Microsoft chose to further "enhance" plug and play with Windows 7 and above (Windows 10 and Windows 11). When a USB printer is connected, the operating system automatically associates a printer with a driver.
However, the OS forces an association to occur even when it does not find the driver from the printer manufacturer. If a printer is connected via USB before the ZDesigner driver is installed just once, the Microsoft operating system creates an Unspecified or Unknown printer in Devices and Printers.
The "unspecified" driver that the Windows OS associates the Zebra printer with is a USB port that it automatically chooses. Since this port has no association with a ZDesigner driver, it does not know how to communicate with the Zebra printer.
Solutions
The issue can be resolved by getting the ZDesigner driver in place to automatically install the correct driver for your printer the next time a Zebra printer is connected via USB. Refer to
Unspecified Driver or ZDesigner Driver installed on Windows 7 PC not communicating with Zebra Printer.
An alternative solution is to attempt to update the
Unspecified or
Unknown driver already created in Devices and Printers. To complete the necessary steps, refer to
Updating an Unspecified or Unknown Driver.
This is not an issue specific to the Microsoft Certified ZDesigner driver. We have seen a few other solutions that have resolved this error under different circumstances.
Regarding Windows 8 Unspecified Device errors: Run the
Driver setup.exe logged in as admin using Windows 7 compatibility mode and reinstall the driver. Then uninstall USB printing support from the device manager, and then scan for hardware changes. See if the printer is installed correctly.
In case the issue is still not resolved, for other possible solutions, refer to
Possible solutions for Unspecified device error in Windows 7.
