Once you’ve tried restarting the device and the computer, use Windows’ Device Manager to track down and fix the problem. So, it’s frustrating when Windows 7 refuses to recognise a device, or the device itself won’t work the way it should. For more information, see Device Manager Details Tab.Most of the time, when you plug something like a printer or an external hard drive into your computer, it will work straightaway.

The General, Driver, Details, and Events tabs contain information that can be useful when you debug errors. Select and hold (or right-click) the name of the device, and then select Properties.

To see all devices, see Viewing Hidden Devices.ĭevice Manager provides detailed information in the Properties dialog for each device. For more information about the error messages, see Device Manager Error Messages.īy default, Device Manager may hide some devices from the view. Device Manager also provides an error message describing the problem. If your device isn't required to start the computer, if there's a problem with your device, Device Manager places a yellow exclamation point next that device's name in the Device Manager dialog. For more info, see Getting Started with WinDbg (Kernel-Mode). In these cases, you have to use the kernel debugger to troubleshoot your device installation. If your device is required to start the computer, a problem with your device installation can prevent the computer from starting. This includes the device type, device status, manufacturer, device-specific properties, and information about the driver for the device.

Alternatively, in File explorer, select and hold (or right-click) This PC, select Manage, and then select Device Manager from the System Tools that are listed in the resulting dialog.ĭevice Manager displays information about each device. To start Device Manager, you can launch the Start Menu search functionality and search for 'Device Manager'.

Windows device manager