A computer requires a variety of hardware and software components in order to operate effectively and correctly. The start-up process may fail if a component is missing, out-of-date, or corrupted.
It is possible to upgrade or downgrade a number of components, including the CPU, RAM, SSD, and more, using Windows computers. Drivers are software components that must be installed in order for all of these hardware components to communicate with the program.
To troubleshoot and get the device to respond and function again, you can use the Device Manager to check for hardware modifications if any components are missing or Windows is not detecting them. Continue reading to see how to accomplish this!
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How to Scan for Hardware Changes?
The Command Prompt, Device Manager, or Computer Management Tool can all be used to search for connected hardware devices. These are the most effective methods for running a Windows scan to find hardware changes.
Method 1: Scan via Device Manager
The simplest method for checking for hardware changes appears to be Device Manager. To utilize it on Windows, follow these steps.
- Open Windows 11 Search and type Device Manager. Then, from the list of best-match results, select the Device Manager Control Panel item.
- Right-click the Device Category in the Device Manager and choose Scan for hardware changes.
- Click on the Action menu and choose Scan for hardware changes if you are unsure about the Device Category.
Method 2: Scan From the Computer Management Tool
The Device Manager is also included in the Windows Computer Management tool, so you can use it to check for hardware updates. Here’s how to use the Computer Management tool to check for hardware changes.
- In Windows 11 Search, type Computer Management. Then, from the list of results that best fit, select the Computer Management tool.
- Select System Tools > Device Manager when Computer Management appears.
- Choose the device category now.
- Click Action on the right side and choose Scan for hardware changes.
Here’s how to use Windows’ Computer Management tool to do a scan for hardware changes.
Method 3: Scan via Command Prompt
One excellent command line tool that can handle a lot of challenging tasks is Command Prompt. On Windows 11, you can check for hardware changes using the Command Prompt tool. This is how to utilize it.
- Open Windows 11 Search and type Command Prompt. Next, choose Run as administrator by performing a right-click on the Command Prompt.
- Run the following command when the Command Prompt appears:
pnputil.exe /scan-devices
- After you run the command, the message “Scanning for device hardware changes” will appear. This attests to Windows’ ability to check for hardware modifications.
Close the Command Prompt after you see the Scan Complete message.
Method 4: Scan via Desktop Shortcut
The Command Prompt, Device Manager, and Computer Management tool may not be user-friendly for everyone. Having a desktop shortcut to check for hardware changes is ideal for them.
You can use a desktop shortcut to scan for hardware changes at any time without using the Command Prompt, Device Manager, or the Computer Management program. To execute the scan devices command, follow these steps to create a desktop shortcut.
- On your desktop screen, right-click on a blank space and choose New > Shortcut.
- Click Next after pasting the specified location into the Type the location of the item field.
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k pnputil.exe /scan-devices
- Type Scan for Hardware Changes into the shortcut window’s name and press Finish.
- Choose Properties by doing a right-click on the desktop shortcut.
- Click Advanced after switching to the Shortcut tab.
- Click OK after selecting Run as administrator under Advanced Properties.
- Click Apply to end the open window after making the necessary adjustments.
Double-click the desktop shortcut you made to start scanning for hardware changes.
These are the few simple ways to scan Windows 11 for hardware changes. The methods will work on Windows 10 as well, even though we’ve shown them on a Windows 11 tablet. If you require additional assistance executing a scan to identify hardware changes, please let us know in the comments section below and visit Trendblog for more informational articles.