Windows Update disables fake USB chips

[froggyboy604]

SB SERIAL DRIVERS released by Scottish chip designer FTDI and distributed by Microsoft Windows Update are bricking knock-off Chinese USB chips used in many Arduino microcontrollers, rendering the devices unusable.
Ars Technica picked up the story that was reported by Hack A Day, which found it on an EEVblog hardware forum.
 
The latest FTDI driver released in August contains the warning: "Use of the software as a driver for, or installation of the software onto, a component that is not a genuine FTDI component, including without limitation counterfeit components, MAY IRRETRIEVABLY DAMAGE THAT COMPONENT."
 
Read More
 
I guest, users should not update our USB chips with Windows Update because it is very hard to know if USB chips are real or fake. Hopefully, Windows Updates' updates does not disable other kind of chips like RAM, CPU, motherboard chips, and hard drives.
 
I never knew that the USB chips can have knock-off/fake versions. I always thought USB was an open standard which let any company makes USB chips by following the design.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Instead of instant bricking, there should be like a warning or something giving them X amount of time to put in the right chips.

 

[froggyboy604]

I think using Windows Update to update your driver software is a bad idea. Windows Update once downloaded the wrong driver for my SD card reader, and it did not work until I uninstalled the driver.

It is usually best to just download the driver software from the hardware makers website.