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Device Manager

Built-in toolWindows 7, 8.1, 10, 11
Checked against official documentationLast reviewed 1 min read

Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) lists the hardware Windows has detected and the driver each device uses. A yellow warning sign marks a device with a problem, and the device's Properties show an error code such as Code 10 or Code 28. It is also where a driver is updated, rolled back to the previous version or uninstalled.

1Common error codes

Code 28 means no driver is installed. Code 10 means the device cannot start, often because of a wrong or damaged driver. Code 43 means Windows stopped the device because it reported a problem. 'Other devices' collects hardware with no driver at all.

2Roll back and uninstall

'Roll Back Driver' on the Driver tab returns to the previously installed driver, when Windows kept it. 'Uninstall device' removes the device; with the option to delete the driver, the driver package is also removed from the driver store.

3Command line

pnputil /enum-devices /problem lists devices with problems, and pnputil /enum-drivers lists third-party driver packages in the driver store.

How to fix a device with a warning sign

  1. Press Win+R, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
  2. Open the device with the warning sign and read the error code on the General tab.
  3. If the problem started after a driver update, choose Driver > Roll Back Driver.
  4. Otherwise choose Update driver > Search automatically, or install the driver from the PC or device maker.
  5. Restart and check the device status again.

Cautions

  • Do not uninstall disk, storage controller or network drivers unless you can reinstall them without the network.
  • Driver packages from unofficial download sites can contain malware.

Sources

  1. Update drivers through Device Manager in Windows (Microsoft Support) support.microsoft.com
  2. Device Manager error messages (Microsoft Learn) learn.microsoft.com

Note: Rain Cleaner installs drivers only from Microsoft's update catalogue and keeps a copy of the current ones.

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