How To Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in Windows

Device drivers are the fundamental building block of any computer system. We may some times find our self in a situation where we are unable to install the specific driver for our device due to a missing installation disk.  Without the disk, we could use the vendor and device information to find the driver, but what if we don’t have that either?  Windows does not tell the above information directly, but here is the way you can get it.

STEPS :

1. Launch your device manager. You can find it at Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager.
2. If you have any device with its driver missing, you will be able to see the device labeled as Unknown Device with a yellow exclamatory sign.
3. Right click the unknown device you wish to find details for and click properties.

 

4.  Now, navigate to the Details tab and select the Device Instance Path form the drop down list. 

5.You will be able to see the Instance path similar to:PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0843&SUBSYS_382D17AA&REV_05\4&1697FF41&0&34F0
 6. Now, copy the Vendor ID and Device Id of the device in a notepad. The one in RED is Vendor ID and the one in GREEN is device ID.
7.Now, all you need is open PCI DATABASE and enter the above details to find the vendor and device build type

 

8. Now, Google the Vendor name and Device model to download the specific drivers for the device.