Rooting Galaxy S3: Entry in device manager not found when entering download mode I am trying to follow this guide on rooting the Galaxy S3 (Referred to by this A.SE question). I'm getting stuck at step 5. 

I have now repeatedly used Kies 3 to reinstall the device driver: Tools &gt; Reinstall device driver. If I connect the phone via USB, and on my PC (Windows 8.1) to to Computer management &gt; Device manager, I find the following entry under Universal Serial Bus controller:


  SAMSUNG Mobile USB Composite Device


However, whenever I enter download mode on my phone by holding volume down + power + home keys for 20 seconds, then when prompted pressing volume up key, nothing is found in device manager, nor can the exe in GalaxyS3Root.zip find it. So I exit download mode of the phone by holding the power button for a few seconds and it boots back up. I have tried this process with the USB cable plugged in the whole time, and also while disconnected + connecting it after entering download mode.

Any ideas?

Edit: I did a google search which turned up some things, am trying them:


http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/282851-phone-not-being-recognised-download-mode-odin.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/galaxy-s3-recognized-odin-download-mode-t1950189
http://techverse.net/reasons-odin-not-detecting-android-device/
I managed to get it working using Windows 7 to root it. (Following the step-by-step guide without modifications). 

The order of things I tried in windows 8.1, each time attempting the rooting process:


Swapped USB ports
enabled developer mode
enabled USB debugging mode
Reset everything to factory settings
Swapped USB ports
enabled developer mode
enabled USB debugging mode


And I had repeatedly re-installed device drivers using Samsung Kies 3 during the above. Nothing worked. So maybe it's just windows 8.1 that stopped things working.