Can windows "forget" a USB device if it was not connected for some time?

jocking 20 Hírnévpontok
2026-03-29T21:10:51.5033333+00:00

I have a Logitech steering wheel I occasionnally use for gaming. I haven't connected it to my PC since about last November (about 5 months). When today I connected it, Windows recognized it as a new device and set it up as such, even though it has been used regularly before in the past 3-4 years.
I get no errors, everything works fine, I just find it strange that it was recognized this way, when usually it just works. I connected it to the same USB port as before, I know that this can happen if you plug stuff in another one, but this is not the case now. (I had a similar issue with a joystick as well before, it was recognized as a new device even though it was used before.)

I'd also like to add that I get no errors during the device recognition and there are no errors listed in the event log either (as there are none, this is just a phenomenon I find strange).

Windows otthoni használatra | Windows 10 | Eszközök és illesztőprogramok
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Ivan B 125.1K Hírnévpontok Független tanácsadó
2026-03-29T22:17:27.2833333+00:00

Hi,

What can happen is that when there are system updates, such as Windows updates and drivers, especially chipset drivers, the driver list resets and reloads the driver's INF file. This is normal.

So it doesn't forget. Exactly, it just resets the driver list. You can see this in the Device Manager tab > Show hidden devices, which has a list of recently loaded drivers. This is correct because if a driver has a fault and a new version has been released, you can revert to the previous one. Now, the issue is saving the settings. This is not handled by Windows but by Logitech software. As the driver may have been updated, it may have lost its reference, especially without a period of use, so it's normal.

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