A Microsoft Surface computer that was recently upgraded from Windows 10 directly to Windows 11 25H2 was popping up the “USB device not recognized” every few seconds!
I was able to get the error to go away when the Surface Dock was unplugged – so I did the basics like making sure Firmware was up to date for both the tablet and the Dock, but in the end this was the solution:
- Disconnected the Surface from the Surface Dock.
- Unplug any USB devices that you can (other than perhaps mouse and keyboard)
- Open Device Manager (Windows Key + X, M)
- Scrolled down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers
- Right click each USB device and click Uninstall (if it asks you to check a box to also uninstall the driver, do not do that).
- At some point, if you’re using a traditional Surface, you may even lose access to the detachable mouse and keyboard, but you can use to the touch screen to keep uninstalling all of your USB devices.
- Once finished, click the Scan for Hardware Changes icon in the tool bar or Action > Scan for Hardware Changes from the menu bar.
When devices are reinstalled, they will have the correct permissions to COM ports and Serial features of Windows and this should stop the error from popping up over and over.