Unknown USB Device Error Message on Windows 10 FIX TutorialWe all use a number of USB Devices every day. From plugging in our phones for charging to using. Connect your USB device which is throwing unknown usb device/not recognized by Windows. You will see an Unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) with a yellow exclamation mark in Universal Serial Bus controllers. Now right-click on it and click Uninstall. Restart your PC and the drivers will get installed automatically. The problem of USB device not recognized error in Windows 10 could be due to faulty, corrupted or missing device drivers. This can be fixed by uninstalling faulty device drivers and allowing Windows to automatically reinstall them back on your computer.

If your external USB device is not recognized by Windows 10, and meet Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error in Device Manager, use solutions here to troubleshoot and fix the error.

As you have noticed, the USB Device in Device Manager has a yellow triangle on it:

The error can be caused by hardware issues. So first, follow below simple instructions to do the troubleshooting.

1. Try the device on a different USB port. This will figure out if problem is caused by a broken port.

2. Connect the device to another PC. This will figure out if the external device has problem.

If there is no problem with the USB port and the device, read on and try the following methods. You can start at the top of the list and work your way down.

Method 1: Remove the Power Supply
Method 2: Uninstall the USB Driver in Device Manager
Method 3 : Update the USB Driver
Method 4: Disable Fast Startup
Method 5: Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings

Method 1: Remove the Power Supply

This method will fix the problem magically if the problem is caused by Power Supply.

1. Remove the Power Supply plug from PC.

2. Re-plug in the Power Supply.

3. Restart the PC and connect the device to the USB port.

Method 2: Uninstall the USB Driver in Device Manager

Follow these steps:

1. Open Device Manager and expand category Universal Serial Bus Controllers and locate the USB device which is not being recognized by Windows.

2. Right-click on the device and select Uninstall from the context menu.

3. After finishing the uninstallation, restart your PC then Windows will reinstall the device automatically.

Method 3 : Update the USB Driver

The problem can be caused by faulty USB driver. In this case, updating driver would fix the problem.

If you’re not confident playing around with drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

1. Downloadand install Driver Easy.

2. Run Driver Easy and clickScan Nowbutton. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

3. Click theUpdate button next to a flagged USB driver to automatically download and install the correct version of this driver (you can do this with the FREE version). Or clickUpdate All to automatically download and install the correct version ofallthe drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).

Method 4: Disable Fast Startup

If Windows is booting quickly,the external device may not be detected before the boot is completed, then the problem will occur. In this case, disabling the fast boot option in Power Options can resolve the problem.

1. Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time. A Run dialog box will appear.

2. Type control in the run box and click OK button. This is to open Control Panel.

3. View by Large Icons and click on Power Options.

4. Select Choose what the power buttons do in left pane.

5. Click on Change settings that are corrently unavailable.

6. Under Shutdown settings, uncheck the box next to Turn on fast startup (recommended). Then click on Save changes button.

7. Restart your PC and see if the problem resolves. Note your PC will boot a little slower.

Method 5: Change the USB Selective Suspend Settings

Follow these steps:

1. In Power Options,click on Show additional plans. (If you tried Method 2, you must know how to go to Power Options. If not, go back to Method 2 and refer the steps to open Power Options.)

2. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.

3. Select High performance and click on Change plan settings.

4. Click on Change advanced power settings.

5. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.

6. Locate USB settings and expand it.

7. Expand USB selective suspend setting. Disable both On battery and Plugged in settings.

8. Click Apply button and restart your computer.

After using methods in this post, you must resolve the Device Descriptor Request Failed error for Windows 10.

Position: How Tos - How to Fix Unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) in Windows 10/8/7?

Summary

Your USB device cannot be recognized or reports device descriptor request failure error in Windows 10/8/7? We use USB devices all the time and it is quite frustrating when it is malfunctioned, not working or not recognized in Windows. The USB device_descriptor_failure is one of the issues we often encounter. In this article, you can find 8 reliable solutions to fix the problem and make your drive work again.

Symptoms of Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)

When it comes to transferring data from one device to another, USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices might be the first choice. USB devices come in various types, such as USB flash drive, memory card, pen drive, etc. They are portable, small-sized and large in capacity, making users carry huge amount data or transfer data between devices.

The USB device descriptor is used to store information for USB drives and it is responsible for recognizing different USB devices. If it fails to work properly on Windows 10, the USB drive cannot be recognized by system and you may get errors like code 43. When you insert the USB device to your computer, you may get following message depending on your PC.

