Unknown Usb Device Driver Error Windows 10

Position: How Tos - How to Fix Unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in Windows 10/8/7?

Summary

USB devices are one of the commonly used devices every day – from plugging mobile devices for charging using pen drives, you are making use of USB drives. However, there are times when you might encounter an error message saying, “Unknown USB Device” as you plug your USB device on your Windows 10 computer.
It’s quite possible that the driver installation for the device was canceled or the device was unplugged before the driver could have been installed properly. This will result in an Unknown USB Device description for the device and you will have to reinstall the driver in order to find out which device is problematic.

You need to verify which situation you are facing and then choose to update or roll back the USB device driver. If you need to update the device driver, you can refer to this post: How to Update Device Drivers Windows 10 (2 Ways). If you need to roll back the device driver, you can refer to this post: How to Roll Back a Driver in Windows? If the device-specific driver is distributed through Windows Update, you can manually update the driver by using Device Manager. For more information about how to do this, see update drivers in Windows 10. If the device is not yet connected, first install the device-specific driver, such as by using the appropriate installer. Upon a successful handshake, the device sends Windows its device descriptor. Windows uses the device descriptor to id the device and search for a driver. If the handshake fails or windows can't receive the descriptor for any other reason, windows can't recognize it and it's 'Unknown' Hi @spunk.

We just mentioned a couple of solutions to fix unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error. We hope these methods can help you and now you can repair it on your own. Also, if the USB drive contains important data, you should apply data recovery before trying any repairing actions. If you have better solutions or any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact us.

Your USB device cannot be recognized or reports device descriptor request failure error in Windows 10/8/7? We use USB devices all the time and it is quite frustrating when it is malfunctioned, not working or not recognized in Windows. The USB device_descriptor_failure is one of the issues we often encounter. In this article, you can find 8 reliable solutions to fix the problem and make your drive work again.

Symptoms of Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)

When it comes to transferring data from one device to another, USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices might be the first choice. USB devices come in various types, such as USB flash drive, memory card, pen drive, etc. They are portable, small-sized and large in capacity, making users carry huge amount data or transfer data between devices.

The USB device descriptor is used to store information for USB drives and it is responsible for recognizing different USB devices. If it fails to work properly on Windows 10, the USB drive cannot be recognized by system and you may get errors like code 43. When you insert the USB device to your computer, you may get following message depending on your PC.

'USB device not recognized. The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognized'

'One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.'

'Try reconnecting the device. If Windows still does not recognize it, your device may not be working properly.'

'USB DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE'

'Unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) code 43'

'USB vid_0000&pid_0008 5&3a33fe6e&0&5'

If you open Device Manager, you can see the USB device which is displayed under Universal Serial Bus controllers is marked with a yellow exclamation and with message 'Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)'. If you check its properties, you can see error message 'Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems.(Code 43). A request for the USB device descriptor failed.' on the General tab.

Let's have a look at a practical scenario about this issue:

'I have a 16GB USB flash drive that I haven't used in about a year. Now I constantly get a massage saying that the device has malfunctioned. Device Manager shows similar massage. I formatted the USB drive twice now and still get the error. I tried unplugging and plugging the device, but nothing changes. I cannot find any further information about the USB drive in Device Manager except the hardware ID is USBDEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE. What should I do to be able to access the USB device properly?'

Causes of device descriptor request failed error

Here we list some reasons why this unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) error happens:

Windows cannot find the description of the USB device in question.
The USB device that reports error code 43 cannot communicate properly with computer, as there might be a connection issue.
The device is using corrupted, damaged or outdated drivers.
There are errors in some software or hardware components, for example, USB port is broken.
The USB controller you are using is corrupted or unstable.
BIOS system is not updated to the latest version.
The USB drive is damaged, such as it contains bad sectors.

If you are troubled by this issue now and have no idea how to fix it. Just continue reading the rest part which will present a couple of methods to help you troubleshoot this issue without losing data.

