Unknown device

J

Jaypie

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.

A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?

My computer is a compaq one and I have the installation cds
supplied by the company.

Does somebody know what should be done ?

Thank you.

Jaypie
 
G

Ghostrider

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.

A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?

My computer is a compaq one and I have the installation cds
supplied by the company.

Does somebody know what should be done ?

Thank you.

Jaypie
Before doing anything drastic, open Device Manager and determine
what exactly is the unknown device, if possible. It is usually
identified by an exclamation mark. A device driver re-install
may resolve the problem.

Before attempting a repair/recovery, consider all of the options,
as indicated here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...ns#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7

And before proceeding, make sure to backup all important important
files, viz., data, photo, video, etc. Full system recovery with
the Compaq installation CD's will result in a pristine installation.

Good luck.

GR
 
W

Wolf K

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.
First, back up your data. See below.

Could be you need a new printer driver, but IMO that's not the likely
cause. If it's malware, it's most likely a rootkit because a Restore
didn't remove the problem. (Rootkit is an evil program that's installed
before the operating system is booted, so that the OS doesn't see it). A
rootkit destroyer may find it, and is always worth a try. Here's one:
http://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-anti-rootkit.aspx
Search on "rootkit removal free" for more hits.
A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?[...]
Depends on how you do it. Most computers these days come with recovery
software built in (it uses a recovery partition which you normally don't
see). That may take you back to factory like-new state, or allow
retention of data, settings, etc.

If you use the installation disks, you can do a Repair, which saves data
and settings, or a Reinstall, which takes you to the like-new state.

"Like-new" means just that: no Windows updates, no software updates.

In any case, before you do anything else, back up all your data,
documents, pictures, etc. Buy an external drive if you don't already
have one. 1TB (1,000GB) drives are available for $100 or less.

I repeat: Back up your data! You can recover the OS and programs, but
you usually can't recover your data.

I'd also make a list of the software installed since you bought the
computer. If you have install packages on the computer for any of them,
copy those to your external drive.

Once your data is safe, you can try Repair, if that doesn't work, try
Reinstall. Or you could take the machine to the shop and see what they
can do for you. Sometimes spending the money on a _reliable_ technician
is better than trying to fix it yourself.

HTH & Good Luck.
 
P

Paul in Houston TX

Jaypie said:
Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.

A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?

My computer is a compaq one and I have the installation cds
supplied by the company.

Does somebody know what should be done ?

Thank you.

Jaypie
Unknown devices were discussed here on July 15.

Dave-UK suggested:
Unknown Device Identifier v8.01
http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

Auric suggested:
Unknown Devices:
http://www.halfdone.com/Development/UnknownDevices/

Both work for me.
 
J

Jaypie

"Paul in Houston TX" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
[email protected]...
Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.
[ Snipped ]
Jaypie
Unknown devices were discussed here on July 15.

Dave-UK suggested:
Unknown Device Identifier v8.01
http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

Auric suggested:
Unknown Devices:
http://www.halfdone.com/Development/UnknownDevices/

Both work for me.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My printer is Lexmark 2500 series and plugged usb port and
worked very well before the unknown device appeared I don't
know how or when.

I did run zhangduo and it listed all the devices. One line only says :

Unknown device :
Manufacturer " Microsoft "

Jayie
 
P

Paul

Jaypie said:
Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.

A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?

My computer is a compaq one and I have the installation cds
supplied by the company.

Does somebody know what should be done ?

Thank you.

Jaypie
OK, you've described some things, that I don't have on my Windows 7 laptop.

If I run "devmgmt.msc", and look at Device Manager,
I have features such as:

Uninstall
Disable
Scan for changes

These to me, all imply "reverse-ability", meaning you
can't really damage things. If you enable the device
again, it becomes a candidate. If you uninstalled it,
then a "scan for changes" should attempt to install it again.

One way to remove a device, is disable it from the BIOS, using
the BIOS setup screen. Certain peripheral chips (my motherboard
Firewire chip), can be disabled that way. The hardware chip select
is effectively disabled, which prevents it from showing up when
an OS is running. That's a very effective way to remove hardware,
except only a small percentage of peripheral chips are handled
that way. Lots of system devices, will be running in any case.

