USB Device Visible in AnywhereUSB Manager but Not Detected in Windows Device Manager

A USB device connected through a Digi AnywhereUSB Plus hub appears as "in use by you" in AnywhereUSB Manager but is not enumerated in Windows Device Manager. The application relying on the USB device cannot access it.

This issue can occur on any supported Windows version (including Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows 11) and is most commonly triggered by a sudden system power loss or an unclean shutdown of the host machine or hub.

• Administrator access to the affected Windows machine or virtual machine.
• Windows Registry Editor access (regedit).
• Latest AnywhereUSB Manager installer — download from the Digi support portal before beginning.

Perform a clean uninstall and reinstall of AnywhereUSB Manager on the affected machine. In some cases the standard uninstaller rolls back without completing — follow the full procedure below to ensure a successful removal.

Clean Reinstall of AnywhereUSB Manager

1. Attempt a standard uninstall via Add or Remove Programs (Windows 7) or Apps & Features (Windows 10/11). If it completes without rolling back, skip to Step 5.
2. If the uninstaller rolls back — open Registry Editor (regedit) and navigate to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer. Create a new DWORD value named DisableRollback and set it to 1.
3. Run the AnywhereUSB Manager uninstaller again. It will now complete even if not all components are removed cleanly.
4. After the uninstall finishes, check whether the following driver files remain on disk. If present, delete them manually before proceeding:C:\Windows\System32\drivers\awhcd.sys C:\Windows\System32\drivers\awhub.sys
5. Delete the DisableRollback registry value created in Step 2.
6. Reboot the machine.
7. Install the latest AnywhereUSB Manager. Consult the Digi documentation to determine whether service mode or standalone mode best fits your use case (see Further Information).
8. After installation, open AnywhereUSB Manager, disable autofind, and add each AnywhereUSB hub as an explicit known (manual) hub. Each client machine should connect only to its designated hub.

• These steps must be performed on each affected machine or virtual machine independently.
• After reinstallation, verify that KeepAlivePeriod and PortPowerCycleTime values are consistent across client machines unless there is a specific reason for them to differ.
• Autofind must be disabled on client machines that should connect only to a specific known hub. Leaving autofind enabled can cause connection attempts to unintended hubs, resulting in invalid client certificate rejections in hub logs.
• If hub logs continue to show "Empty descriptor" errors after a clean reinstall, consider factory resetting the AnywhereUSB hub and reconfiguring it from scratch.
• If the USB device works correctly when connected directly to a physical machine but not through the AnywhereUSB hub, the issue is likely driver enumeration timing in service mode rather than a hardware fault.

• Download AnywhereUSB Hub Support Report: https://docs.digi.com/resources/documentation/digidocs/90002383/default.htm#os/support-download-report.htm
• Create AnywhereUSB Manager Support File: https://docs.digi.com/resources/documentation/digidocs/90002383/default.htm#device/anywhereusbplus/content/tasks/t_awusb_manager_create_support_file.htm
• Configure Known Hubs and Autofind: https://docs.digi.com/resources/documentation/digidocs/90002383/default.htm#device/anywhereusbplus/content/reference/r_awusb_manager_configure_known_hubs_autofind.htm
• Install AnywhereUSB Manager (service vs. standalone): https://docs.digi.com/resources/documentation/digidocs/90002383/default.htm#device/anywhereusbplus/content/tasks/t_install_driver.htm