Many iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Windows users are reporting that they have been receiving an error message saying “A device attached to the system is not functioning” (see the image below).
This error message occurs because your computer is not properly communicating with your iOS device. This could be because of many reasons, for example:
- Your iPhone or iPad is not connected to your computer properly
- Your computer’s USB port may not be working
- Your USB cable may not be working
You may see this error when you attempt to copy and transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Windows PC. This short article explains what you can do to fix this problem.
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- Reconnect your iPhone to iPad to your computer. Try a different USB port. Try a different USB cable.
- Restart your computer and your iOS device. You can turn off your iOS device by going to Settings > General > Shut Down. Then you can restart. Restart your PC also.
- On your iOS device, go to Settings > Photos and scroll down, find the “transfer to Mac or pc” section. And select “Keep Originals”.
- On your computer, switch between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
- Update iTunes to the latest version on your PC. There are two ways to do this depending on your initial installation. If you downloaded iTunes from Apple’s web site, in iTunes, choose Help > Check for Updates. If you downloaded iTunes from Microsoft Store, on your computer, go to Start > Microsoft Store > More… > Download and Updates.
See also: How To Transfer Photos & Videos From iPhone & iPad To Computer (Mac or Windows)
I am dropping iPhone for good! It is incredible that I cannot transfer videos from my daughters to my laptop. The fix above worked for pictures but not for videos. In fact, some videos good damaged beyond repair. Bad for Apple!!
Will be buying an Android instead of their iPhone 12 Pro Max. That’s a lot of money they will be loosing! Just because they are stubborn and “too good for their customers that use PCs”.
Thank you ! “keep originals” solved my problem
Keep Original” worked for me! Thank you so much!!! <3
Keep originals solved my problem too. I’ve lost 2 days of work over this flaw, and I can’t believe that Apple hasn’t fixed it yet.
‘Keep Original’ Solved my problem too. I was not getting resolution to it since very long.
Thanks a lot.
“Keep Original” Solved my problem. Thank you so much!
THANK YOU THANK YOU. I’m so glad I found this. Switching to ‘Keep Originals’ fixed my problem. And sped up the file transfers I’m trying to do manually. That was so frustrating.
If you don’t need HEIC then go to settings>camera>format and choose most compatible. You will get .jpg/.h264. Then you can transfer without conversions.
once you download it after you check ” keep originals” , open it in windows veiwer, when you do it will prompot you to buy something from the microsoft store for 0.99$ and it will say codec or something. anyway sign into to paypal or enter your card info and buy it, then it will work. its something about the format that is being transfered with “keep originals” cheeked, that only allows you to have the sound from the file. yes the file will be smaller but when you buy the thing from the microsoft store it will havw the vid in it! please know Jesus is the way the truth and the life!!! ANd He loves you all so very much!!! He just wants to make you family again!!!
Your jesus don’t have anything to do with the answer. Keep it to yourself.
I have tried all of above ie “Keep Original”, “Most Compatable”, turned off WiFi, and still get “A device attached to the system is not functioning” when I try to upload Quicktime *.MOV files to Windows 7 PC via USB cable. Transfer of *.JPG, *.PNG pictures works just fine with the same PC, USB cable and iPhone 7. All software is the latest of both PC iTunes and iPhone.
“Keep Original” Solved my problem. Thank you so much!
Keep original trick solved it! Thank you!
The Keep original trick worked for me on iphone 7 transfer to windows 7 PC
The “Keep Originals” trick worked for me. I wasted hours trying to access my iPhone X on a Windows PC. I could only “see” the iPhone on an ancient Netbook running Windows 7 Starter – but whatever works. Then I faced the “A device attached to the system is not functioning” issue, which was thankfully easy to fix. Can’t say I’m a fan of Apple after this ridiculous run-around though. Thanks for the solution.
This worked for me with my IPhone 7. Make sure under settings > photos you select automatic
Go to Settings > Camera.
Tap Formats.
Tap Most Compatible.
This worked, thank you
Thumbs up for you sir! You gave me a great pill for my headache 🙂
Oh my God thank you 🙏🏼 I made it. Finally. I transferred all my videos in a minutes ! Its unbelievable!!! I can’t explain how happy am I)))))) I was struggling with this 6 months and just one click on “ keep original “ changed my life)))
Have been trying to move pictures from iphone 8 to computer (Windows 10) but cant do it. Switching to “Keep originals” caused a whole new set of problems – worked, but all the pictures were in .HEIC format, whatever that is. My computer cant read them and neither can the programs I use to edit pictures, so this was no help. I can sometimes get some pictures to transfer before I get the error, but the inconsistency of this is strange. Any ideas what else I can do?
I’ve experienced the same. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. It’s annoying at times! And I get this message, “The requested value cannot be determined.”
I were connected with cable to a pc. shutting down wifi on phone made it work for me.
I was having an issue where the copy just stopped, no error. putting the phone in airplane mode, allowed the copy to complete without issue.
Have you been able to find a solution? I am running into the same problems with my iPhone 8 plus and my Windows 8 PC. I have done the same things as you: repeatedly attempted to transfer pictures, converted the formats, changed the settings on my iPhone, etc. The end options were that the transfers kept failing or I had a bunch of .HEIC files that I would have to convert. This is ridiculously frustrating. Makes me consider getting an Android.
By changing the setting to “Keep Original” Solved my problem.
Many Thanks