On a Compaq (a pre-built computer), they don't normally offer
a lot of options like that. Because they could be a trap for
a customer (disable device, not be able to figure out how
to bring it back again).

But as far as the OS is concerned, it looks like the
design attempts to be "trap free", and operates in a
way such that available hardware can't "get lost".

*******

This article, is Microsoft's answer.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...-hardware-isnt-working-properly=windows-vista

There is a short video (thankfully, not Silverlight!).

http://wm.microsoft.com/ms/woh/023_repairdriver.wmv

What you can do with that, is not necessary "click" anything to
install a driver update. But at least look at the list of proposed
drivers that Windows Update offers, to see if any of them have
no corresponding item in Device Manager. That may give some idea
what the Unknown one is. (I.e. See an offered driver update
that you've never heard of before, and conclude the Unknown
device corresponds to it.)

When you plug in a printer, like an All-In-One printer with scanner
and the like, those are "Composite" devices. More than one piece of
hardware "hides" behind the main detection that a device is present.
This causes no problem for the OS particularly. My only reason for
mentioning this, is, in a sense, installing a modern printer, is
like installing multiple hardware devices at the same time. The
printer section may have a separate piece of driver code, from
the scanner section.

So what else can a printer include ? Some printers will have a slot
for a USB key, into which you can plug a USB key with pictures you
want printed. Others will have an SD memory chip slot, where
you can plug the SD you pulled out of your camera. Some of these
devices may require a driver as well (although, the driver is
probably included as a built-in function of the OS, and should
"just work").

One of the things the Apple OS has, is a graphical representation
of hardware, and sometimes subtending pieces of hardware, can be
seen below a main device. In Windows, you might use UVCView to
see some of the information. But it won't be in a convenient
graphical form, and neither will it be particularly easy to decode.
And utilities like UVCView and DEVCON, useful as they are,
are a bitch to locate, download, and extract. Microsoft doesn't
really understand the notion of "useful", like the stuff in
their Sysinternals site provides. They should move things like
UVCView and DEVCON, over to Sysinternals.

In fact, most of Device Manager functions, are like a skeleton
of a complete implementation. Everything is fine, if the enumeration
system can find a match, or find a driver on Windows Update. But
if you have a truly "Unknown" device, it can be the devil to
figure out. While there is one utility that attempts to automate
this issue, the description for it indicates it doesn't cover
all hardware bus types. And as such, even that utility cannot
guarantee it can uncover just anything. We know the OS can
uncover anything, but it refuses to barf up the details
for the unknown ones. It must have plenty of information it
could offer us. Yet, no evidence of that, in any of the
setupapi.* files.

In a Device Manager entry, you can examine properties. And there
is a tab where the properties can be examined one by one. For
detected devices, you can probably see a thing like "HW ID",
which would include VEN/DEV or VID/PID numbers, or mention
HDAUDIO bus, PCI bus, AGP bus, and so on. These are the
numbers the enumeration system uses, to match up drivers.

But when an entry is completely unknown, not sitting in a
"section" of Device Manager, you don't even get a tab to
look at! How useless is that ? The complete set of tabs
is not present, on truly unknown devices.

Try Windows Update, and see if there are any optional
driver installations, that don't match what you've got
in Device Manager. Maybe that way, you can narrow down
what it is.

*******

If you boot a Linux LiveCD, you can run "sudo lshw" or
"sudo lspci" or "sudo lsusb" from a terminal window. And
gather information about the hardware in the computer.
I don't know if all ACPI objects (hardware devices passed
by the BIOS), get included there or not. But that is
another avenue to researching unknown devices - comparing
to what Linux can detect.

Doing a reinstall at this point, would be the furthest
thing from my mind. I've only been completely defeated
just once, when a Windows OS would no longer provide
3D hardware acceleration for games, and I tried every
driver cleaner under the sun to fix it. Other than that,
a little hammering here and there, usually fixes things up.

Paul
 
J

Jaypie

"Ghostrider" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion
: (e-mail address removed)...

