Installing Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver drivers

I feel that I have to post this cause I couldn’t find this on any website, even the Microsoft website didn’t help, and I had to figure it out on my own. For all you that are running the 64-bit OS (like Windows Vista or Windows 7) you might get a problem when installing drivers for the XBox 360 Wireless controller receiver. Recently I purchased this Wireless receiver so I can use my Xbox 360 wireless controller on my PC (I miss Gears of War, and this controller is perfect for this game and probably other third-person shooters).

Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows

So I plug it in, Windows detects it and doesn’t install drivers automatically, so I thought ok well this is a third party peripheral so maybe I need the CD. I pop in the Drivers CD, and install the drivers as normal. Still nothing. Restarted, Still no drivers found. I Check device manager and it shows “unknown device”. WTF? This is a Microsoft product, right? I tried a few other USB ports, but same problem with all of them, it detects new hardware but fails to install drivers. I also managed to try it on my Laptop (which runs Windows XP 32-bit) and it installed perfectly. Ok so it doesn’t like 64-bit Windows, but on the Microsoft website it says it supports all Windows platforms, 32-bit and 64-bit, so WTF is going on?

After much time, I did it the old school way, manual installation. So here it is for all you frustrated with Microsoft driver installations:

Note: Make sure the wireless receiver is plugged in at all times, do not disconnect it.

1. Uninstall all Microsoft XBOX 360 Wireless Controller Drivers

2. Restart your PC.

3. Install the latest Microsoft XBOX 360 Wireless Controller drivers from the Microsoft download site

4. Restart your PC again.

5. Go to control panel > Device Manager. You should see “Unknown device” there. Right click “Unknown device” and select Properties, and then click on Update Drivers.

6. Select “Browse my computer for driver software”

7. Select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”

8. Select “Microsoft” from the left side, and then on the right side select “Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows”

9. Click Next and now it should be installed. Restart your computer.

10. You should now see “Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows” in your list of hardware devices in control panel.

You can now pair up your Xbox 360 controllers to the PC the same way you do it on the Xbox 360.

There you have it, I just did what Microsoft can’t do.

Buy cheap Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for windows

Headset Headphone Microphone for Video Game Xbox 360	Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows	rechargeable battery pack for xbox 360 wireless controller	Wireless Controller for Xbox 360