Windows device manager is refreshing as if a device is connecting/ disconnecting repeatedly... how can I narrow it down?

[oscarwilde.mm]

I first noticed it while playing a game (Hitman) on Windows 10 (it does it all the time though, not just with the game open). I was playing and suddenly my mouse cursor would start jumping to the center of the screen every couple seconds (or less). Looking up that issue explained that its the game thinking a new device is connecting (and thus my control scheme is momentarily switching from Keyboard & Mouse to a Controller).

So I opened device manager and discovered that its constantly refreshing because Windows thinks a device is connecting/ disconnecting repeatedly. But I can't find any issues! I've tried removing all devices from my PC (M & KB included) and it still does it. I've turned off wireless printers, turned off (and removed) my speakers... nothing stops it. It's just perpetually refreshing.

I disabled Razer surround (which creates a virtual sound device), updated all my drivers, rebooted multiple times... nothing.

So the only thing I can imagine will help is if I can somehow figure out what the item in Device Manager is that's reloading, but I don't know how. Is there some command line process I can use to see a device list with newest items at the top, or something? Some other software I can use to diagnose the issue?

Any tips would be extremely helpful at this point, as it makes playing any games extremely annoying.

 

[Ralston18]

Try the Event Viewer logs. The logs may be capturing some informational message, warning, or error code.

From within this Forum:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3128616/windows-event-viewer.html

Just explore first and learn your way around the logs. Do not panic if there are many yellow and red icons.

Happens in all systems to some extent and the system simply fixes things on its' own.

What you are looking are events that occur just before or at the time of the disconnects. Error codes can be helpful to a point.

And the logs may report no data but there actually may be. Takes some time for Windows 10 to collect the data.

Right clicking any given log entry will provide more details about the entry.

Again, explore first, google errors. Do not immediately react or invoke any given "fix" that shows up in the google searches. Nor should you download any software claiming to find and fix the problem.

Learn first and go from there.

 

[MrFoxRox]

I first noticed it while playing a game (Hitman) on Windows 10 (it does it all the time though, not just with the game open). I was playing and suddenly my mouse cursor would start jumping to the center of the screen every couple seconds (or less). Looking up that issue explained that its the game thinking a new device is connecting (and thus my control scheme is momentarily switching from Keyboard & Mouse to a Controller).

So I opened device manager and discovered that its constantly refreshing because Windows thinks a device is connecting/ disconnecting repeatedly. But I can't find any issues! I've tried removing all devices from my PC (M & KB included) and it still does it. I've turned off wireless printers, turned off (and removed) my speakers... nothing stops it. It's just perpetually refreshing.

I disabled Razer surround (which creates a virtual sound device), updated all my drivers, rebooted multiple times... nothing.

So the only thing I can imagine will help is if I can somehow figure out what the item in Device Manager is that's reloading, but I don't know how. Is there some command line process I can use to see a device list with newest items at the top, or something? Some other software I can use to diagnose the issue?

Any tips would be extremely helpful at this point, as it makes playing any games extremely annoying.

In my case it was the USB hub built into my Acer Predator XB271HU monitor. I disconnected all USB devices except that and Device Manager continued refreshing. The as soon as I disconnected that USB cable it stopped. I had a webcam and SteelSeries wireless Sensei mouse connect to that hub. Neither of them cause it connected directly to my PC. Just connecting the USB hub alone with no peripherals causes it.