Some entries in "Other Devices" are a mystery--can't figure them out

I know, technically speaking, none of this matters in terms of a Windows 10 computer functioning normally. Yes, us folks who have OCD tendencies must refrain from the focus as one looks at Windows logs for Application and System, wondering why there are warnings and errors appearing for various things... and told "yeah, that's a rabbit hole, so forget about it."

"Other Devices" in the Device Manager list is rather small, contained, and so my hope is that I can satisfy this dangling annoyance. Somehow I have a couple entries there that look very peculiar. A name like 1.00000000000000000120. Who names their driver like this? No driver provider, no manufacturer. And yet, "device is working properly." Heck, if you don't even know what it is, how can you know it's working right? Go figure.

So I uninstalled these two "offenders," let's call them 120 and 143. Well, upon rebooting, they're back again. I tried running driver update... nothing found. NOTE: My laptop is not connected to anything via Bluetooth in this state.



Does anyone here have a clue as to what these might be? I don't recall ever seeing them before, not since my laptop just updated to Windows 10 version 20H2, build 19042.

EDIT: So basically these are entries for USB or Bluetooth devices that have been previously attached/connected but are not presently so. Some manufacturers are diligent to provide enough data back to Windows for identification, while others do not (hence the cryptic number).

This is what shows up in my Device Manager when Bluetooth is on in settings. Might be a pointer,

Those entries are for hardware for which Windows has not loaded a suitable driver.
You can also sometimes find other entries for which Windows has not loaded a suitable driver and that are labelled Unknown device.

Your response to either type of entry is the same.

But first, some of your entries seem familiar. Do you have a mobile phone that you connect to your computer? If so, go to the phone maker's website and get the correct driver.
- In one case I was able to find the driver on their website by myself but, for another phone, I had to ask their tech support where I could download it from.

You can investigate every entry as thoroughly as you wish using its HardwareID entry.
See search for drivers by HardwareID - TenForums
or see a version with pretty pictures at How to Identify an Unknown Device in Device Manager - Dell UK

Added two days later - here are two more articles covering this subject matter
How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in the Device Manager - HTG
How to easily find drivers for Unknown Devices in Windows - PCWorld

Best of luck,
Denis

Just to avoid any misunderstanding, I recommend that you use the search by HardwareID procedure.

My mention of Unknown Device was just in case you discovered some of those during your investigations.

Denis

If it's an USB issue have a look at Nirsoft's USBDeview. View any installed/connected USB device on your system (nirsoft.net)

I've used it in the past to uninstall an unconnected device as it wasn't working correctly. Reconnecting it forced Windows to then reinstall the driver. Worth a look and there's more info by scrolling it to the right.

cytherian said:

Does anyone here have a clue as to what these might be? I don't recall ever seeing them before, not since my laptop just updated to Windows 10 version 20H2, build 19042.

I looked those up a while back - Those are basically "service" entries for any BT you've use or is currently connected. If you remove them, you will find they item they belong to will need to be reconnected to your BT adapter.

And I believe (quite sure) that "feature" has been there way before 20H2, build 19042, I certainly had it before 20**

Anyway, Here's mine....


You can actually look in Devices and Printers and check your devices to see what those items are. Some devices have multiple entries as seen for my Bose BT headphones. Note the entries in the Services tab, than note those in Device Manager.



Here's a YouTube also showing what I'm talking about....

sygnus21 said:

... Those are basically "driver" entries ...

It's probably what you meant anyway but they are basically "absence of any driver" entries.

sygnus21 said:

Don't ask me how to figure out which is which

The suggested search by HardwareID procedure can achieve that and thereby help you find the relevant drivers.

Denis

Try3 said:

It's probably what you meant anyway but they are basically "absence of any driver" entries.

@Try3, Re-read my edited post

Thanks. Done.

Denis