Hardware Appears Under Unspecified Devices in Windows Device Manager

Updated Mar 30, 2020

Reported In

Software

  • Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)

Driver

  • NI-VISA

Other

Windows Device Manager

Issue Details

I'm unable to establish a connection with my 3rd party hardware device. It does not appear in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) and appears under Unspecified Devices in Windows Device Manager.

Solution

Windows is not recognizing the device because the correct driver is not installed. The driver is usually automatically installed when the device is connected. Disconnect and reconnect the device, or reboot the device to prompt your computer to install the driver.

If this does not work, you may have a setting that blocks Windows from automatically installing drivers. Change this setting by navigating to your device in Control Panel >> Devices and Printers. Right-click on your device and select Device installation settings. Uncheck the option that says Never install driver software from Windows Update and then select Save Changes.

Lastly, repair the NI-VISA driver. Make sure the NI-VISA version installed is compatible with the computer OS and LabVIEW version (if applicable). 

Additional Information

If your device is interacting with the NI-VISA driver, ensure that you install this driver last. For more information about the order of installation of NI software, please refer to Installation Order for Multiple NI Software Products.

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