How to download drivers for unknown devices in Device Manager

Whenever Windows fails to load the correct driver for a new device, it will appear on the Device Manager page as "Unknown Device" with an exclamation mark. Sadly, this problem won't fix itself over time. Therefore, you must handle this issue yourself. There are many ways to solve this problem. Follow these instructions to update your device drivers.

Fix 1 – Update Device

The first solution you can try is to update the device driver from the Device Manager itself.

Step 1 –Start typing “Device” in the search bar.

Step 2 –There, right-click on “Device Manager” in the search results to open it.

Step 3 – Once there, expand the “Other Devices” section to find the “Unknown Device".

Step 4 –Then, right-click on “Unknown Device” and click on “Update Driver Software...” options.

Step 5 –In the next step, you will notice two different options. Therefore, select the "Search automatically for updated driver software" option.

#Now, all you have to do is follow the on-screen steps to complete the driver installation process.

While this may sometimes work, it usually doesn't solve the problem. It may happen again.

Fix 2 – Install driver using hardware ID

You can better understand the driver source, version and manufacturer from the hardware ID. So, follow the steps below.

Step 1 – Identify the Driver

You can do this from Device Manager.

Step 1 –Press Win key and X key at the same time.

Step 2 –Then, right-click on the “Windows” icon and click on “Device Manager”.

Step 3 –Now, find the “Unknown Device”.

Step 4 –After that, right-click on the device and click on “Properties”.

Step 5 –Switch to the “Driver” tab.

Step 6 –There, you will notice a table named “Properties”. Select "Hardware ID" from the drop-down menu to use it.

Now you will see certain parameters in the "Values" tab.

Step 7 –Select the value using your mouse, right-click it and click "Copy".

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Additional Information – If you want to know exact information about a device driver, you can search using the VEN and DEV numbers.

The copied hardware ID contains VEN and DEV numbers. You can use them in PCI lookups to narrow your search.

The copied hardware ID should contain two four-digit numbers that specify the driver details.

1. Check the hardware ID.

is like this——

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A102&SUBSYS_B0051458&REV_31

2. The four digits after “VEN” are called the supplier number.

3.Similarly, the four digits after "DEV" are called the device number.

So, from the hardware ID point of view, these are the numbers -

VEN - 8086DEV - A102

4. Now, go to PCILookup.

5. Here, copy and paste the VEN number into the "Supplier" box. In the same way, copy and paste the DEV number into the "Device" box.

6. After that, click "Submit".

7. On the following search page, you will see the details of the hardware from the "Description" tab.

#This should help you understand where the driver is coming from and the name and type of the driver.

(As in my case, the unknown device is the Intel Chipset SATA Controller. So you can go to the Intel website and download the latest driver for your system.)

You can now minimize the Device Manager page.

Step 2 – Search, Download and Install the Driver

Now you can search, download and install the driver from the internet using the copied hardware ID.

Step 1 –Open a browser and search using the copied hardware ID.

Step 2 –The search results should include some driver links as well as manufacturer details. If you don't see any manufacturer's name here, pay attention to the driver name in the search results. You can download the driver independently of the details you just noted down.

You can easily download drivers from these websites.

NOTE - Do not download or install any drivers from third party websites as these websites often contain malware, trojans or any other harmful Infections harmful to your device and system stability. Therefore, please download the required drivers for your device from the OEM official website or supplier website.

Step 3 –Some driver packages are provided in compressed format. If it is a zip file, please unzip.

Step 4 – In the extracted folder you will find the driver installer executable (commonly known as “setup .exe". Now, run this installation file to install the driver on your computer.

Now just follow the instructions to install the driver for your device. Done Once the driver is installed, just restart your computer once.

Fix 3 – Manually Download and Install Unknown Drivers

If you recently plugged in a new device (like a new printer or scanner), but the driver has not been installed, the plugged-in device may show up as "Unknown Device" with an exclamation point triangle.

So if you know which device it is, you can directly access the device manufacturer's website, download the latest driver and install it.

Step 1 – Go to the device manufacturer’s website.

Step 2 –Now , there you will find a section called "Downloads" or "Drivers". Here, specify the device driver you are looking for (For example, enter the model number).

Step 3 – Download the latest driver on your system.

Step 4 – Follow the Driver Setup Wizard to install the downloaded driver.

Step 5 – The computer must be restarted after this.

Restarting the system will complete the entire process.

Now you can open the Device Manager and check if you still see the unknown device error message .

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