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Connect your USB device which is throwing unknown usb device/not recognized by Windows. You will see an Unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) with a yellow exclamation mark in Universal Serial Bus controllers. Now right-click on it and click Uninstall. Restart your PC and the drivers will get installed automatically. Now, Windows takes care of all the drivers for your PC or Laptop. However, at times, Windows fail to automatically recognize a device hence the Unknown Device error is shown in the device manager. Should this happen to you, you won’t be able to use that device until and unless you find and install the right driver for it.
This page offers six solutions to fix the USB device not recognized issue in Windows 10/8/7/XP. If you get this error message 'The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, Windows does not recognize it' or you cannot open your device, accessing data, read this article to fix this issue without data loss.
6 Fixes| USB Device Malfunctioned and Not Recognized
This page unveils six solutions to fix the 'USB device malfunctioned and is not recognized' issue. If you are having this USB device error, don't worry. Pick up any method below to make your USB recognizable and work again.
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. Unplug Computer | Shut down computer > Unplug the power cable > Replug and restart the computer a few minutes later...Full steps |
Fix 2. Change USB Cable/Port | Check the available USB cables and ports one by one > If USB cable or ports itself is damaged, change it ...Full steps |
Fix 3. Update Device Driver | Open Disk Management > Expand 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' > Right-click 'Generic USB Hub'...Full steps |
Fix 4. Fix Root Hub | Open Device Manager > Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers > Right-click USB Root Hub...Full steps |
Fix 5. Change USB Settings | Right-click Windows icon and select 'Power Options' > 'Change plan settings' > 'Change advanced...'...Full steps |
Fix 6. Reinstall USB Driver | Open Device Manager > Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers > Locate USB drivers...Full steps |
'USB device not recognized' is an error that usually occurs to the Windows computer when you plug in a USB device. Here, the USB device mentioned by Windows is a general concept, not limited to a USB hard drive or flash drive, but other devices using a USB port for connection, including a USB mouse, keyboard, Android phone, camera, printer, etc. When Windows generates such an error, the USB will not show up on your computer. As a result, you can't open your device or access your data. In different situations, the error is followed by different messages.
'The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.'
'One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message.'
I have been running in to an issue lately with a Latitude E5540 laptop. The specs are: Intel i5 cpu @ 1.9 ghz 4 gb RAM x32 Windows 7 In my device manager it says that I have an unknown device and there is the warning symbol next to it. When I go to update the drivers it says that it can't find any.
The USB device malfunctioned and not recognized error has frustrated a large number of users. If you are one of the victims, here are some fixes you can try to resolve the issue and make your device detected.
How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized in Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
If your device is not recognized at the moment, you can try the below six solutions to make it show up again. You don't have to try every method, but we strongly recommend you follow the sequence, which our experts have tried many times.
Fix 1. Unplug your computer to fix the USB device malfunctioned
It sounds like a piece of cake thing to do, but it works! For most of not recognizing USB gadgets, there is typically nothing wrong. A computer restart could solve it. This way is meant to reboot the motherboard, which has all of the computer hardware connected to, including the USB ports. Rebooting the motherboard usually helps solve the temporary insufficient power supply for outside devices.
Step 1. Cut your computer power at its source, which is unplugging your computer from the wall outlet.
Step 2. Leave the computer alone for a few minutes, and then replug it in the wall outlet for a restart.
Step 3. Now check if the computer is able to detect the USB device and assign a drive letter to it.
If this fix failed, don't panic, the next methods are also doable.
Fix 2. Change the USB cable or USB port to Fix USB device not recognized
Is the computer's USB port working properly? You need to check the available USB ports one by one to see whether it is a computer hardware problem or a problem with the device itself. If changing to another port solves the problem, then there is something wrong with the previous port. You can give up that broken port, or send your computer for repair.
Fix 3. Update/Rollback a device driver if the USB device not recognized
Device Manager operation is another widely suggested way to troubleshoot a non-recognizable USB device on Youtube and IT forums. Does this method apply to your situation? Go on to have a check.
