USB Device Not Working In Windows 7

Plug and play problems? 

USB devices not being recognized can be really annoying. There you are expecting to instantly start using your new gadget and instead of quickly getting up and running you are forced to plumb the depths of the internet for solutions that might not even work if you can even find mention of one.

The problem presents itself pretty simply. You attach a supposedly plug and play USB device to your computer and instead of working you see a drawn out search for the device driver which cannot be found with Windows Update. Under Device Manager you see an entry under Other devices with an exclamation point beside it indicating a missing device driver. With that as the explanation given by Windows you are led to look for the missing device driver. Thing is you cannot find it anyware. If you do find something it is being offered from a site that is probably sketchy and you need to worry what is is really offering is malware. You try generic drivers. They don't work. You try drivers from different manufacturers. They don't work. Here's the likely reason the foregoing doesn't seem to work: the device driver that is giving you problems likely isn't particular to your device. It's probably a USB problem.

Solutions

It's possible the missing drivers are the USB drivers that should be installed for your motherboard. So reinstall or update them. But before doing so try the following two possible ideas beforehand. First try attaching your device to a different USB port. Some devices work only with USB 2.0 ports. Different ports on the same computer may also be run by different controllers. Second find a copy of the usb.inf file on your computer and make a copy of it in the Windows/inf folder. Restart your computer and check if the previously not working USB device comes to life. You may need to uninstall and then scan for hardware changes first under Device Manager to see updaed results.