What is Unknown Devices and How to Fix it

INTRODUCTION:
Base on my experience troubleshooting computers, sometimes the computer system (windows) unable to detect the hardware changes whenever we plug in storage (like thumb drive, memory card, etc). Or after installing all drivers there are still driver missing which listed as "unknown device" in device manager.
So here i would like to share my experience how to solve this problem because there are many reason why your computers get the unknown device problem.

IF you have the error and prompt with " Disk management console view is not up to date" whenever you insert memory card or usb drive you can refer my tutorial here:
http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2010/12/disk-management-console-view-is-not-up.html


CONTENT:

1. Unknown device - in device manager
Devices that detected as unknown device after installing windows.

2. Unknown device - USB storage and New Hardware
Unknown device appear after inserting USB storage such as thumdrive into the USB slot or other computer port.

Note: to open device manager click START and on the serach box type DEVMGMT.MSC and press ENTER. In windows 8 right click on lower left corner at the power user start button and select device manager.

1 - UNKNOWN DEVICE - IN DEVICE MANAGER
You will see picture like this.

 

 NOTE:
The solution is step by step process, which is say A didnt work, so move to solution B.
If you didnt find unknown device and theres no hardware detected after insert the USB device into the USB slot, click VIEW in device manager and select SHOW HIDDEN DEVICE.

1A: INSTALL AND UNISTALL
1. Right click on the unknown device. Select uninstall. It will disappear from the list.
2. Right lcik again on any device there and select scan for hardware changes.
3. A new hardware found displayed and select automatically install driver.

1B: IDENTIFYING THE UNKNOWN DEVICE AND GET THE APPROPRIATE DRIVER.
1. To identify what is the unknown device, first we must get the hardware ID.
2. To get the hardware ID you can read my tutorial here:
     http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-check-hardware-id.html
3. After you get the hardware ID refer to the list below:

ACPIHPQ0006
ACPIHPQ0007
HP Quicklaunch Button : Download link -  SP45058

ACPI/HPQ0004
HP Hard Driver Smart Protection Download link - SP45501

ACPIENE0100
ENE CIR Reciever (Infrared) Download link - sp45308

ACPIAWY00012&DABA3FF&0
Away Mode Driver Download link - http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_winxp_15.26.html
or: http://data.versiontracker.com/drivers/manual/msi/AMDAway_MB.zip

ACPIVEN_HPQ&DEV_6001
HP Wireless Button Driver : Download link : sp58720
If you cannot enable f12 function use this driver: sp59199



ACPIIFX0102
Ifineon trusted module: Download link 

USBVID_138A&PID_003D&REV_0104
Validity Fingerprint sensor driver : Download link

My hardware ID is not listed here, what to do?
-post your hardware ID here and i will recommend the compatible driver for you.
Another trick: Google the hardware ID and you will get the information about the device and drivers.

2. USB STORAGE AND NEW HARDWARE.

This section will discuss the problem with USB drive such as thumb drive and memory card which detected as unknow device.

SECTION 2A:
1. First thing to do is similar with previous post section 1A.
2. Try to plug the USB into other port.
3. If still didnt work try the USB on other computer, if still detected as unknow means there are problem with the hardware. It may refer to faulty hardware.
4. If it work on other computer and not yours, maybe you are missing USB driver/OS patch/upgrade/fix which you can download from your computer manufacture site.

SECTION 2B:
1. Open drive management by click start and type DRVMGMT.MSC and press ENTER.
2. Look at the drive listed and see if the disk is detected. If not means there are problem your your hardware. Test it with other computer and if detected on other computer you must try with different usb slot on your computer.
3. For memory card make sure you computer can support the size of the card, example some computer only can read up to 2GB memory reader, and unable to detect or read higher than that.
4. Malware and virus maybe one of the cause but it never happen to me and no report from users about this.

EXPERT MODE:

Generally speaking, people who like computers love to try anything to fix and test.

