Buzz
When your computer's hardware malfunctions and you're unsure about the component type or manufacturer, you can use the Hardware ID to identify the device. The Hardware ID allows you to determine the manufacturer and model of nearly all hardware components in your computer, even if the device is not functioning properly.
Steps
Locate Hardware ID
Open Device Manager. This feature lists all connected hardware and displays devices that are not functioning correctly. Here are different ways to open Device Manager:
- On all Windows versions – Press ⊞ Win+R and type devmgmt.msc. Device Manager will launch.
- On all Windows versions – Open Control Panel and switch the view to Large or Small icons using the dropdown menu at the top right. Then select "Device Manager".
- On Windows 8.1 – Right-click the Start button and choose "Device Manager".
Right-click the device you want to inspect and select "Properties". You can view the properties of "Unknown devices" or other malfunctioning devices to locate the appropriate driver.
- Faulty devices will have a small "!" symbol.
- You can expand categories by clicking the "+" sign.
Click on the .Details tab. The Property dialog and Value field will appear.
Select "Hardware Ids" from the dropdown menu. Several entries will appear in the Value field. These are the hardware IDs of the device. You can use these IDs to help identify and locate the correct driver for the device. Continue reading for more details.
Using Hardware ID to Find Drivers
Right-click the first ID and choose "". The top entry is usually the primary ID and contains the most characters. Right-click this ID and copy it to your computer's clipboard.
Paste the hardware ID into Google's search bar. This will help you identify the device, which is crucial for diagnosing the hardware issue.
Add "driver" to the end of your search query. Google will return results containing driver files for the hardware. You can also use the information gathered in the previous step to download the appropriate driver from the manufacturer's support page.
Understand the structure of the Hardware ID. While you don't need to decode the entire ID, two key pieces of information can help identify the product if Google searches fail. VEN_XXXX represents the vendor code, and DEV_XXXX indicates the specific device model. Below are some common VEN_XXXX codes:
- Intel – 8086
- ATI/AMD – 1002/1022
- NVIDIA – 10DE
- Broadcom – 14E4
- Atheros – 168C
- Realtek – 10EC
- Creative – 1102
- Logitech – 046D
Use the Device Hunt website to query hardware information. You can input the extracted Vendor ID and Device ID into the database at devicehunt.com. Enter the 4-digit Vendor ID (VEN_XXXX) in the Vendor ID field or the 4-digit Device ID (DEV_XXXX) in the appropriate field, then click "Search".
- While the database is extensive, not all hardware types are included. It's possible you may not find a match.
- The database is designed for PCI slot hardware, including graphics cards, sound cards, and network adapters.