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer. [Snip]
Jaypie
Before doing anything drastic, open Device Manager and determine
what exactly is the unknown device, if possible. It is usually
identified by an exclamation mark. A device driver re-install
may resolve the problem.

Before attempting a repair/recovery, consider all of the options,
as indicated here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...ns#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7

And before proceeding, make sure to backup all important important
files, viz., data, photo, video, etc. Full system recovery with
the Compaq installation CD's will result in a pristine installation.

Good luck.

GR
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the Device Manager, there is nothing as Unknown Device. There is
nothing either concerning the printer except USB.

The Unknown Device showed up in Devices and printers only.

http://cjoint.com/?3GwcHXCVBQC
 
C

charlie

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer.

So I deleted the unknown device thinking the printer would be ok.
But it's not the case. I did a restore to a previous date, re-installed
the printer and the problem is still there.

A search in Google results in the fact that I should do a full system
recovery. If I do so, will Windows be re-installed ?

My computer is a compaq one and I have the installation cds
supplied by the company.

Does somebody know what should be done ?

Thank you.

Jaypie
A full system restore is likely a last resort, due to the work and time
involved.

The windows USB and printer driver scheme is complex, and often printer
drivers have "legacy" code that was hopefully somewhat updated.

An unknown device error can be the result of quite a few causes.
One involves the way the printer is "ID'd" by software. If the ID is not
fully recognized, the error can occur.

It is important to identify the printer make and model, and to check for
updated drivers.

In an extremely severe case, it may be necessary to disable the USB
controller and port used by the printer, uninstall the printer"s
drivers, etc., and allow windows to reinstall the driver software for
the USB controller and port.
 
G

Ghostrider

"Ghostrider" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
(e-mail address removed)...

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer. [Snip]
Jaypie
Before doing anything drastic, open Device Manager and determine
what exactly is the unknown device, if possible. It is usually
identified by an exclamation mark. A device driver re-install
may resolve the problem.

Before attempting a repair/recovery, consider all of the options,
as indicated here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...ns#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7


And before proceeding, make sure to backup all important important
files, viz., data, photo, video, etc. Full system recovery with
the Compaq installation CD's will result in a pristine installation.

Good luck.

GR
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the Device Manager, there is nothing as Unknown Device. There is
nothing either concerning the printer except USB.

The Unknown Device showed up in Devices and printers only.

http://cjoint.com/?3GwcHXCVBQC
Is it the Lexmark 2500 that is installed as the printer? If so,
it is also known as an "all-in-one"printer, meaning that it is a
printer, fax, scanner and copier.

In all probability, if the drivers for the scanner part of the
Lexmark 2500 has not been installed, Windows will detect it as
an "unknown" device. While Microsoft might have drivers for the
Lexmark 2500, it is always best to use the CD that came with the
printer (especially "all-in-ones") in order to set up the printer
and all of its built-in features. At the minimum, I am guessing
that the Lexmark drivers for both the printer and scanner (and
maybe the fax) need to be installed.

Although the "Getting Started" and "User's Guide" for the Lexmark
2500 series is vague, I suspect that proper functioning is linked
to the Lexmark Imaging Studio application that must be installed
from the CD.

HTH

GR
 
P

Paul

Jaypie said:
In the Device Manager, there is nothing as Unknown Device. There is
nothing either concerning the printer except USB.

The Unknown Device showed up in Devices and printers only.

http://cjoint.com/?3GwcHXCVBQC
In that picture, which one is the "Unknown Device" ?

*******

The Lexmark 2500 is basically a WinXP era printer,
that happened to get a Vista driver. The Vista driver
works in Windows 7. There is no solution I could
see for Windows 8.

There is Image Studio software, and possibly a third-party
OCR, included on the software CD. This does not appear
to be downloadable from the Lexmark web site. Presumably
so you wouldn't get a copy of Abbyy Finereader for free.
So the software on the CD, is a single shot in time version
good for the current OS (at the time of purchase).

If you move to a later OS, they provide a driver download only.
That may provide a WIA driver for scanner picture acquisition.
But the driver package probably doesn't do everything, that
the software on the original CD did. Maybe combining the
old Image Studio, with a new driver download, makes a
"working" All-In-One ?

