Fixing Wrong USB Devices in Windows 7
Posted in hack-the-planet | Hardware | Knowledge Base

If you experience issues with a USB device not being recognized under Windows 7, there might be a simple solution to solve this. For example the MSI USB 2.0 All IN 1 Card Reader aka MSI StarReader is recognized as eHome Infrared Receiver (USBCIR) using Windows 7. The device works great using Windows Vista or even the Windows 7 pre-release versions. Unfortunately, with the final Windows 7 the device just won’t work.

MSI USB 2.0 All IN 1 Card Reader

A quick look into the Device Manager will show that the device is recognized as eHome Infrared Receiver (USBCIR). When connecting the first time Windows 7 won’t give any notice that the installation of the driver failed or that the device is not ready to use. It will simply not work.

Device Manager

This seems to be known problem, however, there is no need to wait for a Software Update from Microsoft. The solution is to manually choose the device.

  1. Start Device Manager
  2. Right-click the eHome Infrared Receiver (USBCIR) entry
  3. Select Update Driver Software
  4. Choose Browse my computer for driver software
  5. Choose Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
  6. Make sure the Show compatible hardware box is checked
  7. Select the USB Composite Device and you are done

Show compatible hardware

After a few seconds the driver should be installed and the device should be ready.

Driver Software Installation

Posted at Saturday, December 12, 2009 11:12:06 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00) 
Comments [8] #      | 
Sunday, December 13, 2009 12:57:17 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00)
Superb! Worked greate for me!
www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlMVn2Y5Zd3BdygFl6clAzaMD8sE-smQBo
Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:00:05 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00)
Superb!! Works greate with Windows7 Pro, and the multi memory card reader UCR-114A,
www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlMVn2Y5Zd3BdygFl6clAzaMD8sE-smQBo
Sunday, January 24, 2010 4:24:41 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00)
What a great hint! Success with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and 81-in-1 Card Reader from Conrad Electronics (Art.-Nr. 410037).
RobertW
Sunday, March 14, 2010 12:34:48 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00)
THX, worked perfectly with "update 81 in one" card reader which includes a sim card slot.
Most probably it is a Realtek RTS5161 Chip
(RTS5161 (LQFP-128) [PID 0161] - USB 2.0 Card Reader Controller
Multi-LUN Multi Controller, UDMA CF, SIM Card, Smart Card.) which has no reference on the Realtek website for an update driver for WIN 7.
R. Ellers
Sunday, March 14, 2010 6:26:50 PM (W. Europe Standard Time, UTC+01:00)
Thanks for all the positive Feedback! Great that this post helped you guys.
Andreas Heil
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 5:22:29 AM (W. Europe Daylight Time, UTC+02:00)
Thanks for your great trick, Andreas. It works great with Epraizer card reader and Windows 7 x86 ultimate.
Valle
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 2:08:31 PM (W. Europe Daylight Time, UTC+02:00)
I am glad that the workaround worked for you as well. It seems as this can be applied to a whole range of devices.
Andreas Heil
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 9:33:46 AM (W. Europe Daylight Time, UTC+02:00)
Many thanks this worked great; even for an old guy !I was referred to your site by the support department of a firm distributing a card reader affected by this problem.
arthur
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