The usb device is not recognized, what should I do? What should I do if my computer says “USB device not recognized”? What to do when the “USB device is not recognized” error appears
Probably everyone has at least once encountered a problem when, when connecting a USB device, an error pops up: USB device not recognized. A similar error occurs when using both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices.
Let's try to figure out the reasons.
There can be many reasons for such an error. And there are many solutions too. Therefore, we do not guarantee that you will be able to solve this problem using our recommendations.
Perhaps this article will help you solve the problem.
Resolving the “USB device not recognized” error.
Also sometimes (rarely, but it happens) such a problem can occur if you connect a USB 2.0 device to the USB 3.0 port.
Method 1. This error often occurs when using a USB extension cable. In this case, try connecting a USB device without an extension cable. Or replace the extension cord. The second common reason is a malfunction of the device itself or the USB port. Try testing USB devices on known working USB ports.
Method 2. This method can help if everything worked fine before and such failures have never happened with this device. Disconnect the problematic USB device. Turn off the power to the computer, unplug the cord from the outlet and hold down the PC power button for a few seconds. If you have a laptop, unplug it and remove the battery. This action will remove residual charges from the computer motherboard.
Then turn on the computer and connect the problematic device. There is a chance that the device will work.
Method 3. If you have too many USB devices connected to your computer, and moreover, some through a splitter, try disconnecting some of the equipment, restarting the computer and turning on the required USB device. Also note that if the USB device has an external power source (for example, some removable hard drives), connect it.
Software solution to the problem
Now let's try to solve the problem using software.
Run "Device Manager". (For Windows 7 - “Computer” - “Management” - “Device Manager”)
The unidentified device will most likely be located in the following sections device manager:
USB controllers
-Other devices (and be called “Unknown device”)
Method 1. If the unknown device is in partition d other devices, you can right-click on it and select "Update drivers" and perhaps the operating system itself will install everything you need. Or select the menu "properties" unknown device and open the tab "Intelligence". Select an item from the list Equipment ID. Try to find on the Internet by ID (simply typing the ID into a search engine) what exactly this equipment is, and what driver it may require.
Method 2. Right click on the device, select "Properties", then on the tab "Driver" Click the "Roll Back" button if available, and if not, click the "Uninstall" button to remove the driver. After that, in Device Manager, click “Action” - “Update hardware configuration” and see what happened to the unknown USB device.
Method 3. Try going to the properties of all devices with names Generic USB Hub, USB Root Hub or USB Root Controller and tab "Power Management" uncheck "Allow this device to turn off to save power."
Another option is that a USB 3.0 flash drive or external hard drive is not recognized in Windows 8.1.
This problem is solved like this:
Go to Windows control panel - power supply, select the power plan you are using and press "Change advanced power settings". Then, in the USB settings, disable temporary disabling of USB ports.
We hope you were able to resolve this issue. If not, most likely the problem is with the device itself.
Sometimes users, when trying to connect and further use USB devices (flash drives, external hard drives), receive a system error that states that this USB device is not recognized. It is difficult to say for sure why such a reaction to the device occurs. Let's try to figure out what is the reason for this behavior of the operating system and how to fix connection errors.
The USB device is not recognized. Why does this crash occur?
Let's start with the fact that not a single Windows system is immune from short-term glitches, which can lead to such situations.
Indeed, it happens that Windows does not recognize a USB drive or other device, say, a printer or scanner. However, in the simplest case, this has nothing to do with the drivers. System failures themselves, when there may be an increased load on the processor and RAM, can become the root cause of this phenomenon. But sometimes it is enough to simply reconnect the device (for example, remove the flash drive from the port and insert it again). Oddly enough, very often such actions help. It is possible that the device will be recognized when reconnected after restarting the OS. But this is not the main problem. In some cases, Windows 7 does not recognize USB devices for completely different reasons, which will be discussed further.
Changing ports
One of the factors affecting the operation of any removable or plug-in device is the criterion for using the appropriate interface. For example, if the same drive is designed to work exclusively with USB 3.0, connecting it to a port with a USB 2.0 interface will not achieve anything.
The conclusion is obvious: just change the port you are using (usually computers have several connectors, and the port of the third version of the interface is colored blue inside).
The USB device is not recognized: what to do with the drive drivers?
But the main problem can still be called the lack or incorrect installation of drivers for the device itself, although, as a rule, when it is connected, the system automatically recognizes the device and installs the drivers on its own.
If the Windows 7 USB device is not recognized after the first connection, you can use the “native” disk with drivers (for flash drives, printers, smartphones or tablets, they can be supplied directly upon purchase). If there is no such disk, you don’t even have to try to reinstall or update the drivers in Device Manager (Windows still won’t find anything or will report that the most suitable driver is installed). This is only due to the fact that the search by default will be carried out in its own database, and for some non-standard devices the necessary control software may not be there.
In this case, you should search for a driver on the Internet by visiting the equipment manufacturer’s website. If the device is visible in the Device Manager, but is marked as a non-working device, you can simplify your search using the information about the VEN and DEV identifiers, which can be found on the details tab, setting the equipment ID as the displayed parameter.
USB controller driver questions
But the problem when the USB device is not recognized has another side to the coin. The point here is that the root cause may also be a non-working driver of the USB controller itself, due to which the interfaces of the connected device and the port itself may simply be incompatible.
