's so good to have it all in one video. Now I can send this to people when they have issues with devices rather than me having a crack!

[savagepro]

Unknown Device, it's one of the things that recently caused Linus to go downstairs butt-naked to find out!

[Tatosgr]

You didn't mention the most basic thing: "Check that you installed all drivers from the manufacturer, because most of the time is just a missing driver that you forgot to install".

It happens to almost all users that come to my shop.

[Anubis]

I recently experienced this with my keyboard. Before replacing a $150 piece of hardware though, I opened it up and realized one of the power connectors inside was just barely loose. Enough power for Windows to know something was plugged in but not enough for the identifier to be properly picked up.

[paulmcc]

This actually fixed an issue I had for years, used the hardware ID, google method ... THANK YOU

[jamtea]

I really liked this video! Love getting into the real concrete tips.

[-Xboum-]

as an IT specialist i find it very useful for everyone, thanks guys

[CompletelyNormal]

This video helped me fix a minor problem where my controller intermittently doesn't connect to my computer. Thank you for the tech tips.

[bullwinkle]

Amazing, I just had a Sandisk multi card reader suddenly stop being recognised by my computer, I haven’t looked into it yet and your video pops up in my feed! Thanks.

[TMAC_burninator]

Stepping through every item in the Device Manager and checking each for a driver update is tedious. But, in rare occasions, I have had it find a driver update for a device that did NOT have the yellow exclamation point. In at least one of those rare occasions, it helped with the issue I was having. There's probably a better way to diagnose things, but if you have the patience for it, there might be times when it could help.

[zusammenhangslos]

You're imperfections are really enjoyable

[XenoTravis]

I remember having to code a very fragile but oddly effective way to find the STM32 chip's COM port because I dont think I could make it give more info on plug in. But I feel like there is definitely a way.

[andrewp_youtube]

very helpful video, I learned a lot this morning it's something I didn't learn in I.S.T. school or forgot over time, very useful