Portable device driver has exclamation mark after every PC reboot - until I reinstall the same driver

Question

Problem description

I need some advice with a tough PC driver problem. I have an exotic smartphone (Hero H2000+) which isn't recognized/shown as portable device in Explorer when I plug it into my PC. It shows up with an yellow exclamation mark under device manager. The device itself is set as MTP and USB-Debugging is off.

I already found a working driver but it doesn't start correctly. I can right-click the device and select uninstall. After that I manually Scan for hardware changes and Windows recognizes & reinstalls the portable device. Presumably with the same driver since I cannot tick Delete the driver software for this device.

Now comes the strange part: Normally you would expect that the yellow exclamation will come back after the driver installation. But no! The device is now fully functional and visible in Windows Explorer. First I thought "Hey! Finally I have a working driver".

But this only lasts until the next PC reboot. Then the exclamation is back and I have to repeat the above procedure.

What I have tried

Searched and deleted all related unused drivers: devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 » Show hidden drivers

Q1: Why doesn't Windows recognize my device even when it already has a proper driver? And how can I fix this

Q2: Can I somehow assure that those driver INF files showed in the Gif below are only for my portable device and save to remove? Or are those default Windows driver files?

_{Before and after driver uninstall & reinstall process}

Edit #1 (after driver installation on second PC)

The description under device status is

Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)

I plugged the portable device into a second PC where it never was plugged in before. It doesn't show the same behavior. A Microsoft driver was installed without issues and stays normal after a reboot. That was not the case when I installed the device on the first PC half a year ago. Something changed and Microsoft has now included his own driver version for this device.

Q3: How can I do a fresh driver install so the MS drivers will be used?
(Remember, no checkbox while uninstalling!)

These files seem to be important. Can I really delete them? Will Windows reinstall them if needed?

Edit #2 (after DriverMagician)

I used Drivermagician to backup the driver (uploaded at ge.tt) from the second PC where it is working.

After this I uninstalled the faulty driver on first PC and preventing automatic driver installation via gpedit.msc. Rebooted, still uninstalled, good.

Used normal device manager dialogs to install the driver using drivermagician backup. Installed successfully. Rebooted. Exclamation mark is back...ARGH

Solution 1

It would help if you gave us the details of the driver that's working and the one that isn't.

You should first fully patch Windows, including any optional Windows Updates that look as though they might pertain.

If the problem persists, and since you have one PC with a working driver, you could transfer this working driver to the non-working PC, as detailed below.

Download and install the free Driver Magician Lite on the computer with the working driver, locate your driver and backup it up. This is normally written as a folder.

Copy this folder to the problematic machine, go into Device Manager, right-click on the device, choose Update your driver, then Browse my computer, finally point to the driver folder and it should automatically locate the driver's file. Install and reboot.

Sometimes Driver Magician Lite creates a non-complete backup of the driver. Let me know if this happens to you and what is the error message.

There are also several products for automatically finding drivers. Not all are useful and some are even malware, so ask for our recommendations first if you wish to go this way.

More advice :

• This hotfix might help: An exclamation mark (!) may be displayed next to the smartcard reader in Device Manager after you start Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Try to install it but don't insist if it refuses. Create first a system restore point just in case.
• Try to disconnect from the problematic computer every possible peripheral, reboot and test.
• Turn off autoplay for the phone device or in general.
• In the Services applet, change the Startup of the Windows Driver Foundation Service to Automatic, reboot. Better check if it's still set to Automatic.

Solution 2

Q1: Why doesn't Windows recognize my device even when it already has a proper driver? And how can I fix this?

A Code 37 error basically means that the driver installed for the hardware device has failed in some way.

If you used phone with your PC before, try to rollback drivers. If you didn't or it doesn't help, update driver. Is there a driver from phone manufacturer(on CD, online)? These drivers are often better than Microsoft's. Run sfc /scannow in command prompt as administrator. It repairs system files. Deleteing the UpperFilters and LowerFilters registry values might also help.

Resource : How To Fix Code 37 Errors

EDIT:

You can stop this error(\Driver\WUDFRd failed to load) by changing the Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework service to Automatic. Type Services into the start search box Go down the list to Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework
Double click on it and change startup type to Automatic.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/the-driver-driverwudfrd-failed-to-load-for-the/d2cb045c-6070-45c7-897f-02cf2907a041

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) did not load: wayuia

It looks like a virus: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=114255.0

Q2: Can I somehow assure that those driver INF files showed in the Gif below are only for my portable device and save to remove? Or are those default Windows driver files?

They are Windows drivers, so don't delete them.

Q3: How can I do a fresh driver install so the MS drivers will be used? (Remember, no checkbox while uninstalling!)

You already have MS drivers.

Solution 3

So it is recognized and working, and the problem appears on reboot. This is kind of a long shot, but is there a BIOS update available for your system?

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

Aside from the yellow exclamation mark, what's it say under "Device Status" for that device (when it's not functioning)? Does it act the same way when you plug it into another computer with Windows 7?

[nixda]

This problem was never solved. I had to reinstall my entire system to fix it

[harrymc]

Question: Do the 2 PCs have the same Windows version?

[nixda]

Yes, it was the same installation CD

[harrymc]

Then copying the driver should have worked. Do you have any interesting error message in the Event Viewer (same time as code 37 error)? Also, have you tried other usb ports?

[nixda]

I cleared my event log, rebooted to get new errors and uploaded all warnings/errors etc for you. The screenshot in the zip shows one warning regarding my issue

[nixda]

I looked and there are no UpperFilters and LowerFilters registry values. I found them on other drivers so I'm sure I looked right. I tried to uninstall/reinstall all Universal Serial Bus controllers which is pretty hard without a PS/2 keyboard or mouse since you cut off your own tree branch :) But it didn't help either

[srka]

I posted two more solutions so check if they work.

[nixda]

PCs are not identical (PC vs. laptop). AutoPlay is off on both. Will test the other suggestions soon

[nixda]

A have this problem for half a year now. In this period three BIOS versions came out and were installed.

[mxl_]

Ok. I had some vague idea this had to do with power modes and thus suggested the BIOS fix. I should probably first have asked if this was working for a period originally or if it has been like this always. Currently I am assuming it was working originally. My remaining thoughts: 1) the sfc /scannow command to verify system file integrity mentioned before, I hope you tried it - you didn't post back on that. 2) After getting rid of the warning, strip msconfig, clean boot and see if the device stays - in that case some software is interfering.

[nixda]

Not ACB, you probably mean ADB drivers which is common nowadays