'USB device not recognized. The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognized'

'One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.'

'Try reconnecting the device. If Windows still does not recognize it, your device may not be working properly.'

'USB DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE'

'Unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) code 43'

'USB vid_0000&pid_0008 5&3a33fe6e&0&5'

If you open Device Manager, you can see the USB device which is displayed under Universal Serial Bus controllers is marked with a yellow exclamation and with message 'Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)'. If you check its properties, you can see error message 'Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems.(Code 43). A request for the USB device descriptor failed.' on the General tab.

Let's have a look at a practical scenario about this issue:

'I have a 16GB USB flash drive that I haven't used in about a year. Now I constantly get a massage saying that the device has malfunctioned. Device Manager shows similar massage. I formatted the USB drive twice now and still get the error. I tried unplugging and plugging the device, but nothing changes. I cannot find any further information about the USB drive in Device Manager except the hardware ID is USBDEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE. What should I do to be able to access the USB device properly?'

Causes of device descriptor request failed error

Here we list some reasons why this unknown USB device (device descriptor request failed) error happens:

• Windows cannot find the description of the USB device in question.
• The USB device that reports error code 43 cannot communicate properly with computer, as there might be a connection issue.
• The device is using corrupted, damaged or outdated drivers.
• There are errors in some software or hardware components, for example, USB port is broken.
• The USB controller you are using is corrupted or unstable.
• BIOS system is not updated to the latest version.
• The USB drive is damaged, such as it contains bad sectors.

If you are troubled by this issue now and have no idea how to fix it. Just continue reading the rest part which will present a couple of methods to help you troubleshoot this issue without losing data.

Method 1: Check USB device & connection status

The first move to fix the issue should be making sure the USB device and connection is in good condition. If there is not hardware issue, you need to move to other solutions in this post.

Step 1 Unplug the USB device which reposts not recognized error and insert it to another USB port to see if it can be recognized properly by Windows. This can make sure if the issue is caused by damaged port.

Step 2 Insert the device to a different computer to check if the USB device descriptor error is causes by PC itself.

Step 3 Remove power plug from your laptop. Then restart computer and insert the USB device. Then check if the issue can be solved.

Method 2: Use Hardware and Device troubleshooter to fix USB device descriptor failure

If your computer has installed Windows 10 Creator Update, you can try the new troubleshooting tool to fix the problem. It is a Windows built-in universal troubleshooting tool and it can be used to check and repair various system problems.

Step 1 Click 'Start' menu and select the Settings icon.

Step 2 On the popup-up window click Update & Security option.

Step 3 Click 'Troubleshoot' on the left pane and look for Hardware and Devices option on the right pane.

Step 4 Click button 'Run the troubleshooter' and wait for the troubleshooter to finish. If any problems are found, it will fix them automatically.

Method 3: Uninstall and update the USB driver in Device Manager

The USB device descriptor failure issue usually has something to do with problematic USB drivers, for example, USB drivers on your computer might be outdated, corrupted, missing or broken. Therefore, you can try updating USB driver to fix the issue.

Step 1 Open Device Manager. Press Windows key and R together to open Run dialog box. Type devmgmt.msc in Run and click OK to open Device Manager.

Step 2 Browse the list and expand category Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Then you can locate the malfunctioned USB drive which is tagged with a yellow sign and named with 'Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)'.

Step 3 Right-click on it and select Uninstall option from context menu. Once drivers are uninstalled successfully, restart computer and Windows will reinstall the device automatically.

Step 4 If Windows cannot install drivers correct, you can go to manufacturer's site of your USB drive and download the latest drivers. Then you can install drivers manually.

Method 4: Check and repair bad sectors for the malfunctioned USB device

Bad sectors are areas that cannot be read or written, if a disk contains too many bad sectors, you'll have to consider replacing it with a new one. Here we'd like to recommend free partition manager software to check and repair bad sectors on USB drive. You can download DiskGenius and follow steps below to repair damaged USB drive. It should be noted that bad sector repairing process damages data and you should back up or recover data first if you want to repair bad sectors on USB drive.

Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and you can see the USB drive in the main interface.

Step 2 Select the USB drive from the left pane and click 'Disk' menu to select 'Verify or repair Bad Sectors'.

Step 3 Click 'Start Verify' button below and the software starts to scan the USB drive.

