Let’s learn the Best Guide to Fix a Driver Cannot Load on this Device in Windows 11. When you start your computer, the message ‘A driver cannot load on this device’ irritates you. The exact reason cannot be known at this point; there are some fixes to try and fix the problem quickly.
The system can detect and configure hardware automatically from the local library of drivers and Windows Update; sometimes, the operating system fails to detect some devices. If your PC does not detect a particular device, the driver of the particular Device is missing or corrupted.
To tackle this situation, Windows 11 included various ways to fix the problem of any device driver. Manually you can get rid of this situation using various ways. The communication between the operating system and a device collapses when the driver is missing or undetected.
Driver update, Memory integrity, etc., are the main reasons the driver cannot load on a PC. This post describes the various processes to fix a driver that cannot load on a PC in Windows 11 issues and the step-by-step guide in detail for better understanding.
What is the Issue Fix Driver of a Device in an Operating System?
A driver is a software component that allows the operating system and the Device to communicate. Suppose any error is encountered, any driver-related error when you start a system by the user. An error message appears ‘A driver cannot load on this device.’ All the processes to resolve this type of error is called Fix Driver of a Device.
How to Fix a Driver Cannot Load on this Device in Windows 11
The driver is a file needed for the system to work properly. The corruption or damage to those files can cause various issues, including errors like the device driver cannot load and the failure of programs. The error message indicates that the File cannot be loaded properly, so the issues should be related to system settings in Windows.
As discussed above, the issue regarding the driver error interrupts the communication between the operation system and the Device. The various fixation method is listed below, which will be discussed in detail.
- Installing the Driver Update
- Uninstall Latest Updates
- Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
- Turn off Memory Integrity
- Fix using Registry Editor
- Update Driver
NOTE! Suppose you choose to continue using your Device without addressing the driver problem. In that case, you might discover that the functionality the driver supports does not work any longer, which could have consequences ranging from negligible to severe.
1. Installing the Driver Update
When you get the error from your system, check for the installed driver updates and update the drivers to their latest version. You need to open the settings by pressing Windows key + I, or you can open settings by clicking on the Windows button and selecting Settings from the App menu, illustrated below.
When the Settings window opens, click on the Windows Update option present in the left panel. In the right panel, the suboptions of Windows Update option open, then click on the sub-option named Advanced Options.
In the Advanced Options window, please scroll down to find the Optional Updates option, and click it to open. If you find any ene.sys updates are there, then install them to your Device; installation may take some time.
2. Uninstall Latest Updates
When your Windows system has received any updates and the nse.sys shows any errors after installing the updates. It would be best if you uninstalled the installed updates from your Device for the particular drive to fix the error. Goto the Windows Settings by following the process as shown in Fig.2.
When the Settings window opens, click on the Windows Update option present in the left panel. In the right panel, the suboptions of Windows Update option open, then click on the Update History sub-option.
Under the Update history option, some sub-options related to the update history are presented in the table below. Now scroll down to find Uninstall updates option and click on it.
Update Types | Description |
---|---|
Quality Updates | Driver updates for all the devices associated with Operating System |
Driver Updates | You can recover any missing updates |
Definition Updates | The updates define the system properties |
Other Updates | Other essential system updates to be installed |
Uninstall Updates | You can uninstall updates here |
Recovery | You can recove any missing updates |
In the uninstall updates window, you can find some recent updates with an Uninstall button adjacent to the updates. Click on them to uninstall the updates. But you would not be able to uninstall some updates.
After successfully uninstalling the update, your system will restart. When your system is ready to work, you can check whether the error still appears.
3. Run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
Run the hardware and devices troubleshooter to find out if any hardware fault exists. If it’s a hardware issue, the troubleshooter will analyze and fix the problem. Follow the procedure to open the hardware and devices troubleshooter.
Open the Run box using Win key+R to find the hardware troubleshooter directly. Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic and click Ok to finish the setup.
After clicking OK, it navigates you to the Hardware and Devices troubleshooting window, which helps to prevent computer problems. From the troubleshooting windows, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions to troubleshoot the issue.
4. Turn off Memory Integrity
Disabling the memory integrity feature may fix the issue. The Memory Integrity feature is available on Windows Security. So type Windows Security in the Search Box, and click on the Windows Security app suggested first.
When Windows Security opens, choose Device Security from the available security options and click on it. Then find the Core isolation option and click on Core isolation details, as shown in the image below.
When you click on the Core isolation details, the Memory Integrity option is available, which prevents attacks from inserting malicious code into high-security processes. Now follow the instruction listed below.
- Toggle the button to turn off the memory integrity option.
- Click Yes to the User Account Control Message
- Click Restart when the message appears to apply the memory integrity turn of request.
- Now your memory integrity is disabled.
If you do not restart after turning off the Memory Integrity options, you can find one message that appears as ‘This change requires you to restart your device‘ in yellow letters, as shown in number 4 of the image below.
5. Fix using Registry Editor
You can discover that the error also appears when some of the registry entries associated with the Device are corrupted. Specifically, UpperFilters and LowerFilters are the keys to be deleted to eliminate this error.
To remove the two keys discussed above, you need to find out the correct Class GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) of the corrupted Device. Now press Win Key + R to open the Run dialog box, type devmgmt.msc, and hit enter.
Find the affected device drive, right-click on it, and choose Properties. Then switch to the Details tab, use the drop-down menu under Property, and select Class GUID. Then, note the value in the box, as shown in the image below.
Using the registry editor, you can now find the solution to remove the UpperFilters and LowerFilters keys. This procedure is done using the Registry Editor. Let’s discuss the step-by-step guidelines for it.
NOTE! Take Backup – Registry Editor may affect the system if any mistake occurs. It is advisable to take a backup of the Registry before proceeding. For backup, go to File in the top left corner of the Registry Editor. Click on it, then select Export and save the backup.
- Go to File
- Right-click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- Click on Export
- Please save it
Now, open Run Window, and press Windows Key + R from the keyboard simultaneously. This is the keyboard shortcut to open the run window. Now, type regedit and click on OK to continue. Then it asks the Admin’s permission to change the Device. Click Yes.
Now, the Registry Editor opens. Find the path ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class.’ Following the trail, it’s time to reach the folder that was noted before to remove files from them.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class
Inside the Class key, locate the Class GUID noted earlier and select it; then, on the right, you will see the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values available on your Device; remove them.
Accessing sub-folder: {4d36c96f-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Now select the UpperFilters or Lowerfilters (if both are available in your Device, select each one by one and delete them), then right-click on it from the options and select Delete. Click Yes in the Confirm Value Delete message, and you are done. Restart your Device.
6. Update Driver
If the driver is incompatible, then Windows fails to load that drive. You can often fix this type of issue by updating the driver. Follow the process below.
To update the driver, right-click the Start button and select Device Manager from the list. When the device manager opens, move to the affected driver, right-click on that driver, and select Update driver. After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish updating the driver and see if the error appears again.
I hope the Best Guide to Fix a Driver Cannot Load on this Device in Windows 11 information is helpful. Please follow us on HTMD Community and visit our website HTMD Forum if you like our content. Suggest improvements, if any, and we love to know which topic you want us to explore next.
Author
Alok is a Master of Computer Applications (MCA) graduate. He loves writing on Windows 11 and related technologies. He likes to share his knowledge, quick tips, and tricks with Windows 11 or Windows 10 with the community.
This helped a lot, WTF! Fixed it with “6. Update Driver” my mouse.