Windows / CM_PROB_DRIVER_FAILED_PRIOR_UNLOAD

CM_PROB_DRIVER_FAILED_PRIOR_UNLOAD

Device Manager problem code: 38

Description

This Device Manager error message indicates that the driver could not be loaded because a previous instance is still loaded.

Error Code

38

Display Message

"Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)"

Recommended Resolution

A previous driver instance can still be loaded due to an incorrect reference count or a race between load and unload operations. Additionally, this message can appear if a driver is referenced by multiple INF AddService directives in one or more INF files.

Select Restart Computer, which will restart the computer.

Article text from the Windows driver documentation, by Microsoft, under the CC BY 4.0 licence.