Step 1. Type device manager in the search box to open Device Manager.
Or you can press Windows + R keys simultaneously to bring up the Run box, then type devmgmt.msc, and hit Enter.
Step 2. Expand 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' and you will see the item called 'Generic USB Hub'. Righ-click on the first Generic USB Hub and choose Properties.
Step 3. Now, navigate to the 'Driver' tab, choose 'Update Driver...'.
Step 4. When asked how do you want to search for driver software, there are two options.
1. Search automatically for updated driver software
This way is an automatic update by Windows. When it finished, all you need to do is to disconnect the USB device, restart the computer and reconnect it again. Windows will install the latest driver for you.
2. Browse my computer for driver software
When you choose this option, you need to continue with the other pop up 'let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.'
From the list, select Generic USB hub, which normally the only choice. Click 'Next' and then Windows will install the driver for you.
- Tip
- If updating the driver doesn't help solve the USB device problem, don't suspend though, try to update each Generic USB Hub until updated them all for once.
In the same path to update the driver, you can also try to roll back to the previous driver before the error occurs. Instead of selecting 'Update Driver' in the 'Driver' tab, choose 'Roll Back Driver' this time.
The changes made on the computer power and the device driver should take effect, and your USB device will no longer report issues. Otherwise, try the rest three methods one by one.
Fix 4. Fix USB Root Hub to Fix USB drive not recognized
The USB root hub is the software driver that lets you connect multiple USB peripherals to your computer. Most computers have multiple root hubs so you can share the data bus across multiple devices. So if the computer cannot recognize your USB drive, you can try to fix the USB root hub.
Step 1. Open Device Manager. Find the Universal Serial Bus controllers option and single click it to expand.
Step 2. Find the USB Root Hub option in this category. Right-click it and choose Properties.
Step 3. Go to the Power Management tab and uncheck the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' option. Then click OK to save your change.
Fix 5. Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings
Another possible reason why your USB got malfunctioned is the hub driver suspends the USB automatically. In this case, change the USB selective suspend settings could help.
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and click Power Options.
Step 2. In the Choose or customize a power plan windows, click Change plan setting
Step 3. In the Edit Plan Settings window, click Change advanced power settings.
Step 4. In the Power Options window, find and expand USB settings, expand USB selective suspend settings and Disable both On battery and Plugged in settings.
Step 5. Then Click Apply and OK to save the settings.
Fix 6. Uninstall USB device driver to make USB recognized
Being different from the options of updating or degrading the driver version, uninstalling the driver could result in a total disability of all the USB ports. So take care of this last-try method.
Step 1. Open Device Manager (Right Click on Windows Logo and Click Device Manager).
Step 2. Now find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers. Now right-click on USB drivers and click Uninstall. Do for all USB drivers one by one.
Step 3. Now, restart your PC. The USB drivers are automatically re-install and solve the corrupted USB devices problem.
Further Troubleshooting: Data Recovery
Those six ways we mentioned above are all the possible ways said to be helpful to fix the 'USB device malfunctioned and not recognized' error.
If one of the fixes worked, you should be able to access your USB and use the saved data again.
What if you opened the USB drive but find something missing? You need third-party software to retrieve your data. Here, EaseUS disk data recovery can help even when your USB device is listed in disk management but not showing up on your computer. The program works well in Windows 10/8/7/XP and other previous versions.
Step 1. Run USB data recovery software.
Connect the USB flash drive to your computer and launch EaseUS USB data recovery software on your PC. Select your USB drive which marks as a removable disk, and click 'Scan' to start finding your lost files.
Step 2. Scan all lost files from USB.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will thoroughly scan your USB flash drive and find all your lost data on it. After the scanning process, use the Filter feature to filter a specific file type. You can check and preview found USB files in this program.
Step 3. Restore all lost files from USB.
