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)
1 hour of troubleshooting.. I had some SnapChat Spectacles with a ton of videos in my Camera Roll. I previously used My Computer -> and Copy & Paste the photos over to my external hard drive off the iPhone, and then delete them in windows explorer. However, ever since getting these SnapChat sunglasses w/ camera taking movies, I kept getting the device not functioning when trying to backup my camera roll — very annoying. After updating every IOS and installing iTunes for PC (which I never have used!) – it still did not fix it.
Thankfully the below solution solved my issue:
On your iOS device, go to Settings > Photos and scroll down, find the “transfer to Mac or pc” section. And select “Keep Originals”.
Then you can copy the photos & vids as you use to do with no issue.
Hope this helps someone