Device Manager Error Codes: Sorted by the Number

You opened Device Manager, found a yellow triangle, and the message ends in a number. That number is the useful part, and almost everything written about this ignores it.

Microsoft publishes what each one means, and the internal names are plainer than the messages. Before you reinstall anything, read the code.

I will take the ones that actually turn up, starting with a line that lists yours.

One line lists every problem device you have

Better than clicking through a tree, and you have the answer in five seconds.

Open PowerShell and run:

Get-CimInstance Win32_PnPEntity | Where-Object { $_.ConfigManagerErrorCode -ne 0 } | Select-Object Name, ConfigManagerErrorCode

Ours, and measured here. It returned nothing, out of 208 devices in total.

⭐ Nothing is what a healthy machine looks like. So an empty result is the answer, not a failed command.

⚡ You do not need to be an administrator. Nothing on the machine is touched.

⛔ Anything it does return gives you the code directly, without hunting for the device in a tree of forty categories.

Code 10, the one you will probably have

The commonest by a distance, and the least helpful thing Windows will tell you.

Documented by Microsoft on its error code page: "This device cannot start. Try upgrading the device drivers for this device. (Code 10)"

Its internal name is `CM_PROB_FAILED_START`. The driver loaded and the device refused to start.

Microsoft's own resolution: "In the device's Properties dialog box, click the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver to start the Hardware Update Wizard."

⚠️ Read it as a symptom, not a cause. Code 10 is what Windows says when the hardware answered wrongly, and the driver is only one reason for that.

⭐ Ours, and marked as ours: unplug and replug first on anything external. A Code 10 that clears on a reconnect was never a driver problem.

Code 43, which sounds far worse than it is

The one that panics people, and the wording is doing it to you.

Microsoft's message: "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)"

Internally it is `CM_PROB_FAILED_POST_START`. The device started and then reported a fault itself.

Microsoft's route out is to uninstall the device, then "Select Scan for hardware changes to reinstall the driver."

⭐ Windows stopped it, the device asked for that. That distinction is the whole reason the code exists separately from Code 10.

⚠️ On a USB device it is often the port or the cable. The same fault wears a different name when the device is not recognized at all.

Code 28, which is not a fault

The cleanest one to get, because it names its own fix for you.

Microsoft's message: "The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)"

Internal name `CM_PROB_FAILED_INSTALL`. Windows knows what is plugged in and has nothing to run it with.

⭐ New hardware, or a fresh Windows install, and that is it. No fault, just a missing piece.

⚡ Windows Update finds most of them on its own if you let it look. The rest have their own order, and it is shorter than people expect.

Code 22, which somebody did on purpose

Worth knowing because the fix is one click and people reinstall Windows over it.

Microsoft's message: "This device is disabled. (Code 22)"

Its internal name is `CM_PROB_DISABLED`, and Microsoft's resolution is one line: "In Device Manager, click Action, and then click Enable Device."

⛔ Nothing broke. Somebody disabled it, or a tool did, or it happened during troubleshooting months ago and never got undone.

⚠️ Cleanup and optimizer tools disable things. If a device is on Code 22 and you never touched it, look at what else is installed.

⭐ Ours: check this before anything else on a device that used to work and now does not appear at all.

Code 45, which needs nothing at all

The one to stop worrying about, and Microsoft says so outright.

Microsoft's message: "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer. (Code 45)"

And its resolution, quoted in full: "No resolution is necessary. This error code is only used to indicate the disconnected status of the device."

⭐ Its internal name is `CM_PROB_PHANTOM`, which is exactly right. It is a record of something that used to be plugged in.

⚡ You only see these with hidden devices shown. They fill up over years, one entry per USB stick and dock you ever used.

⚠️ Ours, and marked as ours: clearing them is tidying, not repair. Worth doing when a device refuses to reinstall, because an old phantom entry can hold the name it wants.

What all of them have in common

Useful, because it shortens the list of things you have to try.

Microsoft's full table runs to over forty codes, from Code 1 up to Code 57, each with an internal name in the same style.

⭐ The internal name is usually clearer than the message you get. `CM_PROB_DISABLED`, `CM_PROB_PHANTOM` and `CM_PROB_NEED_RESTART` say what happened. The user-facing wording does not.

⚡ Codes 14, 21 and 46 all mean "wait or restart". Nothing is broken and you need install nothing.

⚠️ Codes 31, 37, 38 and 39 are all driver load failures with different causes. Uninstall and rescan is the same first move for every one of them.

When the code is not the answer

Honest, because you can follow this page further than it deserves.

⛔ A code that returns immediately after every fix is hardware. Two rounds of uninstall and rescan is enough to conclude that.

⚠️ And a device that never appears at all has no code, because there is nothing for Windows to attach one to. That is a different kind of missing, and the fix usually sits a level below the device itself.

⭐ Ours: write the code down before you change anything. If it changes after a fix, you learned something. If it does not, you have ruled something out.

Status: decoded 24 August 2026 on Windows 11. Microsoft publishes the full error code table with the internal names used here, plus the exact message text and resolution for codes 10, 22, 28, 43 and 45, including that none is necessary for 45. The count of 208 devices with no problem code was taken on this desktop.

What does Code 10 mean in Device Manager?

Microsoft's message is "This device cannot start. Try upgrading the device drivers for this device." Internally it is CM_PROB_FAILED_START, meaning the driver loaded and your device refused to start. Treat it as a symptom. On external hardware, unplug and replug before touching drivers.

Is Code 43 in Device Manager serious?

Not always. The message says Windows stopped the device because it reported problems, and internally it is CM_PROB_FAILED_POST_START. The device asked to be stopped. On USB hardware it is frequently the cable or the port rather than the device.

How do I fix Code 22 in Device Manager?

Microsoft's resolution is one step: in Device Manager, click Action, then click Enable Device. Code 22 means your device is disabled, so nothing is broken. Somebody or something switched it off.

Should I worry about Code 45?

No, and you can stop looking. Microsoft states plainly that no resolution is necessary and that the code only indicates the device is disconnected. Its internal name is CM_PROB_PHANTOM, and it is a record of hardware that used to be plugged in.

The Short Version

• One PowerShell line lists every device carrying a problem code, with the code.
• An empty result is normal. 208 devices here and none reporting a problem.
• Code 10 means the device refused to start. It is a symptom, not a cause.
• Code 43 means the device reported a fault itself. On USB, suspect the cable or port.
• Code 28 means no driver is installed. New hardware, nothing broken.
• Code 22 means somebody disabled it. Action, then Enable Device.
• Code 45 needs nothing. Microsoft says no resolution is necessary.
• The internal names, like CM_PROB_PHANTOM, are clearer than the messages.

Where to Next

Run the one line and see whether your machine reports anything at all. Most do not, and that is worth knowing before you go looking for problems.

If it does return something, write the code down before you change a single thing. That number is the only piece of real information in the whole dialog.

Then match it against the sections above rather than reinstalling drivers blind. Two of the five common codes need no driver work whatsoever.

And if you get a code that is not one of these, tell me the number and the device in the comments. The table runs to fifty-seven and the rare ones are barely written about.