In this case, you need to check the status of the controller in Device Manager. In this case, you need to display all hidden devices (there may be several USB controllers in the system). It is not worth updating drivers or installing them again only for non-working devices. It is better to update them for all system devices that are related to the USB interface.
Typically, this approach helps even when updating software from the system’s own databases. If this does not give the desired effect, you can again use the search using the identifiers described above.
Viruses
Finally, viruses can also cause situations where the system reports that the USB device is not recognized. Indirectly, their impact can affect the state of drivers and system services. As is already clear, in this case it is necessary to conduct a full scan of the computer for threats, using portable scanners, and not standard anti-virus programs.
However, the best option is considered to be the use of disk programs called Rescue Disk, which have their own boot records that allow you to use removable media with them on board to start even before loading the operating system itself. For scanning, it is better to select all disks, including the Windows bootloader and hidden partitions, specifying an in-depth scan. Only in this case is it guaranteed that viruses (if they exist, of course) will be found and neutralized. The advantage of such utilities is the fact that they are able to find even those viruses that are very deeply embedded in RAM.
What else could it be?
Finally, it is worth saying that the connected devices or ports themselves may not work due to damage. What to do in this case? Just try connecting another similar device or using a different port. In principle, these issues were not considered, since the main emphasis was on program problems.
As for printers connected via USB, it is quite possible that the print service is stopped in the system, or the corresponding Windows system component is simply disabled. Try restarting the relevant services and rebooting the system and printer. But even here it is important to understand that if the occurrence of a situation is associated with a viral impact, it may very well be that such actions without first checking the system will not lead to anything.
As for the rest, as you can already see, the proposed solutions to correct such failures are quite simple and they are mainly related exclusively to drivers. Therefore, as a first step, you can just update them or reinstall them (you can even remove the devices from the system so that when you restart, it installs the drivers on its own).
One of the most common errors when connecting USB devices to a computer is the inability of the operating system to detect the hardware. The user receives a notification if this problem occurs. Regular reconnection often does not bring any results, so you will need to perform additional steps to resolve the problem. Let's look at them in detail.
First, we recommend that owners of Windows OS version 7 carry out manipulations with the device itself and the computer before moving on to radical options, because sometimes such tips help correct the error. You need to do the following:
- Connect the equipment to the PC through another free connector. It is best to use the input on the motherboard rather than on the case.
- Use a different cable if the device is connected by wires. It often happens that one of the contacts comes loose and because of this, correct functioning with the operating system is impossible.
- Disconnect other controllers or storage media connected via USB if they are not needed at the moment.
- Reset the component charges. Remove the non-working device from the connector, turn off the PC, disconnect the power supply and hold down the button "Power" for a few seconds, then start your computer. In addition, you can remove and insert RAM dies, preferably into another free slot.
If these manipulations do not bring any results, we advise you to pay attention to the two methods presented below. In them you will find a detailed guide on how to fix device recognition errors in Windows.
Method 1: Rollback or uninstall the driver
In most cases, the problem occurs due to incorrect operation of the drivers. The situation can be corrected in just a few steps, and even an inexperienced user can handle the process, since it does not require additional knowledge or skills. Just follow the following instructions:
Sometimes you need to reconnect the device to start updating the software again. However, almost always the entire process occurs correctly without this action.
Method 2: Change power settings
In Windows, you can configure your power plan to get the most out of your computer's power supply or laptop battery. By default, one parameter is enabled, which may cause the “USB device not recognized” error to occur. Disabling it will help solve the problem. This is done easily:
All that remains is to reconnect the device to the PC and check that it is detected correctly.
Problems with recognizing USB equipment in the Windows 7 operating system occur quite often. However, as you can understand from our article, it can be solved quite easily, it is only important to choose the right method and follow it.
Probably every PC user has at least once encountered a problem when, when connecting a flash drive or any other device, the system notifies that “USB is not recognized.”
There are many reasons for such an error, as well as solutions. Let's look at the most effective ones.
Ways to solve the problem
This method is acceptable for Windows 7. Click “Start”, right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Properties”.
Go to “Device Manager.”
Select “USB Controller” or “Other Devices”. Most likely, the unrecognized device will be located in one of these sections.
If the device is located in “Other devices” and is indicated by a yellow exclamation mark, right-click and select “Update drivers”.
The PC will independently find the necessary program documents on the network. If the problem does not disappear, then we search for drivers manually. To do this, right-click on the device and select “Properties”.
Go to the “Details” tab and select “Equipment ID” from the list.
We highlight the data “VEN_...DEV...” in the first line and try to find the necessary driver on the network.
If previously the device was recognized normally, then click “Properties” and go to the “Driver” tab. If the “Roll Back” button is active, then click it.
Otherwise, select “Delete”.
After completing the second operation in the “Device Manager”, select “Action” and “Update hardware configuration”.
We observe changes with an unidentified device. Reboot the PC.
If this method does not work, in the “Device Manager” expand the “USB Controller” branch and select “Generic USB Hub”.
Right-click on it and select “Properties”.
Go to the “Power Management” tab. Here you need to uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.”
Reboot the PC.
You can also disconnect the USB device from the computer and restart the system. Or connect the equipment to another port. These steps often help solve the problem.