Method 1: Check USB device & connection status

The first move to fix the issue should be making sure the USB device and connection is in good condition. If there is not hardware issue, you need to move to other solutions in this post.

Step 1 Unplug the USB device which reposts not recognized error and insert it to another USB port to see if it can be recognized properly by Windows. This can make sure if the issue is caused by damaged port.

Step 2 Insert the device to a different computer to check if the USB device descriptor error is causes by PC itself.

Step 3 Remove power plug from your laptop. Then restart computer and insert the USB device. Then check if the issue can be solved.

Method 2: Use Hardware and Device troubleshooter to fix USB device descriptor failure

If your computer has installed Windows 10 Creator Update, you can try the new troubleshooting tool to fix the problem. It is a Windows built-in universal troubleshooting tool and it can be used to check and repair various system problems.

Step 1 Click 'Start' menu and select the Settings icon.

Step 2 On the popup-up window click Update & Security option.

Step 3 Click 'Troubleshoot' on the left pane and look for Hardware and Devices option on the right pane.

Step 4 Click button 'Run the troubleshooter' and wait for the troubleshooter to finish. If any problems are found, it will fix them automatically.

Method 3: Uninstall and update the USB driver in Device Manager

The USB device descriptor failure issue usually has something to do with problematic USB drivers, for example, USB drivers on your computer might be outdated, corrupted, missing or broken. Therefore, you can try updating USB driver to fix the issue.

Step 1 Open Device Manager. Press Windows key and R together to open Run dialog box. Type devmgmt.msc in Run and click OK to open Device Manager.

Step 2 Browse the list and expand category Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Then you can locate the malfunctioned USB drive which is tagged with a yellow sign and named with 'Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)'.

Step 3 Right-click on it and select Uninstall option from context menu. Once drivers are uninstalled successfully, restart computer and Windows will reinstall the device automatically.

Step 4 If Windows cannot install drivers correct, you can go to manufacturer's site of your USB drive and download the latest drivers. Then you can install drivers manually.

Method 4: Check and repair bad sectors for the malfunctioned USB device

Bad sectors are areas that cannot be read or written, if a disk contains too many bad sectors, you'll have to consider replacing it with a new one. Here we'd like to recommend free partition manager software to check and repair bad sectors on USB drive. You can download DiskGenius and follow steps below to repair damaged USB drive. It should be noted that bad sector repairing process damages data and you should back up or recover data first if you want to repair bad sectors on USB drive.

Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and you can see the USB drive in the main interface.

Step 2 Select the USB drive from the left pane and click 'Disk' menu to select 'Verify or repair Bad Sectors'.

Step 3 Click 'Start Verify' button below and the software starts to scan the USB drive.

Unknown Usb Device Driver Error Windows 10 Windows 7

Step 4 Complete the scanning complete, DiskGenius reports if any bad sectors have been found. If the USB drive contains bad sectors, you can click 'Repair' button to get them repaired.

Step 5 DiskGenius prompts repairing bad sectors damages data and you should create back up in advance. Click OK to continue.

Method 5: Disable Fast Startup to fix USB device failure

The fast startup feature relates to hibernate and shutdown, which is designed to make computer boot faster. However, some users report that this feature makes computer performs so quickly that Windows 10 cannot detect USB device and the USB device descriptor failure appears. If that is the case, you can follow these steps to turn off fast startup.

Step 1 Press 'Windows' key and 'R' key from keyboard at the same time to open Run dialog box.

Step 2 Type 'control' in searching box and click 'OK' button. This will open Control Panel.

Step 3 Type 'Power options' in the search box of Control panel and click 'Change what the power buttons do' from searching result.

Step 4 Click 'Change settings that are currently unavailable' link under Define power buttons and turn on password protection.

Step 5 Unselect 'Turn on Fast Startup (recommended)' option under Shutdown settings and click 'Save changes' button. Then restart computer and check if the USB device issue solves.

