Ocean Optics spectrometers, including Vernier Spectrometer (V-SPEC) need to be on a recent firmware version to work with Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10. Units with firmware older than 2007 will need a firmware update before they can connect to a newer operating system.

Instructions for applying the firmware update are on the Ocean Insight (formerly Ocean Optics) website:
https://www.oceaninsight.com/support/faqs/products/
Expand the section that says “Legacy USB2000 Not Recognized on Windows 8.x/10”, and follow the instructions.

Note the old firmware can not talk to a new computer at all, so the update can only be done with a Windows 7 (or earlier) computer.