A double-click will allow you to preview the file results. Choose the target files and click 'Recover' to save them to a secure location on your PC or other external storage devices.
To retrieve data from USB devices, we suggest you save retrieved files to another secure location in case of further problems.
Format USB to NTFS/FAT32 and recreate partition on USB
Some people encountered more serious issues than once. They said the same USB device starts malfunctioning again after a short period of time after the repair. If this is the case, formatting and recreating a new partition can help.
- Connect the USB to the PC, right-click on This PC/My Computer and select Manage.
- Enter Device Manager, select Disk Management, locate and right-click on your malfunctioned USB, and select Format volume...
- Complete the Format process and set the file system to NTFS or FAT32.
Now you can check if the USB shows up in your computer or not, if not, continue with the steps below:
- Open Disk Management, right-click on USB and select Delete Volume, complete the process.
- When USB shows as unallocated, right-click on it and select New Simple Volume, set the drive letter and file system (NTFS/FAT32) for it, and complete the process.
After this, you should access the USB drive on your PC and save data on it again.
If your external USB device is not recognized by Windows 10, and meet Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error in Device Manager, use solutions here to troubleshoot and fix the error.
As you have noticed, the USB Device in Device Manager has a yellow triangle on it:
The error can be caused by hardware issues. So first, follow below simple instructions to do the troubleshooting.
1. Try the device on a different USB port. This will figure out if problem is caused by a broken port.
2. Connect the device to another PC. This will figure out if the external device has problem.
If there is no problem with the USB port and the device, read on and try the following methods. You can start at the top of the list and work your way down.
Method 1: Remove the Power Supply
Method 2: Uninstall the USB Driver in Device Manager
Method 3 : Update the USB Driver
Method 4: Disable Fast Startup
Method 5: Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings
Method 1: Remove the Power Supply
This method will fix the problem magically if the problem is caused by Power Supply.
1. Remove the Power Supply plug from PC.
2. Re-plug in the Power Supply.
3. Restart the PC and connect the device to the USB port.
Method 2: Uninstall the USB Driver in Device Manager
Follow these steps:
1. Open Device Manager and expand category Universal Serial Bus Controllers and locate the USB device which is not being recognized by Windows.
2. Right-click on the device and select Uninstall from the context menu.
3. After finishing the uninstallation, restart your PC then Windows will reinstall the device automatically.
Method 3 : Update the USB Driver
The problem can be caused by faulty USB driver. In this case, updating driver would fix the problem.
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If you’re not confident playing around with drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):
1. Downloadand install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and clickScan Nowbutton. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
3. Click theUpdate button next to a flagged USB driver to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver (you can do this with the FREE version). Or clickUpdate All to automatically download and install the correct version ofallthe drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).
Method 4: Disable Fast Startup
If Windows is booting quickly,the external device may not be detected before the boot is completed, then the problem will occur. In this case, disabling the fast boot option in Power Options can resolve the problem.
1. Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time. A Run dialog box will appear.
2. Type control in the run box and click OK button. This is to open Control Panel.
3. View by Large Icons and click on Power Options.
4. Select Choose what the power buttons do in left pane.
5. Click on Change settings that are corrently unavailable.
6. Under Shutdown settings, uncheck the box next to Turn on fast startup (recommended). Then click on Save changes button.
7. Restart your PC and see if the problem resolves. Note your PC will boot a little slower.
Method 5: Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings
Follow these steps:
1. In Power Options,click on Show additional plans. (If you tried Method 2, you must know how to go to Power Options. If not, go back to Method 2 and refer the steps to open Power Options.)
2. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
3. Select High performance and click on Change plan settings.
4. Click on Change advanced power settings.
5. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
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6. Locate USB settings and expand it.
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7. Expand USB selective suspend setting. Disable both On battery and Plugged in settings.
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8. Click Apply button and restart your computer.
Unknown Usb Device Win 10
After using methods in this post, you must resolve the Device Descriptor Request Failed error for Windows 10.