Device Manager shows an "Unknown device" with a yellow exclamation mark. Instead of blindly guessing the driver, use PowerShell to quickly get its Hardware ID (VID/PID) for precise searching.

The Fix

Get-PnpDevice -Class "USB" -Status Error | Select-Object FriendlyName, InstanceId
# Or for all error devices:
Get-PnpDevice -Status Error | Select-Object FriendlyName, InstanceId

Why it works

  • The Get-PnpDevice cmdlet retrieves Plug and Play devices. Filtering by -Status Error shows devices with driver issues. The InstanceId property contains the Hardware ID (VID/PID) which is crucial for driver identification.

Verify

  • The output will list devices in an error state. Copy the value from the InstanceId column (e.g., USB\VID_045E&PID_0748...)
  • Search PCI\VEN_<XXXX>&DEV_<YYYY> or USB\VID_<XXXX>&PID_<YYYY> on Google or driver websites to find the exact driver.

Notes

  • Requires Administrator privileges.
  • The InstanceId string contains VID_XXXX (Vendor ID) and PID_YYYY (Product ID) for USB devices, or VEN_XXXX and DEV_YYYY for PCI devices. These are universal identifiers.

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