Windows 11 USB/Thunderbolt Issue

Greetings, I'm running Windows 11 Home on my ASUS TUF Gaming F15 laptop but the Thunderbolt ports appear to get "lost" to the system. Generally the two ports are connected to SDRs. I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware issue as I can swap the Windows 11 ssd out for one loaded with Linux Mint 21.3 and the issue with the ports does not repeat. The same SDRs are fully functionable under Linux.

I'm not normally a "Windows guy" but I'm hoping for a spot of guidance that can help me ID & resolve the issue without doing a full Windows rebuild. The last time I looked, the Windows 11 Home was version 22H2, build 22621.2506 (as of 10/20/2023). I have kept Windows updated since October. :)

Thanks!

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Mike

I may be wrong, but I think USB 3.0 (or higher) and Thunderbolt are not always plug 'n' play. I mean some times Windows detect the device and automatically installs drivers for it, but other times you have to manually download and install drivers from manufacturer's support site. It depends on the device chipset, if it is in the Windows database or not. Visit Asus support site and see if there is any driver to install for chipset or USB or Thunderbolt.

Thanks, I'll check into that.

I went to the Asus Driver Support page and downloaded the Intel(R) Chipset Software as it was the only thing there that could apply to the issue I was having. Since installed, my issue has not returned. So for now, it appears corrected.

And today, the issue began to repeat itself. I *might* get to access the thunderbolt/usb once then the system cannot locate it the next time. Back the system goes to the Linux Mint SSD until I can do a full reinstall of Windows 11 to see if that resolves this issue. As always, Clonezilla with be my first step in this process.

Once you have installed the proper driver and Thunderbolt works, use Windows Update Show/Hide Tool to hide (block) any driver updates. You can use Windows Advanced Update Manager (aka WAU) or other similar utility instead.