The FAX capability on the 2500, uses no FAX modem inside the
2500. When you use their FAX capability, apparently you're
expected to have a FAX modem on the PC. The contribution
from the 2500, is just the scanning feature.

Paul
 
J

Jaypie

Replies indent...

"Paul" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
[email protected]...
In the Device Manager, there is nothing as Unknown Device. There is
nothing either concerning the printer except USB.

The Unknown Device showed up in Devices and printers only.

http://cjoint.com/?3GwcHXCVBQC
In that picture, which one is the "Unknown Device" ?
- - - - - - - - - - -

I deleted it. The was no description except " Microsoft "

**********
The Lexmark 2500 is basically a WinXP era printer,
that happened to get a Vista driver. The Vista driver
works in Windows 7. There is no solution I could
see for Windows 8.
- - - - - - - - -

It always worked fine as I said in another answer.
The problem happened when I saw an icon with " Unknown Device "
2 or 3 weeks ago.
I also have the original installation cd when i bought
the printer.

I unstalled the printer together with its driver, restarted the machine
and re-installed everything you described below.`

The scanner is working very well so I don't understand why the printer
does not function. I don't use the fax as I have no modem installed, only a
WIFI.

I have a usb cable from the printer to the computer and as you notice,
there is no printer listed in the Device manager.
- - - - - - - -


There is Image Studio software, and possibly a third-party
OCR, included on the software CD. This does not appear
to be downloadable from the Lexmark web site. Presumably
so you wouldn't get a copy of Abbyy Finereader for free.
So the software on the CD, is a single shot in time version
good for the current OS (at the time of purchase).

If you move to a later OS, they provide a driver download only.
That may provide a WIA driver for scanner picture acquisition.
But the driver package probably doesn't do everything, that
the software on the original CD did. Maybe combining the
old Image Studio, with a new driver download, makes a
"working" All-In-One ?

The FAX capability on the 2500, uses no FAX modem inside the
2500. When you use their FAX capability, apparently you're
expected to have a FAX modem on the PC. The contribution
from the 2500, is just the scanning feature.

Paul
 
J

Jaypie

The re-installation of the " All-in-one " printer was made from
the original cd and everything is installed.

My printer is a Lexmark 2500 series. As of today, the scanner function
works very well. I don't understand why the printer is not working well.

When I click on the printer properties, I see that everything is ok and
there is no update for the driver.


"Ghostrider" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
(e-mail address removed)...

"Ghostrider" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
(e-mail address removed)...

Hi,

I'm using windows 7 with IE 8.

An unknown device appeared on my system. This device affected
the printer which did not want to connect to the computer. [Snip]
Jaypie
Before doing anything drastic, open Device Manager and determine
what exactly is the unknown device, if possible. It is usually
identified by an exclamation mark. A device driver re-install
may resolve the problem.

Before attempting a repair/recovery, consider all of the options,
as indicated here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/...ns#what-are-system-recovery-options=windows-7


And before proceeding, make sure to backup all important important
files, viz., data, photo, video, etc. Full system recovery with
the Compaq installation CD's will result in a pristine installation.

Good luck.

GR
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the Device Manager, there is nothing as Unknown Device. There is
nothing either concerning the printer except USB.

The Unknown Device showed up in Devices and printers only.

http://cjoint.com/?3GwcHXCVBQC
Is it the Lexmark 2500 that is installed as the printer? If so,
it is also known as an "all-in-one"printer, meaning that it is a
printer, fax, scanner and copier.

In all probability, if the drivers for the scanner part of the
Lexmark 2500 has not been installed, Windows will detect it as
an "unknown" device. While Microsoft might have drivers for the
Lexmark 2500, it is always best to use the CD that came with the
printer (especially "all-in-ones") in order to set up the printer
and all of its built-in features. At the minimum, I am guessing
that the Lexmark drivers for both the printer and scanner (and
maybe the fax) need to be installed.

Although the "Getting Started" and "User's Guide" for the Lexmark
2500 series is vague, I suspect that proper functioning is linked
to the Lexmark Imaging Studio application that must be installed
from the CD.

