My USB drives shows either as a generic device or a non-specified device

Question

As the tittle stated, all of my USB drives shows with a "generic device icon" in windows explorer, and when im about to remove my device it shows as "remove "device"", when I plug the device it shows the normal drive icon for a split seccond and then changes to a generic icon, which it doesnt affect the performance of my drives, but makes me suspect that something is wrong on my computer while detecting my usb devices. 

I've attached some screenshots of this so you can understand me a little bit more

Cheers (I apologize if you have a hard time reading the screenshots because my pc is in spanish)

PS: Most of my usb drives are made by kingston and it normally shows as "Data Traveler x.0"

Answer 1

Hi Luis. I'm Greg, an installation specialist, 10 year Windows MVP, and Volunteer Guardian Moderator here to help you.

I'll give you everything possible to try for USB dysfunction which we see a lot here:

1. Try all other USB ports.
2. Update your Chipset and USB drivers from the PC maker's Support Downloads web page for your full model number, HP Serial Number, or Dell Service tag from the sticker on PC.
3. Compare the latest drivers with the ones presently installed in Device Manager reached by right clicking the Start Menu. Make sure you have the latest BIOS, Chipset, Display (Video), Sound, USB3, Bluetooth, Network and all other drivers, or else download and install the latest now.
4. If no newer or this doesn't help, then go to the USB category in Device Manager, open each Enhanced, Hub and Host controller, from Driver tab select Roll back if available, or if not choose Uninstall.

If your keyboard and mouse are USB, first program the power button to effect the needed restart after Rolling back or uninstalling the driver. Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep > Additional Power Settings > Choose what Power buttons do to choose Shutdown.

5. Go over this checklist to make sure the install is set up correctly, optimized for best performance, and any needed repairs get done: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

Start with Step 4 to turn off Startup freeloaders which can conflict and cause issues, then Step 7 to check for infection the most thorough way, then step 10 to check for damaged System Files, and also Step 16 to test a new Local Admin account. Then continue with the other steps to go over your install most thoroughly.

6. Run the Hardware Troubleshooter at Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
7. Do you know when this started? If this was caused by Windows Update(s) then you can check which were installed at Settings>Update & Security>Windows Update under Installed Updates, then uninstall them from the link there, and hide with the Hide Updates tool downloaded from here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/2/f2...

You can also use System Restore to get before the problem began, then check for Updates with the Hide Update tool and hide them: http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/computing/how-t...

If this was caused by a Version Update then you can roll it in Settings>Update & Security>Recovery and then hide it until it matures using the Hide Updates Tool downloaded from here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/2/f2...

8. If nothing else works then do a Repair Install, by installing Media Creation Tool and then choosing to Upgrade Now. This reinstalls Windows while keeping files, programs and most settings in place, and is also the most stable method to advance to the latest version. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m...

In some cases you can resolve this issue by following these added steps from MS Support:

Remove the USB device from Control Panel > Devices and Printers

From an elevated Command Prompt type the following and hit Enter:

Net stop DsmSvc

You might see the following message: “The Device Setup Manager service is not started.”  This message is expected if the service has already been stopped

Type the following and hit Enter: Net Start DsmSvc

Plug in the USB device and check if it shows with the correct icon

If the steps above fail to resolve the issue, then follow these steps:

Remove the USB device from Control Panel > Devices and Printers

From an elevated Command Prompt type the following commands and hit Enter after each one of them:

Net stop DsmSvc

(You might see the following message: “The Device Setup Manager service is not started.”  This message is expected if the service has already been stopped)

Pushd %programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceMetadataCache\dmrccache\en-US

Rd f4e323bf-0f31-42b6-9ad6-5d5382d3fa83 /s  /q

(Rd will fail if you do not have that folder. The PushD and Rd commands are only necessary if the simpler Net Stop and Start commands don't resolve the issue.)

Net Start DsmSvc

Plug in the USB device and check if it shows with the correct icon.

There is another way this behavior can be resolved. If a device is 'upgraded' from one version to the next version, the metadata will be rebuilt and the expected icon will return.

(Courtesy Paul Seymour MSFT)

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But remember that in Windows 10 everything depends upon the quality of the install, and Factory or Upgrade installs are inferior installs which most enthusiasts won't even run because they'd expect endless issues. Consider now or later doing the Clean Install in this link which compiles the best possible install that will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

There is also an automated Fresh Start that reinstalls WIndows while shedding corrupting factory bloatware, saves your files, but doesn't clear the drive to get it cleanest: https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. If you'll wait to rate whether my post helped you, I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Answer 2

"As he's pointed out twice in the thread now, Luis marked the post as Answer because Step 4 in the Windows 10 Performance and Install Integrity Checklist - Microsoft Community

to turn off Startup freeloaders resolved his problem."

@Greg: My fault, srry - I don't see who has marked it as answer.

Concerning your recommendation for 'MVP escalation in Yammer'. Sorry, we have here the ability for community moderators to escalate things - which I did. For me it's not an option to jump to Yammer or Feedback Hub - especially after this behavior has now been reported also for Win 7 and Win 8.1. 

@Miguel: Thanks for both links. That was also a hint I got from readers. Not sure, if that works - from what I've tested on two machines (with plain Windows 10 1903), I wasn't successful, to prevent showing the wrong icon (even after I changed the eject policy - but maybe it was due to the fact that the wrong meta data are cached). 

Anyway - I guess MS need to investigate what's going wrong on their server side.

Answer 3

This problem didn't come from the latest CU. It's a server side problem.

Every time a device is plugged in, it requests metadata from microsoft servers about the type of device , name, model, etc. Opening the window "Devices and printers" seems to be what triggers the bug.

People with other versions of windows (8.1) and even people with older versions of windows 10 (1803 without the latest updates) are suffering from this.

You can read about the functionality here: 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/device-metadata-retrieval-client

And how to turn it off, here: https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/change-device-installation-settings-in-windows-10.html

However, i wouldn't turn it off. If you do, your devices will be stuck with those strange icons and names. We will have to wait until MS fixes it.

Answer 4

@Greg Carmack: Why is this marked as an answer? This behavior has nothing to do with the changed device policy. 

I simply quote it as a bug - after beeing pointed by my blog readers to this and other threads, I spend a few minutes to investigate. Details may be found within my blog post Windows 10 V1903 shows suddenly generic USB drive icons.

Addendum: More explanation may be found also at this Bleeping Computer article and within the comments.

I will escalate this thread to MS forum moderators, in the hope they will forward the issue to the Microsoft developers.

Answer 5

Hi there, I'm having EXACTLY the same problem as you and spent several evenings trying to troubleshoot this, Uninstalling reinstalling drivers etc. This also just started happening to me recently, I'm using windows 8.1 but I just checked my sisters computer running windows 10 and exactly the same thing is happening on her machine with a different USB flash drive. So I'm willing to bet this is some kind of windows metadata server error or something. You don't happen to be getting Event id 131 "DeviceSetupManager" errors in event viewer by any chance aswell?