Why won't my CAC reader work on my windows 11?

Question

I have recently tried to use my CAC reader on my Windows 11 and have experienced issues. I have been able to use it before, but not until recently it gave me problems. When opening me device manager, it says code 31 error.

Answer 1

Hi @Ismael urrutia

After a restart, Microsoft Usbccid Smartcard Reader is in a problem state with a yellow bang and this error is displayed in the device status:

This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
{Operation Failed}
The requested operation was unsuccessful.

Cause

During initialization, the smartcard driver attempts to create an instance of smart card class extension. The attempt failed and the driver isn't loaded.

Resolution

To ensure a successful driver initialization, add the RetryDeviceInitialize registry key and restart the computer.

Note

The registry key is available for Windows 10, version 1903 (19H1) and later versions.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\Calais\Readers
Name: RetryDeviceInitialize
Type: DWORD (32-bit)
Data: 1

Article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/windows-security/code-31-device-manager-usbccid-smartcard-reader-problem

Best regards,