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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Guide To Install Compaq and HP Driver

This tutorial will show how to install Drivers in HP and Compaq model.
Difficulty: easy
Note: This guide only for drivers officially release by HP and Compaq. It will not cover manual installation using drivers from other source.

INTRODUCTION:
For HP and Compaq model, the official drivers name will start with SP which refer to SoftPaq. So
Example : SP30399 (SP is short term for softpaq)

So if your driver file not start with SP, the drivers is either not from HP or originally from HP and edited by other party.
SoftPack package is formatted with exe extension which refer to executable file. excutable file mean you can run the program by double click on it, in this case to install the driver.

INSTALLING:

1. Make sure you download the appropite driver you need. If you did not have the appropriate driver you can request here:  http://laptop-driver.blogspot.com/2012/02/request-driver-version-4.html

2. After finish downloading the driver, you will get a file which look like this:

The softpaq name SPXXXX varies base on the driver file.

3. Then double click on it to install, the best way to do it is by right click and select run as administrator".

if "right click and run as admin", you will be prompted, so click YES.

4. Next step is to follow the on screen instruction and agree with the terms and agreement.

5. Then click next until installation finish. The first installation will unpack the driver file into SWsetup folder in C drive.
6. Continue with the installation by following the on-screen instruction until installation finish and reboot.

IF you get ERROR:

"Driver Installation failed: Could not find the device for this driver"

It means the driver is not compatible with your system. You need to make sure the driver you are using is the right driver for your laptop.
Take note, HP sometimes provides more than 3 option for wireless driver, so you have to choose base on your specification or you have to test which work for you. Installing wrong driver will not harm your system but it will result in error.
Let me know if you need advise or assistance in this matter.

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How to Install Acer Drivers

Do read the instruction carefully. You can get the drivers online by serching your model on the Acer.com or on this blog, you can also request drivers here.


Instructions:
1. You must extract the driver first using software winrar or 7zip (any compress tools).

right click and select extract file

2. Open the extracted driver folder and double click on the setup.exe or install.exe to install
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to perform the installation.
5. When the installation is complete, restart the system.

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Getting to Grips with Get

How many times have students said to you “I’ll never understand the word get. It has so many meanings!” Just before I wrote this I looked up get in a concordancer (1), and these are a few examples of what I got (no pun intended) on the first page. I won’t quote the exact sentences, just the basic collocations (2) :

Get ready, get set ...

• Get rid of those old newspapers
• Get drunk / closer / angry / killed off / clear
• Get paid
• Get him elected
• Get into line / bed
• Get the hell out of here
• Get someone to check
• Get a pay rise / a receipt / a goal / water for us
• I’m starting to get the drift of what he means
• Get hold of the manufacturer
• Get over something
• Get together

Can we see any regularity in the use of get here? I’d suggest we can, and that get is a general verb usually used to indicate change. The problem is that change can happen in a number of ways, leading to the apparent multiplicity of meanings for the verb.

Let’s look at some examples, both from the list above and others :

1. Get into line - He got off the horse – He got out of the car - We’ll get to London at about 5 o’clock.

Here, get indicates a change in position. First the person was out of line, on the horse, in the car, or in another city, and then their position changed. This use of get is signalled by the preposition of movement which follows.

2. He got drunk – We got closer – She got married – I got angry – He got killed

This time get indicates a change in state : first the person was sober, far away, single, calm or alive, and then their state changed. Get here could be glossed as “become” and is followed by an adjective or a past participle acting as an adjective.

3. They got a pay rise – Always get a receipt – He got a goal – I got a new car yesterday – Go to the supermarket and get some bread – The thieves didn’t get much – I got a book from the library – I got an Ipod for Christmas – He got the milk out of the fridge

This third category of change is change in possession, and here get has the general meaning of obtain. There are a lot of ways in which you can obtain something – you can buy it, steal it, borrow it, receive it from someone else, put out your hand and take it etc etc. Or in the case of a goal , by kicking a ball to the back of a net. Get here is followed by a noun – the object which is obtained.

Many of the more idiomatic or colloquial uses of get are just extensions of these three categories :

• Get the hell out of here is just a more emphatic way of saying get out of here, thus indicating a change of position
• Get rid of is a change in state – first you are “encumbered” with the unwanted thing and then you don’t have it any more. Get together and get over something are also easily explained in this way.
• Get the drift is a change in possession – only this time it is understanding which you obtain rather than a concrete object. Similarly get hold of could be glossed as "obtain contact with"

I introduce all of these three basic uses of get at elementary level, one at a time as they come up, and making sure that students understand the underlying concept of change. As they progress the idiomatic uses of get can easily be explained using the three categories, and the students have a basis for understanding the more complex uses which are usually only taught at later levels :

• I got paid
• They got him elected
• I’ll get him to check the equipment
• I got to drive a Ferrari!

The first of these examples fits fairly easily into the change of state category – notice the adjectival use of the past participle, just as in the simpler examples we looked at before : First I wasn’t paid and then I was. But the final three are harder to explain in this way.

I think we can do it in examples two and three, which are usually explained as having a causative meaning – the sentences could be glossed as They caused him to be elected and I’ll cause him to check the equipment (1) Again I would argue that an underlying change is being discussed - first he was not elected and then he was; the equipment is not currently checked, but it will be - and get indicates the change in the situation.

The only example which I can’t fit so easily into the categories is I got to drive a Ferrari. I’d never driven one before but now I have ? Possibly. But in any case, even if we leave this (and other?) uses out of the general explanation we have vastly simplified the area for the students, especially at the lower levels.

And talking of lower levels, it may have occurred to you that the other expression that I’ve not considered is the use of get in expressions such as I’ve got two brothers. This does fit into the categories, but causes such problems for both teachers and students that it deserves an article of its own – watch this space.


Notes

1. A concordancer is a computerised language corpus. If you enter a word, or sequence of words into the concordancer, you’ll get all or a selection of the sentences from the corpus in which that word or expression appears. It’s therefore ideal for checking collocations. The concordancer which I used to find examples of get can be found here.

2. A collocation is a sequence of words which “go together”. For example highly collocates with embarrassing but not linked, while strongly collocates with linked but not embarrassing :
Right : It was highly embarrassing / Smoking is obviously strongly linked to lung cancer.
Wrong : It was strongly embarrassing / Smoking is obviously highly linked to lung cancer.

3. Don’t get distracted by the difference between the past participle and to+ infinitive for the second verbs in these examples. They merely reflect the difference in the underlying verb – passive in the first case and active in the second. The same structures can occur with other verbs, for example want : They wanted him (to be) elected, I wanted him to check the equipment.

Acknowledgement

Photo provided under Creative Commons Licence by kansasexplorer via flickr.

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