How to Find Drivers For Unknown Devices In Windows

Usually, when you buy any hardware the drivers come along with it on a disc. If you lose the driver disc you can always download the necessary drivers from the manufacturer's website. But what do you do when you are not sure of the manufacturer of the hardware? Well now you will know what to do.

Instructions

1. Open Device Manager (Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager)

2. The hardware whose drivers are missing will appear as Unknown device, so it's easier to locate the device.

3. Right click on the unknown device and click on Properties.

4. Under the Properties window click on Details tab and select Device Instance Id from the drop down box.

5. You should see a code similar to this:

   PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27DC&SUBSYS_30868086
   &REV_01\4&1E46F438&0&40F0

6. In the text above the Vendor ID and Device ID will always be in the same place for the driver Vendor ID = 8086 and Device ID = 27DC your numbers will be different.

7. Once you have obtained both the IDs, proceed to PCI Database. There you can either search for the vendor from the vendor ID or directly get information about the device along with the vendor name by searching with the device ID.

   http://www.pcidatabase.com/

Tips & Warnings

• This may not work for all devices but it is a good place to start.