HTH

GR
 
P

Paul

Jaypie said:
Replies indent...

"Paul" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion :
[email protected]...


In that picture, which one is the "Unknown Device" ?
- - - - - - - - - - -

I deleted it. The was no description except " Microsoft "

**********
The Lexmark 2500 is basically a WinXP era printer,
that happened to get a Vista driver. The Vista driver
works in Windows 7. There is no solution I could
see for Windows 8.
- - - - - - - - -

It always worked fine as I said in another answer.
The problem happened when I saw an icon with " Unknown Device "
2 or 3 weeks ago.
I also have the original installation cd when i bought
the printer.

I unstalled the printer together with its driver, restarted the machine
and re-installed everything you described below.`

The scanner is working very well so I don't understand why the printer
does not function. I don't use the fax as I have no modem installed,
only a WIFI.

I have a usb cable from the printer to the computer and as you notice,
there is no printer listed in the Device manager.
- - - - - - - -


There is Image Studio software, and possibly a third-party
OCR, included on the software CD. This does not appear
to be downloadable from the Lexmark web site. Presumably
so you wouldn't get a copy of Abbyy Finereader for free.
So the software on the CD, is a single shot in time version
good for the current OS (at the time of purchase).

If you move to a later OS, they provide a driver download only.
That may provide a WIA driver for scanner picture acquisition.
But the driver package probably doesn't do everything, that
the software on the original CD did. Maybe combining the
old Image Studio, with a new driver download, makes a
"working" All-In-One ?

The FAX capability on the 2500, uses no FAX modem inside the
2500. When you use their FAX capability, apparently you're
expected to have a FAX modem on the PC. The contribution
from the 2500, is just the scanning feature.

Paul
OK, does the installation process, make any demands on the
state of the printer ?

Some software, you are requested to keep the printer unplugged,
until the software is installed.

Other software, it sits there with a prompt, and wants you
to plug in the printer, before going any further.

It could be, you need to uninstall the Lenovo software.
Check "program features" or "add/remove", depending on OS,
and see what entries exist. There might be a separate
entry for the driver package.

Perhaps you could re-install the driver package later,
after uninstalling, with the printer disconnected.
Maybe that would make a difference.

When you had the "Unknown" icon, with the "Microsoft" label,
was the icon generic or was the icon a printer ? If the icon
was a printer, it could be that a generic Vista/Windows7/Windows8
Microsoft-branded driver, has taken over. I don't know
exactly how I'd stop that, except to keep the printer
unplugged until I had a better candidate driver installed.
(I.e. A driver that takes precedence over the generic driver
that is sometimes provided.)

This might all have started, after you accepted a driver update
from Windows Update.

Just a guess (not an IT guy, and not good at fixing printers :) ),

Paul
 
G

Ghostrider01

OK, does the installation process, make any demands on the
state of the printer ?

Some software, you are requested to keep the printer unplugged,
until the software is installed.

Other software, it sits there with a prompt, and wants you
to plug in the printer, before going any further.

It could be, you need to uninstall the Lenovo software.
Check "program features" or "add/remove", depending on OS,
and see what entries exist. There might be a separate
entry for the driver package.

Perhaps you could re-install the driver package later,
after uninstalling, with the printer disconnected.
Maybe that would make a difference.

When you had the "Unknown" icon, with the "Microsoft" label,
was the icon generic or was the icon a printer ? If the icon
was a printer, it could be that a generic Vista/Windows7/Windows8
Microsoft-branded driver, has taken over. I don't know
exactly how I'd stop that, except to keep the printer
unplugged until I had a better candidate driver installed.
(I.e. A driver that takes precedence over the generic driver
that is sometimes provided.)

This might all have started, after you accepted a driver update
from Windows Update.

Just a guess (not an IT guy, and not good at fixing printers :) ),

Paul
Exactly! I abhor these all-in-one devices. One has to use the
installation CD and follow the instructions precisely and in their
proper sequence. It was better when the printer section went to
a LPT1 port and the scanner/copier/FAX function to an USB port.

GR
 

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