Fix Unknown USB Device Error

 Fix Unknown USB Device Error

  It has certainly happened to you on one occasion or another that you are happy with a new peripheral you have purchased and you really want to try it out.  We took it out of its box, we are about to connect it to our computer and it turns out that Windows does not recognize it, how can we fix the unknown USB device error?  We'll see the possible solutions down below.

  How to fix unknown USB device error

  We will try several ways to fix or fix the error that Windows takes our USB device as unknown, instead of detecting it for what it is, downloading the drivers and letting us use it.

  Run hardware and hardware troubleshooting

  Sometimes a hardware troubleshooter works well to get rid of these types of headaches.  Try this option and you might be able to fix the problem automatically without doing anything else.

  Device driver update

  Here we have two options, the first is to try to update the device driver from Device Manager.  For this we will have to press "Start" and then type "Device Manager".

  Next, we will have to find the device in the list that appears in this new window.  Let's pretend it's a mouse, then we'll go to "Mouse and other pointing devices" we click on the arrow on the left side to expand the menu, look for the device and right-click, here we select " Update Driver ".

  In case Windows does not recognize it directly.  The most recommended is to go directly to the manufacturer's website and download the drivers directly.  We can see the exact device model in the box or instruction manual.  This way we can find your drivers through the manufacturer's website.

  USB drivers allow your computer to communicate with connected USB devices.  But when a device is not working properly or when we see a yellow warning sign with an “Unknown device” message in Device Manager, one of the options is to reinstall the driver.

  For this we will have to follow these steps:

      We press Windows + R to open the “Run” window and we will have to type devmgmt.msc and then give “Enter” or click on “OK”.

      Next, we will be in Device Manager, expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

      We will have to right-click on the USB controller and select Uninstall device.  We will have to uninstall all the drivers in this list.

      After uninstalling all the drivers in the list, we will have to restart the computer.

      After the restart, Windows will take care of installing the latest versions of the necessary USB drivers on your system.

  We can now reconnect the USB device and check if it works.

  Disable USB selective suspension

  The USB Selective Suspend feature allows Windows to save power when the USB device is suspended if no activity from the USB device has been detected for a period of time.  When Windows detects any activity on the said device, it reactivates it so that it can be used.

  The problem is that, sometimes, not so often, it turns out that Windows does not reactivate the stuck USB device.  Therefore, many users end up having problems just because of this feature.  Then we will have to disable the USB selective function to try and fix the problem.

  Run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

  Obviously, this solution is only for those who have a Surface device.  Several users have complained that when they try to connect a USB device to their Surface, it doesn't recognize them or they get this error.  According to your comments, uninstalling, reinstalling, updating, disabling and enabling drivers did not work.

  So the only option left for us is to run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit.  This set is designed for Surface 3 and later devices.  It helps the user to discover and solve hardware and software related problems.

  To start this toolkit, we will have to go to the search box and type “Surface Diagnostic Toolkit” and click.  In the event that we do not have this tool on our Surface, we will have to download it from the official Microsoft website.

  After starting the tool, we simply have to follow the on-screen instructions, they are very clear and easy to follow.  This process is practically automatic so we shouldn't have any kind of problem.

  Disable C state in BIOS

  All CPUs have several power modes known collectively as C states. By default, this C state is enabled.  It basically saves as much power as possible when the CPU is idle.

  The C state of computers works by limiting the power and gigahertz signals of the idle units of the CPU.  This C state begins with C0, which would be the CPU's normal operating mode.  When we are in this state, the CPU is up and running at 100% capacity if necessary.  As the number increases after C, the CPU will "sleep" and with more signals turned off, it takes longer for the CPU to return to the original state.

  People who encountered this error commented that when connecting a Lenovo Thunderbolt Dock to a Lenovo laptop, disabling C status from the BIOS resolved this issue.  If you own a computer from another brand, it is possible to try this solution.  However, in case it does not work, we recommend that you undo all changes.

  We must bear in mind that depending on the brand, the procedure for disabling the C state in the BIOS may not only be different, but the boot from BIOS is different.  We recommend looking at the instruction manual or the manufacturer's website on how to enter the BIOS and disable the C state, it will depend on the brand of the computer.

  Update the BIOS:

  In the event that all the previous methods did not work for you, our last option is to update the BIOS of the computer.