Sunday, September 1, 2013

Search Windows Drivers for Unknown/Other Devices Online

It is often that we encounter the problem of unidentified devices in Microsoft Windows. A web search, perhaps, is the most common method to locate the drivers for the devices.

Having located Windows drivers for a few "other device" or "unknown devices", I learned that the correct method to do the web searches is to use the devices "Hardware Ids" listed under the "Details" tab of the selected device in Windows Device Manager. See the figures below.



Basically, you ought to open Windows Device Manager from Control Panel, right click on the unknown device or other device, then select Properties.  Click the Details tab, choose Hardware Ids from the dropdown box, and press CTRL-C to copy the details shown under  the Value box. Then, press CTRL-V in a web search box along with model and maker of your computer. In this particular, example, I entered,

USB\VID_138A&PID_003C HP EliteBook 2760p driver

The first two returned results would give you sufficient information to locate the driver for the "uknown device", which is, in fact, a Validity Fingerprint sensor.



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