Method 6: Disable USB Selective Suspend Settings

In some cases, operating system will put the USB port in low-power mode if the USB selective suspend setting is enabled. If so, the USB drive connecting to this port won't be able to work normally and cause USB device_descriptor_failure problem. To solve the problem we can try disabling this feature via following steps:

Step 1 Open Control Panel and click System Security, and you can find and click Power Options. If you are using laptop, you can right-click on battery icon and select Power Options.

Step 2 Expand 'Show additional plans' and click 'Change plan settings' link which belongs to High performance option.

Step 3 Click 'Change advanced power settings' from the lower part.

Step 4 On the Advanced settings tab find and expand 'USB settings'. Then expand the sub-category 'USB selective suspend setting'.

Step 5 Select Disabled for both 'On battery' and 'Plugged in' settings. Click 'OK' and 'Apply' buttons and reboot computer.

Method 7: Update driver software for Generic USB Hub

Step 1 Right-click on Start menu and select 'Device Manager', and this opens Device Manager.

Step 2 Browse the list and expand option 'Universal Serial Bus controllers'.

Step 3 Right-click 'Generic USB Hub' entry and select 'Update Driver Software' from context menu.

Step 4 Now the 'Update Driver Software Generic USB Hub' window pops up and you should select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.
This option helps to locate and install driver software manually. Thus you may need to download the driver to your computer beforehand. If you cannot find drivers, you can try selecting 'Search automatically for updated driver software'.

Unknown Usb Device Driver Error Windows 10

Step 5 Select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'. The list will show installed driver software compatible with the device, and all driver software in the same category at the device.

Step 6 Select Generic USB Hub item and click Next button. Then wait for the installation to finish and close.

Method 8: How to recover lost / deleted files from USB flash drive in Windows?

This method can be used to retrieve lost data from damaged USB flash drive, SD card, external hard drive, HDD, virtual disk, etc. If your USB drive which cannot be recognized by Windows holds important files that do not have a backup, you should perform USB flash drive recovery in the first place.

Step 1 Install and launch DiskGenius from your computer. Then you can view the malfunctioned USB device in this software.

Step 2 Right-click on the partition or drive from which you want to recover lost data, and select 'Recover Lost Files' option.

Step 3 Select recovery mode and click 'Start' button.

To recover data from malfunctioned or not recognized USB drive, the 'Complete Recovery' mode should be selected. Also, the 'Search For Known File Types' option should be selected, because this option performs deep scanning and it is very useful when retrieving data from damaged drive.

Step 4 Preview files to check if files are correct.

You can double click a file to view file content in its original size, thus you can make sure if the file can be correctly recovered. DiskGenius supports previewing photos, documents (MS Office files, PDF, Text, etc), video and audio files.

Step 5 Recover files from USB disk by copying them to a different location. Select files you want to recover, right-click them and select 'Copy To'. Then you can specify a location to save recovered data.

Conclusion

The Unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) in Windows Device Manager on HP and Lenovo would stop your USB devices like an Android mobile, flash drive or pen drive from being properly detected for use in Windows 10, 8 or 7, but we finally resolved the USB not recognized problem for you. In case any USB malfunction could endanger data, let EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard recover data from the inaccessible USB drive.

Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) is a Windows Device Manager error under the 'Universal Serial Bus controllers' section. The current device status is demonstrated as 'Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43). A request for the USB device descriptor failed.'

What Is a Device Descriptor?

The device descriptor (USB_DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR) is the root of the descriptor tree and contains basic device information. idVendor and idProduct of which are the unique members for the Windows operating system to identify the connected device and determine which device driver must be loaded.

Anyway, we don't care about the tech-savvy's jargon, but only get to know - how do I fix the device descriptor when the request failed?

How Do I Fix Device Descriptor Request Failed?

Driver issues take the most responsibility for an unknown USB device on HP, Lenovo, Dell, and many computers. As you've concerned, the device descriptor request failed error is a generic unknown USB problem, so it's reasonable to suspect a driver issue at present. The USB device here mentioned can be a flash drive, pen drive, Android, digital camera, and any digital gadget that is supposed to use on a Windows machine.

