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On a beautiful day, when you plug in a USB drive to your Windows 7 computer to copy some important data, and on the screen, you receive a USB Device Not Recognized error message. In this article below, Mytour will introduce you to some methods to fix USB Not Recognized error in Windows 7.
Fix USB Not Recognized Error in Windows 7
Readers can explore some methods below to fix USB Not Recognized error in Windows 7.
Method 1: Restart Your Computer
In any case of error occurrence, the quickest and best solution to fix the error is to restart your computer. The case of USB Not Recognized error on Windows 7 is no exception, try restarting your computer, the operating system will reinitialize everything and check if the error persists.
If the error persists, refer to some other methods below to fix the error.
Method 2: Reinstall USB Driver
The cause of USB Not Recognized error on Windows 7 could be due to a faulty or outdated USB driver. To fix the error in this case, the best way is to reinstall the USB driver.
Step 1: Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog, then type devmgmt.msc into it and press Enter.
Step 2: At this point, the Device Manager window will appear on the screen, here you find and expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section, and check if there are any yellow exclamation marks appearing in front of Host Controller devices.
If no device with a yellow exclamation mark is found under the Universal Serial Bus controllers section, try checking under Other devices.
Step 3: Double-click on each device with a yellow exclamation mark icon. A new window will appear on the screen, here you click on the Driver tab and then select Uninstall.
Step 4: Next, check the box Delete the driver software for this device and then click OK.
Step 5: Restart your computer and reconnect the USB, then see if Microsoft detects and installs new drivers.
If multiple Host Controllers appear with yellow exclamation marks, repeat the same steps to troubleshoot the issue.
Method 3: Disconnect all external devices
Sometimes, if too many USB devices are connected to the same computer, it can also cause issues related to responsiveness, improper operation, and USB Not Recognized error on Windows 7.
To resolve this issue, the only remaining option is to perform a clean boot of the computer. Follow the steps below:
Disconnect or unplug all unnecessary drives and devices from your computer. Make sure your computer is properly shut down, then remove all drives, USB devices, memory cards from the card reader slot. Disconnect all unnecessary devices such as cameras, scanners, headphones, external hard drives, mice, keyboards, connected monitors, and more.
- If using a laptop:
Step 1: Shut down the computer and ensure you have disconnected all unnecessary external connections and devices.
Step 2: Unplug the power cord from the laptop, then remove the battery.
Step 3: Press and hold the Power button for about 15 seconds to discharge any remaining electrical charge from the memory protection capacitors.
Step 4: Reinsert the battery and plug in the power cord to the laptop, although at this point, no external peripheral devices are connected to the laptop.
Step 5: Press and hold the Power button to turn on the computer again, then try reconnecting each USB device one by one to check for the error.
- If using a desktop computer:
Step 1: Shut down the computer properly and unplug the power cord at the back of the computer.
Step 2: Press and hold the Power button for about 5 seconds.
Step 3: Reconnect the power cord and turn on the computer again, then try reconnecting each USB device to see if the error persists.
Method 4: Scan and update hardware drivers
By scanning and checking hardware drivers to see if there are any changes or if hardware drivers need updating to fix USB Not Recognized Windows 7.
Step 1: Enter device manager into the Search box on the Start Menu of Windows 7 to open the Device Manager window.
Step 2: Here, you find and click on Disk Drives. Right-click on the USB drive driver causing the error, select Uninstall.
Step 3: After the process completes, click on Action => Scan for hardware changes to reinstall the driver.
Next, open the Control Panel, then find and click on Printers and Devices.
If you see an Unidentified device with a question mark or red exclamation mark, right-click on it and select Update Driver.
Method 5: Activate USB Ports and Disable Power Saving
In the Device Manager window, find the USB Root Hub Properties and uncheck the box next to the option Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
Method 6: Creating INF File
Step 1: Access the directory C:\Windows\inf and check if the folder contains all the listed files below:
usb.inf, usb2.inf, usbport.inf, usbprint.inf, usbstor.inf, usbvideo.inf
Step 2: If any of the above files are missing, your task is to create those files. Alternatively, the best way is to copy those files from another computer.
This article above by Mytour has just guided you through some ways to fix USB Not Recognized error on Windows 7. If you have any doubts or questions that need clarification, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below the article.