Step 4 Complete the scanning complete, DiskGenius reports if any bad sectors have been found. If the USB drive contains bad sectors, you can click 'Repair' button to get them repaired.

Step 5 DiskGenius prompts repairing bad sectors damages data and you should create back up in advance. Click OK to continue.

Method 5: Disable Fast Startup to fix USB device failure

The fast startup feature relates to hibernate and shutdown, which is designed to make computer boot faster. However, some users report that this feature makes computer performs so quickly that Windows 10 cannot detect USB device and the USB device descriptor failure appears. If that is the case, you can follow these steps to turn off fast startup.

Step 1 Press 'Windows' key and 'R' key from keyboard at the same time to open Run dialog box.

Step 2 Type 'control' in searching box and click 'OK' button. This will open Control Panel.

Step 3 Type 'Power options' in the search box of Control panel and click 'Change what the power buttons do' from searching result.

Step 4 Click 'Change settings that are currently unavailable' link under Define power buttons and turn on password protection.

Step 5 Unselect 'Turn on Fast Startup (recommended)' option under Shutdown settings and click 'Save changes' button. Then restart computer and check if the USB device issue solves.

Method 6: Disable USB Selective Suspend Settings

In some cases, operating system will put the USB port in low-power mode if the USB selective suspend setting is enabled. If so, the USB drive connecting to this port won't be able to work normally and cause USB device_descriptor_failure problem. To solve the problem we can try disabling this feature via following steps:

Step 1 Open Control Panel and click System Security, and you can find and click Power Options. If you are using laptop, you can right-click on battery icon and select Power Options.

Step 2 Expand 'Show additional plans' and click 'Change plan settings' link which belongs to High performance option.

Step 3 Click 'Change advanced power settings' from the lower part.

Unknown Usb Device (device Descriptor Request Failed) Driver Error Windows 10

Step 4 On the Advanced settings tab find and expand 'USB settings'. Then expand the sub-category 'USB selective suspend setting'.

Step 5 Select Disabled for both 'On battery' and 'Plugged in' settings. Click 'OK' and 'Apply' buttons and reboot computer.

Method 7: Update driver software for Generic USB Hub

Step 1 Right-click on Start menu and select 'Device Manager', and this opens Device Manager.

Step 2 Browse the list and expand option 'Universal Serial Bus controllers'.

Step 3 Right-click 'Generic USB Hub' entry and select 'Update Driver Software' from context menu.

Step 4 Now the 'Update Driver Software Generic USB Hub' window pops up and you should select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.
This option helps to locate and install driver software manually. Thus you may need to download the driver to your computer beforehand. If you cannot find drivers, you can try selecting 'Search automatically for updated driver software'.

Step 5 Select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'. The list will show installed driver software compatible with the device, and all driver software in the same category at the device.

Step 6 Select Generic USB Hub item and click Next button. Then wait for the installation to finish and close.

Repair Usb Drivers Windows 10

Method 8: How to recover lost / deleted files from USB flash drive in Windows?

This method can be used to retrieve lost data from damaged USB flash drive, SD card, external hard drive, HDD, virtual disk, etc. If your USB drive which cannot be recognized by Windows holds important files that do not have a backup, you should perform USB flash drive recovery in the first place.

Step 1 Install and launch DiskGenius from your computer. Then you can view the malfunctioned USB device in this software.

Step 2 Right-click on the partition or drive from which you want to recover lost data, and select 'Recover Lost Files' option.

Unknown Usb Device Driver Error Windows 10 Pro

Step 3 Select recovery mode and click 'Start' button.

To recover data from malfunctioned or not recognized USB drive, the 'Complete Recovery' mode should be selected. Also, the 'Search For Known File Types' option should be selected, because this option performs deep scanning and it is very useful when retrieving data from damaged drive.

Unknown Usb Device Error

Step 4 Preview files to check if files are correct.

You can double click a file to view file content in its original size, thus you can make sure if the file can be correctly recovered. DiskGenius supports previewing photos, documents (MS Office files, PDF, Text, etc), video and audio files.

How To Fix Driver Errors

Step 5 Recover files from USB disk by copying them to a different location. Select files you want to recover, right-click them and select 'Copy To'. Then you can specify a location to save recovered data.

Conclusion

We just mentioned a couple of solutions to fix unknown USB device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) error. We hope these methods can help you and now you can repair it on your own. Also, if the USB drive contains important data, you should apply data recovery before trying any repairing actions. If you have better solutions or any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact us.