Win 10 won't register new iPhone SE

Both the laptop and the iPhone SE are new. While the iPhone is very handy for taking photos it's not registering in Win 10 when I plug them together. In other words, instead of just pulling the photos off the phone onto the laptop I have to email each photo, save it and then process.

Anyone got any ideas about how to get the iPhone to register on Win 10?
Or, how can I get the laptop to register (in Device Manager) an Apple device? At present it is not showing at all in Device Manager/View/show hidden devices.

Hi Ken,

thanks for that.
Yes, the problem appears to be iTunes.

iTunes does not have a "Help" tab at top (which instructions say is where to find 'Update') and I notice already it's
trying to take over (firstly media player, automatic startup ....) It needs to be up dated but how is beyond me if there's
no "Help".

So I'm removing the program and will just limp along with things as they are.

nithig said:

Yes, the problem appears to be iTunes.

iTunes does not have a "Help" tab at top (which instructions say is where to find 'Update') and I notice already it's
trying to take over (firstly media player, automatic startup ....) It needs to be up dated but how is beyond me if there's
no "Help".

It sounds like the original installation was glitchy and didn''t properly install the USB drivers that allow iPhones/iPads to be see in 2 different ways, i.e. as removable drives and as iTunes-connected devices. When this happens you get exactly the same problem as you described. (Plus, IMO, the Windows version of iTunes itself is one of the worst programmed messes ever inflicted. Just Google How good is iTunes :))

Luckily, it's also fairly easy to fix. For example, here iTunes stopped recognising serial numbers of any of the 3 Apple devices that were connected in turn:


Try this:

1. Download and unzip USBDeview. There are two versions available so make sure you download the same 'bitness' as your version of Windows (which will almost certainly be 64-bit... but check anyway).
2. Right-click on the USBDeview executable and choose Run as administrator then accept the User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
3. Once USBDeview opens, select every Apple entry then use File > Uninstall Selected Devices. This will remove all the USB drivers that iTunes installed, corrupted or not.
4. Download and install iTunes again. (You can uninstall the old version first if you want but it doesn't really matter.) At the end of the installation, make sure iTunes is not running.
5. New, uncorrupted USB drivers will be installed automatically when you attach your iPhone. Be aware that the installation of these Apple drivers is almost always horrible slow. When the drivers have installed then iTunes should open automatically.
6. If, when iTunes opens, you don't see your iPhone attached then leave iTunes running and unplug your iPhone's USB data cable, count to 5 then plug it back in again.

Hope this helps...

Thanks RickC,

bit confused at the URL USBDeview ... how do I find and select the right one?
Once I get passed this first stage I'll follow your directions.
cheers!

Right-click on the Start button, select Run and enter ms-settings:about.

When the About page opens, scroll down to Device specifications on the right-hand side until you can read what's written alongside System type.

For example:


Depending on what's there, download either USBDeview for x64 systems (i.e. 64-bit) or USBDeview for x32 systems.

(USBDeview uses a file from the USB Vendor ID database to display the vendor name and product name of your USB devices. I've just checked and it appears the database site is down. I've zipped the database file here: usb-id.zip. Unzip it into the same folder where you unzip USBDeview. It just makes it easier to identify the Apple device drivers.)

Hope this helps...

Once again, thanks RickC .

x509 said:

I'm new to this thread, but I had the same problem as the OP. Windows recognizes my iPhone as a mass storage device, but iTunes does not. So I followed the instructions for use with USBDeview, and deleted all references to iPhone and iPad. Then I did a repair install using the latest iTunes. The phone was unplugged.

then I plugged in the phone and Windows threw out a "device being set up" message. However, iTunes still refuses to recognize the phone. What should I do?

I've had this happen to me several times. Sorry to say, you have to do it all over again...

1. Use USBDeview to remove the Apple drivers.
1a. (Optional but a good idea) Uninstall iTunes, restart then re-install (in case one or more driver files are corrupt). Note that if you use iTunes for more than just backing up iOS then you need to copy the iTunes library folder somewhere then import it back again afterwards).
2. Restart Windows (so it re-reads the registry).
3. Plug your iPhone back in. Bear in mind it can take a very long time for Windows to work out what drivers are needed from the iTunes install.

(Note that a USB Lightning cable that is non-genuine Apple or that is breaking down can also be the cause, as I found out from bitter experience after doing all the above 3 times in a row.)

If this doesn't work then you can 'force install' the drivers. See this Apple support article for the how-to.

(You're right, iTunes for Windows is the spawn of the devil... yet works flawlessly IMO on OS X/MacOS.)

Hope this helps...