Recently one AskVG reader “Jack Kitchen” contacted me regarding following problem:
I am running Windows 7 SP1. I have this nagging problem in Device Manager, under Portable Devices. I have 6 items listed: “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver“. In their properties this message is displayed: “This device cannot start. (Code 10)“. I have searched and not been able to find a solution to fix these errors. Uninstalling these, they just come back. When I go to Reliability Monitor, it says: Successful driver installation, for all six. This happens every day.
Actually Code 10 and “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver” problems are common problems in all Windows versions. These issues are not specific to any particular Windows version. You can face these issues in all Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.
When you open Device Manager (using devmgmt.msc command in RUN or Search box), you find multiple items listed as “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver” under “Portable Devices” section and all items have yellow triangle with exclamation ‘!‘ sign as shown in following screenshot:
If you open this item’s properties, you get “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” error message in device status section:
Even if you uninstall/delete the items from Device Manager and restart your computer, they automatically come back.
Actually this issue occurs when you have external card readers or USB drives attached to your computer and the card reader or USB drives have no drive letters assigned to them. In such conditions, Windows starts showing them as “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver” in Device Manager.
To fix the issue, you just need to assign drive letters to your removable drives and card readers.
To fix the issue and get rid of “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver” and “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” error messages, follow these simple steps:
1. Right-click on This PC (or My Computer) icon on Desktop and select Manage option. Now go to “Storage -> Disk Management” section.
Alternatively, you can direct launch Disk Manager using diskmgmt.msc command in RUN dialog box.
2. Now you’ll see some extra items listed there without having any drive letter. These are the removable drives and SD card readers attached to your computer and not having any drive letters.
Right-click on each entry one-by-one and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” option.
3. Now click on Add button. Keep the option “Assign the following drive letter” selected and select any desired drive letter from the drop-down box. Windows will automatically assign the next available drive letter to the drive.
4. Click on OK button. Now Windows will recognize the SD card or removable drive and will show it in File Explorer/Windows Explorer.
Repeat the same steps for all SD card or removable drives and assign a drive letter to all of them.
That’s it. Now open Device Manager and you’ll no longer see “WPD FileSystem Volume Driver” or “This device cannot start. (Code 10)” error messages.