How to Fix USB Device Not

Recognized in Windows
The fix that worked for us, plus a few others you can try

Written by: Aseem Kishore, Twitter: @akishore

Posted on: February 18th, 2015 in: Computer Tips

Are you getting a “USB device not recognized” error whenever you plug in a USB
mouse, keyboard, camera, or other device? I can’t live without USB ports and
currently have 5 ports on my computer so that I can connect my mouse,
keyboard, camera, phone, and printer to it all at once!

For those of you with even more USB gadgets, you probably have connected a
USB hub to one of your USB ports so that can you connect even more devices.
Most of the time this works great, but occasionally your computer might
stop recognizing USB devices. The odd thing about this error is that the ports
are working just fine, as I was able to still charge my cell phone without a
problem, but couldn’t get my camera recognized using the same port.

After spending a lot of time and trying a bunch of different ways to fix the
problem, only one solution ended up working for me. I’ll mention that solution
first, but will also mention the other possible solutions, as the first solution
may not fix the problem for everyone.

Method 1 – Unplug Computer

So how did I finally fix the problem? Well, if you are lucky, it’s a super simple
solution! Try this method first and if it works, you’ll have saved a lot of time.

Simply unplug your computer from the power supply. Yes that is it! Note that
this does not mean just turning off your computer using the power button
because most modern computers don’t actually turn off completely and the
motherboard will still get power. This is useful sometimes if you want to
remotely wake up a computer, etc.

The motherboard is where all of hardware of the computer connects to,

including the USB ports. Sometimes the motherboard needs to be “rebooted”
because things can go wrong, i.e. all or some USB ports suddenly stop working.
The small microprocessor on the motherboard will reload the drivers and your
USB ports should hopefully be recognizing devices again.

So first turn off your computer using the Shut Down option in Windows or
pressing the power button and then UNPLUG the PC from the wall outlet. Let it
sit for several minutes and then plug it back in.

Method 2 – Update Device Driver

If Windows is not able to recognize the device, you may also see in Device
Manager that the device shows up as an “Unknown Device”. You can get to
Device Manager by clicking on Start and typing in devmgmt.msc or by going to
Control Panel and clicking on Device Manager.
In that case, you should right-click on Unknown Device, click on Properties,
then the Driver tab and then click Update Driver.

If this doesn’t work, you can also try to download the driver for your device
from the manufacturer’s website. If the USB device is just a flash drive, then it’s
probably not a driver issue. However, if you are installing a USB printer, drawing
pad, etc, then it might be worth downloading the driver for that specific device.
Method 3 – Restart & Disconnect USB
Devices
The next thing you can try is to disconnect all USB devices and then restart the
machine. once you have restarted, try to connect the USB device that was
causing the problem.

If that particular USB port doesn’t recognize it, try another one. If the device is
recognized by a different USB port, there could be a hardware problem with one
of the USB ports. If no USB port recognizes the device, then keep reading
because it’s probably something else.

Method 4 – USB Root Hub

Another thing you can try is to open Device Manager, expand USB Serial Bus
Controllers, right-click on USB Root Hub and then click on Properties.

Click on the Power Management tab and uncheck the Allow the computer to
turn off this device to save power box. If you have more than one USB Root Hub
listed, you need to repeat these steps for each one.
Click OK and then restart your computer. Try to reconnect the USB device and
see if it is recognized. If not, go back to the power management tab for each
one and check the box again. If it does recognize the device, then leave them
unchecked.

Method 5 – Connect Directly to PC

A friend of mine ran into this issue and the cause ended up being his USB hub.
He only had three USB ports on his computer, so he bought a hub where he
could connect an additional 8 USB devices.

I guess this proved too much for his computer and it just started sporadically
not recognizing various devices. After removing the hub and connecting the
device directly to the computer, it worked just fine.

We haven’t really been able to find any other solution to this problem other
than reducing the number of items connected to the hub. Actually, one other
solution worked, but it meant having to buy a new USB hub with more power.

If you are having this problem with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, then you might
be in luck. Microsoft has released a fix for Windows 8 not detecting USB devices
properly. Make sure to install this hotfix if running Windows 8.

Method 6 – USB Troubleshooter

If nothing has worked so far, you can download the Windows USB
Troubleshooter Fixit tool. It’s a free tool that works with Windows XP, Vista and
7.
You can either have the troubleshooter fix the problems for you or select the
fixes yourself. I would just let it fix them for you since the choices can
sometimes be confusing and technical for the novice user.

Method 7 – Update Generic USB Hub

If you are getting the Unknown Device error in Device Manager, you can also try
one other thing. Open Device Manager and then expand Universal Serial Bus
Controllers.

You should see at least one item called Generic USB Hub. On some computers,
you might see two, three or more of these. Right-click on the first one and
choose Update Driver Software.
When the update dialog pops up, choose Browse my computer for driver
software.

Then click on Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer at the
bottom.
From the list, select Generic USB Hub. Normally, there won’t be anything else
listed except for that one choice. Click Next and then click Close once it
finishes installing it.

At this point, the Device Manager screen should refresh and either the unknown
device will still be there or it may now be recognized. If it’s still showing as not
recognized, then you repeat the process for each Generic USB Hub listed.

Method 8 – Uninstall USB Devices

As a last resort, you can also try uninstalling all USB devices from your system
and then restarting. I mention this last because even though Windows is
supposed to automatically recognize the USB controllers, hubs and devices
automatically, it can sometimes fail and you’ll end up with no USB ports
working.

I had a computer with 6 USB ports and only one port would not work properly. I
uninstalled everything under USB Serial Bus Controllers in Device Manager and
restarted. Instead of re-detecting everything, I was left with no USB port
working, so be careful when using this method.
Go to Device Manager and start uninstalling each item from under USB Serial
Bus Controllers. Before you start with anything that is already working, uninstall
the items with exclamation points or that are listed as Unknown Device.