It is believed that Windows systems have their own unique driver base, which (from the point of view of their developers) can be used for all known devices. Unfortunately, this is not the case. For specific devices, they may not be in the accompanying set of the system or in the catalog on the official Microsoft website. And even when you try to update, an error is issued that has code 28. How to fix this problem, it is further proposed to consider in full, using all possible methods.
Which device does error code 28 correspond to?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to say right away with which particular device installed in the computer system. The fact is, code 28 can match anything. In the message itself, this may not be explicitly indicated, since the device has the status of Unknown Device, but you can usually determine what kind of component it is.
This includes not only hardware devices, but also virtual ones, to which the system may request access at the moment a program is launched (for example, ASIO4ALL drivers for sound recording programs or music sequencers). Nevertheless, figuring out what kind of device it is and which drivers it needs to be installed for is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
Code 28: Access Denied. What to do first?
The simplest solution, when up to a certain point such a situation has not been observed, will use the standard system recovery tool. It is started manually through the appropriate section of the "Control Panel" or during multiple forced reboots using the power button.
On the other hand, if we are dealing with a specific device, the system can give an error with code 28 only because there is something wrong with the installed driver (installed incorrectly or “crashed”). In this situation, you need to call the "Device Manager" (devmgmt.msc in the "Run" console) and first see if there are devices in the list marked with a yellow triangle.
For each of them, use the RMB menu with the choice of the driver update line. You can also use the properties section and the driver tab, where the necessary button is pressed.
If after rebooting the system there is no visible effect, the device should be completely removed from the system and restarted. Perhaps Windows will install the new drivers on its own. But you shouldn’t really count on it, because it’s still not known exactly what kind of device it is (in the “Device Manager it can be shown as unknown).
Search for drivers by identifier
Thus, when an error appears with code 28, it would seem impossible to install the device driver. But it only seems. Any device (at least “iron”) has its own unique identifiers, by which you can determine what kind of device it is.
In the “Device Manager”, use the properties section in the RMB menu, go to the information tab, and from the drop-down menu below select the display of the equipment ID. There can be displayed several lines containing the identifiers VEN (Vendor - manufacturer) and DEV (Device - device). The longest line provides all the information in full. You need to copy it, and then go to specialized resources on the Internet that allow you to find and download drivers by ID.
If you have a laptop, you can go directly to the official support site and enter the line of identifiers there. However, in the case of some devices, the driver may not be found, although officially such a device is included in the laptop package. So, for example, quite often you can encounter problems with the drivers of card readers O2Micro Integrated Controller. In this case, you will have to use the search for the most suitable drivers on the manufacturer’s website of the card reader and install, if not the one you need, then the most suitable one. Note that on Windows there is no need to count at all.
Automatic Updates
However, even after such actions, the error code 28 may appear again. In this case, you can use the automatic driver update utilities for the entire system (for example, Driver Booster).
Just start the program, activate the scan and wait for the search results. The application will tell you which drivers need updating or are missing. Next, you just need to agree to install them, wait for the update process to complete, and restart the PC (it’s better to immediately check the box next to the immediate restart line).
Finally
It remains to add that this problem, in fact, is not a particular problem, since an error of this type is completely eliminated. If we talk about the optimal solution, it is better to immediately install an automated program, since even a search by ID (as was said for card readers) may not give full compliance. Then you have to install the most suitable software. But, as practice shows, even such a method gives its results, and the device starts to work without failures.