I recently tried to install a USB printer on my Windows XP computer, and after Windows detected the printer, I received the following error message:
The device does not start. (Code 10)
If you are having the same problem, here are some ways to fix the problem with USB devices. First, if you have multiple computers, you need to determine if the problem is with the USB device or with the computer by connecting the USB device to the second computer. If everything installs and works fine, then the problem is with your computer.
If not, there might be something wrong with the USB device. However, it can also be a bad driver that doesn’t work on any computer, no matter which one you connect it to. Anyway, here are four ways to try to fix the problem:
First method – uninstall and update the USB driver
This error is mainly caused by old device drivers that need to be updated. The best way to make sure you have the latest driver for your device is to go to the manufacturer’s website and download it from there.
Then you want to go to Device Manager and if you see a device listed there with a yellow exclamation mark, right click it and uninstall the current driver that is causing the problem.
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Reconnect the device and, when asked about the device drivers, specify the folder with the new drivers. If there is no yellow exclamation mark, you can right-click and select Update Driver Software. If that doesn’t work, try Method 2!
Method 2 – Use USB 1.1 or 2.0 cables / ports
This may seem pretty simple and obvious, but it should be mentioned as it can cause this problem. If you are in IT like me, you probably have 50 USB cables from dead USB printers, cameras, etc.
If you try to use a USB 1.1 cable for a USB 2.0 device or a USB 2.0 cable for a USB 1.1 device, you may receive this error. Make sure you are using the correct type of USB cable with the correct device speed. Be careful, it can be as easy as swapping cables!
Also, if you connect a USB 2.0 device to a port that only supports USB 1.1, you may have this problem! If you have an old computer and connect new USB devices to it, you may need to purchase an external USB hub that supports USB 2.0.
Method 3 – Uninstall all USB controllers
If that doesn’t work, you may have to uninstall and reinstall all USB controllers! Luckily, it’s not that hard, and Windows will automatically reinstall the drivers for you! It won’t mess up your system or anything if you’re worried about it.
Typically go to Device Manager (Start – Control Panel – System – Hardware tab) and expand the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section.
Right click on each of them and select “Delete”. After you have removed all of them, restart your computer and Windows will reinstall all USB controllers. Now plug in your USB device and hopefully it will install without any problems! Be sure to use this third method if the USB device works fine on the other computer, because it means something is corrupted in the USB controllers.
Fourth method – get an external USB hub
Finally, this problem can be caused by the device not having enough power! So if you have a monitor or keyboard that acts as a hub (they have USB ports), you might get this error simply because there might not be enough power flowing through the keyboard to your external USB hard drive!
In this case, you will have to buy an external USB hub, and then plug in the USB devices to avoid displaying the “Device won’t start†error.
Hopefully one of the above methods will fix your USB device problem! If not, leave a comment and I’ll try to help! Enjoy!
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