I always have multiple OS in my computers and normally if i have problem with USB detected as unknown i will test it on Ubuntu or other linux distribution such as linux mint. (I always change my linux OS). If you have Mac OS it will not detect storage in FAT and NTFS.
If my linux can read it, i backup the file and reformat the USB. So far there is only 2 result i got, if it detected reformat than when i plug in windows OS no more unknown and the USB work perfectly. If it not detected in LINUX mean it is hardware Faulty.

If you have suggestion to improve this post Im really happy to hear it.
Comments and feedback are most welcome.

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Fix EXE File Association Errors

Fix .EXE File Association Errors:
The operating system has to know where a file is located and what to do with it before it can open the file. File extensions are a method of telling the operating system what kind of file it is and by using associations what application should be used to open the file. The operating system uses the file extension…the three letters after the period such as word.exe to determine the association.The .exe extension states that a file is an executable application. A .doc extension identifies the file as a word processing document that can be opened with MS Word, Wordperfect, Wordpad and several other word processing applications.
File associations are stored in the windows registry in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive. The picture below shows the .exe entry in my windows registry.

The registry key also contains the following information:

• preferred program that can open the file
• the full path to the location of the preferred program
• Actions that can be performed on the file
• A default action (what happens if you double click on it)
• Other programs that can open the file
• Other actions that can be performed

For example, the registry entry for the .mp3 file extension on my machine is shown below. On my machine both Quick Time and Real Player are associated with and therefore can play the file. Notice that Quick Time is the default.

Since an executable file is an application that runs on your computer. Every program you open in windows has an executable file associated with it. .exe executable files are opened by the windows application launcher. If the file association listed in the registry for .exe files is incorrect, applications using that file extension will not be able to run.
EXE File Association Error in Windows Vista
How does the registry entry get changed? It can happen when someone inadvertently assigns the .exe extension to an incorrect program. If they have not established a system restore point before making the change, the registry gets changed and executables using the .exe extension stop working. Usually the first symptom is that shortcuts suddenly have the .lnk extension which means they are no longer pointing to a valid operation.

Solutions

First off, if you are not comfortable changing your windows registry files, you should try a free registry cleaner scan first and check for any potential errors that might be able to be fixed automatically.
Since programs like anti virus, spyware detectors and firewalls monitor the registry in real time, you must turn them off before you edit the registry to avoid unexpected unpleasant consequences. At worst they can either trash your system or prevent you from making the necessary corrections by not letting you save your changes.
Creating a New File Extension
Since almost all of the tools available in windows use the .exe extension very little will work. If you can get windows explorer, My Documents or My Computer to open, perform the following steps:

• Open the File Types dialog box from Windows Explorer, My Documents or My Computer by selecting Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types as shown below.
• Click on the New button and the Create New Extension window will open up
• Next, click on the Advanced button. Your window should look like the one below.

• Type in EXE for the extension and select Application from the drop down list if it doesn’t appear automatically.
• Click OK and reboot the machine.

If this procedure does not work or none of the applications would run, you will have to edit the registry.
Editing the Registry
Warning—Back up all of the files you created before you attempt to edit the registry. Also create a restore point so that you will be able to restore the system if you accidentally trash the operating system to the point that it will not boot up.
The EXE association problem can occur in all versions of windows and is normally fixed by editing the registry. We will only discuss how to fix the problem in windows vista. You must delete a registry key to correct this problem. Perform the following steps:

• Open up the registry editor by going to Start -> Run
• Type regedit in the dialog box.
• Select Edit -> Find as shown below.

• The dialog box shown below will open. If the file association problem exists the registry key listed below will exist. Type exe in the search field as shown below or you can manually navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerFileExts.exe Manual navigation is usually faster.

• By existing, this registry key’s configuration is overwriting the default file association for .exe files. Therefore, to fix the problem you must delete the registry key by right clicking and selecting Delete from the drop down context menu.
• Reboot the machine. When it reboots, the system will use the default values. Therefore, the EXE extension should work properly again.

Related Post

• EXE File Errors

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