If you’re mucking around with a new Windows installation, you’re probably going to run into driver headaches.No matter whether you’re installing a fresh copy of Windows on a freshly built rig or simply upgrading your PC to a new version of Windows, the OS fails to properly identify all of the hardware connected to the system more often than not. I typically like to download drivers for all of the major components in a PC before I even begin an OS installation, but inevitably a motherboard will have an obscure controller on-board or the system will have a non-descript add-in card that Windows doesn’t recognize.People deal with driver problems in different ways.
Some will hit a motherboard manufacturer’s website and search for the mobo, in hopes of identifying a component by the perusing the motherboard’s manual or spec sheet. Some folks resort to yanking the rig apart— ick—and searching the web for random part numbers on chips or cards they don’t recognize. You’ll likely have some success using either method (I have), but there is a much better way to identify unknown devices in Windows—and you don’t have to whip out any tools to do it. Delving into the unknownIt may not be obvious, but Windows give you all the information you need to identify unknown and unrecognized devices in Device Manager if you know where to look.If you’ve just installed Windows and the Device Manager is loaded with “Unknown devices” or “Other devices” that are in an error state or without any drivers installed, don’t fret! You’re only a few clicks away from ascertaining all of the information you need to identify the device and download its drivers.Windows will usually brand all of the unrecognized devices in Device Manager with a black exclamation point (!) on a yellow sign. If you’re lucky, the device’s name will be listed and you can simply search for its drivers. Otherwise, the device will most likely be labeled an “Unknown device,” which is not very helpful.
The detective workEvery piece of hardware in a Windows system has a unique hardware identifier. They’re not immediately visible in Device Manager, but they can found with a little digging. (Click to enlarge.)To find drivers for hardware that Windows refuses to recognize, open Device Manager (a search from the Start menu or Windows 8 Start screen brings it up lickity-split), right-click on the listing for the Unknown Device, select Properties from the context menu, and then click on the Details tab at the top of the resulting window.On the Details tab, you’ll see a drop down menu labeled “Property”. The items listed in that drop down menu will offer up a wealth of information about the mysterious device, but it’s the Hardware IDs that are most relevant to this discussion. Select Hardware IDs from the drop down menu and the “Value” field below will populate with a list of values. Consulting the Oracle—excuse me—searching Google for one of the values listed in the Window will usually yield the device’s identity. ID’ing the suspectHardware IDs will typically consist of long strings of characters.To easily search for drivers for a particular Hardware ID, right-click on the top-most value (usually the one with the longest string of characters) and choose Copy from the menu.
Then simply paste that value into your favorite search engine. I typically have the best luck by searching for a Hardware ID along with the OS version and the words “drivers” or “driver”, and “download.”For example, when installing Windows 8.1 on a Dell XPS 12 recently, I had a number of unknown devices listed in device manager. One of the Hardware Ids was:PCIVEN8086&DEV0153&SUBSYS05891028So, I did a search for “PCIVEN8086&DEV0153&SUBSYS05891028 Windows 8.1 driver download”. One of the very first results was for an Intel Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework Driver. I downloaded and, and bingo!
It did the trick.It’s not rocket science, but being able to quickly identify and find drivers for unknown devices in Windows can save a lot of time, especially if you’re constantly upgrading or building systems. If you’ve got any similar tips, we’d love to hear them; please comment below and give a fellow reader a hand.
I bought an Acer 5738ZG in November 2009 with Windows 7 pre-loaded. I've now tried to use the integrated Crystal Eye Webcam and it won't work. When I open the application, the screen is black. It wil however let me record and take a picture (of a blackscreen!). On Acer's advice, I've tried downloading the driver for the camera from the Acer support website but this doesn't work either (also there are 2 drivers 1 for Chycony and one for Suryin and I'm not sure which one I have to download or both?). Iunderstand that this seems to be a common problem with Crystal Eye and Windows 7.
Can anyone offer me any advice please? Many thanksHelensi. My gf has the exact same issue.
I've been scouring the interwebs since December trying to solve it with no luck. I did have one successful avenue though: the AIM chat client.
I know it sounds gross to have to install another app to get an integrated deviceto work, but its the only way I could get a response from the camera. For some reason, the native webcam driver in the client can access the camera while the Chicony Crystal Eye software cannot. Its obviously a driver issue, but I have found no way to extractthe driver from AIM to replace the exist Windows7 or Acer drivers.If all you need is video chat with a loved one, AIM works for us.C.C. Method 1.Let us start with running the hardware troubleshooter and check.
Follow the article below for more information:Method 2.Here is the Acre's download center link:If there are no Windows 7 drivers available, I'd suggest you installing the Vista driver in Compatibility mode.Follow the steps below to install this software in Windows VISTA SP1 Compatibility mode:1. Right click on the setup file.2. Go to properties.3. Click on Compatibility mode.4. Place a check mark the box in the box in front of “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and from the drop down menu choose Windows Vista SP1.5. Place a check mark on 'Run as an Administrator' under privileges level and click on Apply and then Ok.5.
Now double click on the setup file to initiate the install. You can find more information about compatibility modes in the articles below:Here is the link for Acer support:For more information refer to the link below:Important Note: This response contains a reference to a third party World Wide Web site.
Acer Laptop Camera
Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. Microsoft does not control these sites and has not tested any software or informationfound on these sites; therefore, Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. There are inherent dangers in the use of any software found on the Internet, and Microsoftcautions you to make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any software from the Internet.Hope this helps.Thanks and Regards:Shekhar S - Microsoft Support.Visit our and let us know what you think.If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the 'Mark as Answer' or 'Helpful' button at the top of this message.
Crystal Eye Installer Unrecognized Camera Reviews 2015
By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.Thanks and Regards, Shekhar Sharma.