4 Unknown "Other Devices" in Device Manager. Running Windows 7 RTM 64 on dv7-1450

[eriq]

Just purchased an HP dv7-1450 notebook with AMD Turion X2 64 processor. Installed Windows 7 RTM 64 and everthing appears to be working except that there are 4 unknown "Other Devices" listed in Device Manager. The 4 devices are:

 - Base System Device (x3)

 - Unknown Device (x1)

I have no clue what these devices are. I tried looking for chipset drivers on HP's website and AMD's website to no avail. But I'm not even sure if those are chipset related. Could one of the devices be the hard disk drop sensor (it's not listed in Device Manager anywhere)?

Unfortunately on HP's site, there aren't many drivers downloads available for 64 bit (Vista). I know Windows 7 64 specific drivers won't be available until October, but if there aren't any Vista drivers available either, can I expect to see Windows 7 drivers at all?

The most important thing for me is just figuring out what these 4 "Other Devices" are and getting the drivers installed.

Thanks in advance!

[cnfrisch]

By the time the final version of Windows 7 becomes generally available on October 22nd, there should be Windows 7 drivers available from the

HP Support & Drivers Web Site.  In the meantime, check with  Windows Update for available drivers.

[gamerdude]

One thing I did was to backup my C:\swsetup folder from pre-installed Vista.  Then, after I installed Windows 7, copied the folder back to the C drive.  Then, go to each unknown device, and force it to look in C:\swsetup for a driver.  Windows 7 did find the correct sub-folder and driver, and installed automatically.  In my case, I had 2 unknown devices.  They were the IR receiver (ENE CIR Receiver), and ProtectSmart Hard drive protection. 

[eriq]

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind but unfortuantely I reformated the drive before installing Windows 7. Then I spent about 4 hours installing software and configuring it for someone. I can't take it back and start over now.

One more question: I'm worried about the HD protection feature. Since I can't download the driver for it yet, does that make the hard disk more vulnerable to damage through normal use? The notebook is carried in a bag freqeuently and concerned that it will cause damage if the software/drivers aren't in place. I'm not worried about the IR. Just the HD...

[SWY]

I know this is not what you want to hear, but it is really a "rose colored glasses" view of the world to assume that HP will make full driver support available for your model in October.  If they don't offer full sets of 32 bit and 64 bit Vista drivers (and even fewer XP drivers) on their web site for their current machines, it is assuming a lot to think that driver availability in October means all drivers for all machines. 

I know it may not be convenient, but your best bet really is to restore the original OS (I assume Vista), then reinstall Windows 7 again, this time without a reformat.  That will then allow you access to the appropriate Vista drivers through either the swsetup or Windows.old folders.  In reality, HP might not even do as many drivers as you might think anyway since a variety of Vista drivers are fully Windows 7 compatible (no surprise since Windows 7 is a Vista upgrade).  FWIW, I have honestly not encountered a situation where doing a reformat with a clean install was really necessary, and most of the time is is outright unwise specifically because of your problem.  You could try looking at the ID strings for the unidentified devices and then tracking down hardware manufacturers but that is hit or miss at the best of times and I really don't recommend using drivers other than the ones HP has customized. 

BTW, there are probably more than four missing devices/drivers.  If you go to device manager and choose show hidden devices, there is usually at least one more.  In addition, I have also found that once a driver is installed for a base system device, there are often multiple devices associated that are then picked up.  I know this isn't what you want to hear but you really made a mistake by choosing a reformat without first backing up the swsetup or windows driver folders.  Unless you want to search the web for the missing drivers and use non-HP customized drivers in the process, your best bet really is to take a few steps back....

Stephen

[gamerdude]

I wouldn't worry about the hard drive getting damaged through normal use.  Just don't flail it around while it is on.  Carrying it in a bag is no issue as long as it is powered off.

[Daniel_Potyrala]

@eriq,

Hi,

Go to Control Panel -> Devices Manager

Click with right button of Your mouse on each yellow sign and choose properties. Then go to bottom details and paste here Hardware Ids. This way we will know what it is.

Below You've got example how to do it:

[eriq]

Strange, now there is only 1 unknown device. Windows Update must have located and automatically installed some drivers over night.

The last remaining unknown device hardware ID is

ACPI/HPQ0004

What could that be?

[Daniel_Potyrala · Accepted solution]

ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection here

[eriq]

That was it. Thank you so much. Windows just fixed the first 3 devices on its own several days later and the 4th device was the HDD protection feature. No more unknown devices and notebook is running great.

Appreciated.