Identify Unknown Hardware, Keep it Monitored Afterwards

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 13 Feb 2009

Backing up drivers and deleting the ones you do not need is a noteworthy undertaking on your part if you want to keep your system running as smoothly as possible, but what if your Windows-based operating system does not recognize a particular piece of hardware? Most of the times all you have to do is access the Device Manager and look at the name of the unrecognized device. When Windows is unable to properly display the name of the device, you will be hard pressed to identify it, and this is where Unknown Device Identifier comes in.

Unknown Device Identifier, which comes free of charge and works with Windows 2000, XP and Vista, looks pretty much the same as your operating system’s standard Device Manager but offers a lot more functionality. The hardware info that it displays includes the manufacturer’s name, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) name, device type and model, and its exact name. If you need a driver for that device, Unknown Device Identifier also provides a “Find Driver” feature powered by Google search. Additional functionality include the option to contact the hardware vendor and backup existing drivers.

This takes care of unknown hardware drivers, but what about all the storage devices and drives connected to your system, things like HDDs, USBs, CD and DVD drives, Flash cards, network drives and so on? Since managing them in Windows is not exactly a piece of cake, you might want to consider Drive Manager. In a single window, this portable piece of software displays info on all your system’s drives: drive letter and type, free and used space, vendor and product ID, SMART and additional info.

Now that all your hardware problems are sorted (hopefully), you might want to keep your hardware monitored with something like HWMonitor. This free piece of software will allow you to monitor your machines main sensors (voltage, temperature, fan speed). Alternatively, if you want to monitor your CPU’s temperature alone, try out Core Temp.

If you would like to get Unknown Device Identifier, a download location is available here.
If you would like to get Drive Manager, a download location is available here.
If you would like to get HWMonitor, a download location is available here.
If you would like to get Core Temp, a download location is available here.


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