Forum Discussion
A device appears and disappears repeatedly in Device Manager
In Device Manager, a particular device continuously flickers in and out of existence, appearing and disappearing repeatedly every few seconds. This constant refresh cycle makes it impossible to install drivers or use the hardware, and the non-stop enumeration causes the Device Manager window to refresh incessantly, making it extremely difficult to interact with or diagnose the problematic component.
2 Replies
The repeated Device Manager refresh means Windows is continuously detecting and losing the device, so installing a driver during its appearance will not fix the disconnect. Unplug USB devices and hubs; if the flicker stops, reconnect directly to another port and use the device’s own power supply if available. From an elevated terminal, run pnputil /enum-devices /problem during the fault and record the problem code and instance. In Device Manager, record Hardware Ids and use View > Devices by connection to identify its parent. Install Windows updates and chipset, USB-controller, and affected-device drivers from Windows Update or the manufacturer. If a recent driver started this, use Properties > Driver > Roll Back Driver; otherwise uninstall the identified device, restart, and let Windows redetect it. Persistent behavior in a clean boot points toward the cable, port, power, firmware, or hardware, so test the device on another PC before replacing anything.
Specific drivers are known to cause this. For audio issues, the "Waves Audio" driver is a known culprit and can be disabled in the Services app. Also, check for any "Unknown device" entries or devices under "Other devices" that may need a driver.
