How to Fix Code 32 Errors

A troubleshooting guide for Code 32 errors in Device Manager

By
Tim Fisher
Photo of Tim Fisher, Lifewire GM and Writer
Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University
Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.
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Updated on November 22, 2022
Windows

The Code 32 error is one of several Device Manager error codes. They're usually caused when the start type for the hardware device's driver is disabled in the registry.

The error could apply to any hardware device in Device Manager but most of them appear on optical drives like Blu-ray, DVD, and CD drives.

Any of Microsoft's operating systems could experience a Code 32 Device Manager error, including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and previous versions.

Code 32 Errors

The error will almost always display in the following way:

Device Manager Code 32 error screenshot.
 Lifewire 
 A driver (service) for this device has been disabled. An alternate driver may be providing this functionality. (Code 32)

Device Manager error codes are exclusive to Device Manager. If you see the Code 32 error elsewhere in Windows, chances are it's a system error code which you should not troubleshoot as a Device Manager issue.

How to Fix a Code 32 Error

Follow these steps in the order they're listed here to try the more likely fixes first:

  1. Restart your computer if you haven't already so that caches and temporary files are cleared away. There's always the chance that the error was caused by a temporary problem with the hardware. If so, a restart of your computer might be all you need to fix it.

  2. Revert recent changes. Did you install a device or make a change in Device Manager just before the error appeared? If so, it's likely that the change you made caused the Code 32 error. Undo the change if you can, restart your computer, and then check again for the error.

    Depending on the changes you made, one solution might include removing or reconfiguring the newly installed device.

  3. Roll back the driver to a version prior to your update.

  4. Use System Restore to undo recent Device Manager related changes.

  5. Update the drivers for the device. Installing the latest drivers from the manufacturer for a device with the Code 32 error is another possible fix for this problem.

  6. Reinstall the drivers for the device. Uninstalling and then reinstalling the drivers for the device is another likely solution to this error. This procedure should correctly reset the start type in the registry.

    If a USB device is generating the error, uninstall every device under the Universal Serial Bus controllers hardware category in Device Manager as part of the driver reinstall, including any USB Mass Storage Device, USB Host Controller, and USB Root Hub devices.

    Correctly reinstalling a driver, as in the instructions linked above, is not the same as simply updating a driver. A full driver reinstall involves completely removing the currently installed driver and then letting Windows install it over again from scratch.

  7. Delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters registry values. One common cause of Code 32 errors is the corruption of two registry values in the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class registry key. Deleting similar values in the Windows Registry could also be the solution to this error appearing on a device other than a Blu-ray, DVD, or CD drive.

  8. Replace the hardware. As a last resort, you might need to replace the hardware that throws the Code 32 error.

    While not very likely, it is also possible that the device isn't compatible with your version of Windows. Incompatibility might be a problem if the hardware with the error was manufactured many years ago or if your operating system is several versions old. Reference the Windows HCL to check.

  9. If you're sure that the hardware itself isn't the cause of this particular error, you could try a repair install of Windows. If that's not successful, you could then try a clean install of Windows. We don't recommend doing either of those before you try replacing the hardware, but you may have to give them a shot if you're out of other options.

Please let us know if you've fixed a Code 32 error using a method that we don't have above. We'd like to keep this page as updated as possible.

Need More Help?

If you're not interested in fixing this problem yourself, see How Do I Get My Computer Fixed? for a full list of your support options, plus help with everything along the way like figuring out repair costs, getting your files off, choosing a repair service, and a lot more.

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