How to Fix: The Drivers for this Device Are Not Installed. (Code 28)

“The drivers for this device are not installed, Code 28” is a Device Manager error. You may experience this issue when your system fails to detect a connected device. Though annoying, this problem is fixable. 

This article elaborates on the tried and true solutions to the Code 28 driver error. However, let us begin by highlighting the possible causes of this problem. 

“The drivers for this device are not installed, Code 28”: Causes

The factors below may have caused the driver code 28 error. 

• The drivers on your computer may be outdated, corrupt, or missing
• Your system may have some Device Manager or BIOS-related issues
• There may be compatibility problems with your computer

After learning about the causes, let us understand how to fix the Code 28: The drivers for this device error.

Fixes for Error Code 28: “The drivers for this device are not installed”

You can apply the solutions below to fix the Code 28 driver error on your computer. 

Fix 1: Restart your computer

Restarting the computer, though a simple solution, can fix the BIOS or Device Manager problems responsible for Code 28 “The drivers for this device are not installed” error. Hence, you can follow these instructions to restart your computer. 

• First, right-click the Start button in the extreme left of the taskbar.

• Next, click Power and select Restart from the on-screen options.

Fix 2: Remove or reconfigure a newly installed device

If the error code 28, “The drivers for this device,” appeared after installing a new device on your computer, the newly installed device may have led to this problem. Hence, you can reconfigure or remove this device to solve the problem. 

Also know: How to Factory Reset your PC for a Fresh Start in Windows

Fix 3: Update your device drivers

Outdated drivers can lead to multiple problems, “the drivers for this device are not installed, code 28” being one of them. The driver helps the connected peripherals communicate with your computer. If the driver is outdated, this communication breaks, causing problems like the one you are trying to fix. 

Hence, you can take these steps to update your device drivers to fix the driver Code 28 error. 

• First, right-click the Start button on the left side of the taskbar and choose Device Manager from the available options.

• In the Device Manager, expand each category one by one to find the devices with a yellow exclamation mark.

• Right-click these problematic devices and choose Update driver from the available menu one at a time.

• Next, search automatically for drivers for each device.

• After completing the above steps, restart your computer.

Fix 4: Roll back your device driver

Very unlikely, “the drivers for this device are not installed, code 28” may appear after updating a device driver due to a corrupted or incompatible driver update. If this happens, below is how to roll back the driver to the earlier version to solve the problem. 

• First, right-click the Start button and choose Device Manager from the on-screen menu.

• Once the Device Manager appears, double-click on the category of the problematic device to expand it.

• Next, right-click on the problematic device and choose Properties from the on-screen menu.

• Once the properties window appears, navigate to the Driver tab and click on the Roll Back button.

• Choose a reason for the rollback (the reason can be any, as it does not make any difference).

• Click OK to confirm the rollback and wait for the process to finish.

• Lastly, restart your computer.

Also know: Top 10 Best Free Driver Updater Tools for Windows 10

Fix 5: Perform a system restore

Any recent changes to the system may have caused the problem. Hence, restoring the system to the previous state (if you have already created a restore point) can fix the issue. If you have a previously created restore point, follow these steps to fix the issue. 

• First, search and open the Control Panel on your device.

• Once the Control Panel appears, search and choose Recovery from the Control Panel menu.

• In this step, select Advanced Recovery Tools and Open System Restore.

• Next, click Next and choose the restore point you would want to restore.

• Confirm your restore point and click Next to proceed to the next step.

• Lastly, check that your computer is restored to the selected restore point and click Finish to complete the system restore.

Fix 6: Perform a Windows update

Updating Windows fixes many annoying issues, error code 28 being one of them. Hence, you can follow the steps below to update Windows. 

• First, open settings using the Win+I hotkey.

• In this step, choose Update & Security from the on-screen settings panel.

• Next, choose Windows Update from the left pane of the on-screen Update & Security settings.

• In this step, check for updates.

• You can now download and install all the available updates.

• Lastly, restart your computer after completing the update process.

Fix 7: Replace the problematic hardware

If none of these solutions work, you should replace the hardware responsible for the driver error code 28, as the device may be incompatible with your PC. You can go through Windows HCL to check whether or not the hardware is compatible with your computer. 

Code 28: “The drivers for this device are not installed.” Fixed

This article walked you through multiple solutions to the error code 28, “the drivers for this device.” Hopefully, the error no longer troubles you. However, if the issue persists or you have any doubts/questions about this troubleshooting guide, you can drop them in the comments section for our experts.