The problem of the unknown device has always been one of the most mangy ones to solve on Windows PCs, even if in the latest versions it occurs much less frequently. To be brief and as clear as possible, this is the error that occurs if the Windows system cannot recognize what type of hardware device has been connected to the computer .
For example, such a problem can occur if you connect a USB stick and it is not recognized.
The consequence of this error is the impossibility of being able to load the driver, that is the software, to manage it and to be able to use it.
This type of problem can be obvious when you attach a new device to your computer, such as the USB stick, with a notification in the lower right corner near the clock.
In other cases this error may not be reported on the desktop, but only appear with an exclamation mark in the Control Panel window> " Device Manager ".
Fortunately, in Windows 10 (but only with the April 2017 Creators Update), the control of hardware devices has been added to the Windows Defender Security Center.
So, in case of even sudden hardware problems, a yellow exclamation mark will appear on the shield of the Windows Defender icon on the desktop near the clock.
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To understand how to identify the unknown device and maybe even what to do to put it into operation there is a simple automatic procedure that if it does not function requires you to start doing a manual search, which can be facilitated through some programs.
First of all, therefore, whenever there is an unknown device hardware problem, you need to open the Windows troubleshooter .
This tool, which in Windows 10 is particularly effective and which can be started from the Start menu looking for " Troubleshooting ", tries to recognize the device and install the latest driver it can find, without the user having to do anything.
If the automatic tool fails, most likely there is a problem in the device itself which may be defective.
It is therefore worth trying, if possible (if it is not an internal hardware component or integrated to the motherboard), to connect it or on another PC to find out, almost certainly, that it does not work there too.
However, by going to Control Panel> Device Management, you can find the defective hardware component that should have the writing of the unknown device and have a generic icon with the yellow exclamation mark on it.
To identify it, as already explained in the old, but still good, guide on how to download the right drivers in the case of an unknown device, you must right-click on the unrecognized device, then go to the Properties and move to the Details tab.
In the Properties drop-down menu, select Hardware ID to find a number that will be the one to search on Google to identify and recognize that damaged or broken device.
For example, something like acpi \ ven_1002 & dev_33a0 can be found which can be searched on Google or on the PCIDatabase site, which specializes in collecting all hardware IDs.
For better support in finding the unknown device, you can use an additional program, which works a bit like the device management tool of the Control Panel, but which is able, in addition to detecting the device, also to automatically download the Correct version of the drivers needed to make it work .
The best programs for Windows to identify unknown devices are:
1) Hardware Identify is one of the best programs to identify unknown hardware devices in Windows.
The program scans your PC and lists all available devices, including unrecognized ones.
In the details you will find the name of the devices and the hardware ID that can help us download the necessary drivers.
2) Driver Identifier is another very powerful tool to identify unknown devices on the PC, also capable of downloading the corresponding drivers and also tries to find the site in to find the driver corresponding to the Hardware ID found to be able to install it and see if it can still work.
3) Unknown Devices Identifier is a small simple program that can easily find the details and hardware ID of an unknown device.
4) Unknown Devices is a very useful portable tool to identify a particular unknown device in Windows that lists all the hardware components detected by ordering them according to the type and showing information such as the hardware ID.
5) PC Wizard is a portable and free software, which does not require installation and which allows you to recognize all the peripherals connected to the computer .
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