In the next part, we mainly show you the common troubleshooting methods for the device descriptor request failed error in Windows 10. As a matter of fact, Windows 7 and Windows XP users are also having the same problem. Never mind applying the solutions to your own Windows operating system. They're all-OS-versions compatible.

3 Quick Fixes to Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in Windows 10

In case that unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) error happens because the USB port is not working or USB device is damaged, the following three fixes are significant to try before going to further troubleshooting.

1. Try plugging in a working USB drive to check whether the USB port is working or damaged.
2. Plug your USB into a different PC to check whether the USB drive is working or damaged.
3. Check if the USB device shows up in Disk Management. As long as the data matters, download EaseUS free data recovery software to recover data from the inaccessible USB device in advance.

Step 1. Run USB data recovery software.

Connect the USB flash drive to your computer and launch EaseUS USB data recovery software on your PC. Select your USB drive which marks as a removable disk, and click 'Scan' to start finding your lost files.

Unknown Usb Device Driver Error Windows 10 Pro

Step 2. Scan all lost files from USB.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will thoroughly scan your USB flash drive and find all your lost data on it. After the scanning process, use the Filter feature to filter a specific file type. You can check and preview found USB files in this program.

Step 3. Restore all lost files from USB.

A double-click will allow you to preview the file results. Choose the target files and click 'Recover' to save them to a secure location on your PC or other external storage devices.

5 Advanced Fixes to Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in Windows 10

Due to the uncertainty of the exact factor that causes your USB drive malfunctioning in this way, the demonstrated solutions are not all supposed to take effect. Hence, take some patience to implement each solution until the problem solved.

1. Use Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

Press Win+R, type Control Panel and hit Enter.
Inside Control Panel in the search box type troubleshooter and select Troubleshooting.
After that select Configure a device under Hardware and Sound and follow the on-screen instruction.
Click on Apply this fix if any problem is found.

If the unknown USB device error is triggered by hardware issues, it will no longer appear after you try the above steps. If not, you need to move on to the next method to find a fix.

2. Try to Uninstall USB Drivers

Open Device Manager (Right Click on Windows Logo and Click Device Manager).
Now find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers. Now right-click on USB drivers and click Uninstall. Do for all USB drivers one by one.
Restart your PC then Windows will reinstall the device automatically.

Some people would find that uninstalling and reinstalling the driver only works once. The next time they plug in the drive, and the device descriptor request failed appears again. According to an experienced user who has been suffering the problem for long but finally found the cause of why this method does not work and how to make it work.

I found that going into Device Manager and 'Uninstalling the device', and then plugging in the USB I had been using at the time, before telling Device Manager to scan for hardware changes in the USB ports fixed this problem. I think it was because I've had this USB receiver for a mouse plugged into it for so long, that when I removed it from the port, the computer didn't recognize that it'd been removed and got caught in a loop trying to identify a device that wasn't there anymore, locking the USB port down. Works fine now.

3. Disable Fast Startup

Press Win+R, type Control Panel and hit Enter.
Click on Power Options and select Choose what the power buttons do in the left pane.
Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Under Shutdown settings, uncheck the box next to Turn on fast startup (recommended). Then click on the Save changes button.

4. Turn on Plug and Play in Windows Services

Press Win+R, type services.msc and hit Enter.
In Windows Services, find the name Plug and Play. Double-click on it to open the Properties window.
If the Startup type is currently Manual and the Service status is Running, try to turn it to Disabled and Stopped, save the changes; later change the Disabled and Stopped to Manual and Running again. Click OK and Apply.
If the Startup type is currently Disabled and the Service status is Stopped, switch to Manual and Running. Click OK and Apply.

Restart your PC and see if the unknown USB device problem has been resolved in Windows 10. if it doesn't work, try to perform a system restore to get rid of this issue.

5. Restore Your PC To Previous Recovery Points

Press Win+R, type Control Panel and hit enter.
Now find and open the Recovery option.
Select System Restore, follow the on-screen guide and wait until all the recovery points are shown.
Restore your PC from the right recovery point.