how do i get adobe digital editions to recognise my ereader

What kind of eReader is it?

Some are not supported/recognized at all.

There are quite a few eReaders that will work with ADE 1.7.2 but not with the current ADE 2.0.1.

Adobe do not appear to have run any product tests on ADE 2.0/2.0.1.

~~~~~~~~~

There are lots of bugs in ADE2.0 (and 2.0.1).  Try replacing ADE2.0 with the older but more reliable v1.7.2.

(You can have them both installed at once if you like.)

Version 1.7.2, it is a little difficult to find, available on Adobe site for Windows and for Mac.

http://helpx.adobe.com/digital-editions/kb/cant-install-digital-editions.html

The forum software is sometimes corrupting the link above.  There shouldn't be a blank in 'editio ns.html'.  The following redirects to the same page: http://tinyurl.com/diged172

Some people have found ADE trying to upgrade automatically. 

It appears (not 100% sure) that if you install ADE2.0 as a new install (not as an upgrade) that your 1.7.2 will continue to run.

Probably best to say no if 2.0.x installation asks if you want to migrate your library.