Where to look for Device Manager on Windows 7. How to open Device Manager. A few quick ways

Many users have difficulty answering the question of how to open Device Manager on their computer. The fact is that if the Windows operating system is operating normally, and there are no problems with drivers or peripheral devices, the user does not need to know anything at all about the presence of Device Manager on the computer.

When a malfunction occurs in the operating system or equipment, users have to look for answers to questions about the reasons for the incident by searching the Internet. Among the answers, there are often tips to look at some information in the Device Manager.

The management console includes the Device Manager snap-in, which lists installed devices, allocated resources, and drivers. Device Manager displays information about devices, from here you can manage drivers, enable or disable devices.

Using special icons (in the form of question or exclamation marks) displayed next to certain equipment, the user is informed about problems that have arisen in the operation of certain devices. This data helps identify the cause of a computer malfunction.

For example, the sound on the computer does not work, or there are problems with other devices. The problem may be due to drivers or incorrect hardware configuration. Warning icons in Device Manager help you identify problematic hardware. In addition, there you can get technical data about all computer devices.

If there are no warning information icons in Device Manager, then all devices on your computer are operating normally.

How to open Windows Device Manager? Beginner users can easily cope with this problem. There are several ways to enter Device Manager directly from the operating system. Most methods are suitable for operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7.

How to open Device Manager using the Run command

Using this method, you can open Device Manager in Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10.

To launch Device Manager, follow these steps:

1. To launch the “Run” window, press the “Win” + “R” keyboard keys simultaneously.
2. In the “Open” field, enter the command: “devmgmt.msc” (without quotes), and then click on the “OK” button.
3. After this, the “Device Manager” window will open.

How to open Device Manager in Command Prompt

Using the command line, you can open Device Manager by entering a similar command as in the previous case. If you don't find Command Prompt where it should be in Windows 10, read the article.

Launch the command line in any convenient way, for example, by entering the expression “cmd” (without quotes) into the “Search in Windows” field.

In the command line interpreter window, enter the command: “devmgmt.msc” (without quotes), and then press the “Enter” key.

Launching Device Manager in Windows PowerShell

Device Manager is easily launched in Windows PowerShell using a similar command. Launch PowerShell, enter the command: “devmgmt.msc” (without quotes), and then press the “Enter” key.

Opening Device Manager from Computer Management

This method for opening the Task Manager works on all Windows operating systems.

With the default operating system settings, there is no “This PC” icon on the Desktop (My Computer, Computer). Therefore, most users, for ease of use, independently add the “My Computer” icon to the Windows desktop. Read how to do this.

1. Right-click on the “This PC” icon (My Computer, Computer).
2. In the context menu, click on the “Manage” item.
3. In the Computer Management window, in the Computer Management (Local Computer) section, in the Utilities list, click on Device Manager.

Other ways to enter “Computer Management” are from the “Start” button menu by selecting the “Manage” menu item, or using the “Run” dialog box after executing the command: “compmgmt.msc” (without quotes).

Launching Device Manager from System Properties

In order to use this method, you will need the “This PC” icon (My Computer, Computer) on the Desktop.

1. After right-clicking on the “This PC” icon (My Computer, Computer), select “Properties” from the context menu.
2. In the “System” window that opens, click on the “Device Manager” item.

How to open Device Manager from Control Panel

An easy way to access Device Manager using the Windows Control Panel interface.

1. Access Control Panel from the Start menu (in Windows 10, in the Windows Search box, type “control panel”).
2. In the All Control Panel Items window that opens, in the Small Icons display mode, select Device Manager.

How to open Device Manager using search

A very simple way to open Device Manager on your computer using the search function from the Start menu in the Windows operating system.

In Windows 10, search is located on the Taskbar, near the Start button. However, search in Windows 10 can also be launched from the Start menu. Right-click on the Start menu and select Sign In.

1. Type "device manager" into the Windows search box.
2. Launch Device Manager on your computer.

This method works on all Windows operating systems.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 10

In the Windows 10 operating system, it is very easy to launch Device Manager directly from the Start menu.

After right-clicking on the “Start” menu, select “Device Manager” from the context menu.

Device Manager on Windows 10 will open.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 8.1

The Start menu has been added to the Windows 8.1 operating system, which includes the ability to launch the Device Manager snap-in.

To open the Device Manager, you need to right-click on the “Start” menu and select “Device Manager” in the context menu that opens.

Another way: press the “Win” + “X” keys, and in the window that opens, launch Device Manager.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 8

In the Windows 8 operating system, you can access Device Manager using the keyboard keys.

After pressing the “Win” + “X” keys simultaneously, a window will open in which you need to click on the “Device Manager” item.

After this, Device Manager will be opened on the Windows 8 Desktop.

Launching Device Manager from the Windows folder

Finally, I’ll tell you about one more method. If previous attempts are unsuccessful, you can try opening Device Manager directly from the Windows operating system folder.

1. Go to the system drive “C:”, open the “Windows” folder, and then the “System32” folder.
2. In the “System32” folder, find the devmgmt utility (devmgmt.msc), and then double-click on the application.

Windows Device Manager will launch on your computer.

Conclusions of the article

In case of problems, in the operating systems Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, the user can open the Task Manager using different methods.

Device Manager is a component of the Windows operating system that is designed to manage devices connected to your computer. Device Manager first appeared in Windows 95 and was later added to Windows 2000. In NT versions of the Windows operating system, it appeared as a snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console.

Device Manager displays all connected devices. Here you can determine whether the connected device is working correctly, change its operating parameters, and install or remove drivers. In order to determine how a device works, you just need to pay attention to its icon. If a device is not working properly, it will be indicated in Device Manager by an icon with a black exclamation point inside a yellow triangle. If the device is not recognized by the operating system, it will be indicated by a yellow question mark. A disabled device is indicated by a red cross or a gray down arrow. Knowing these symbols, you can quickly determine which device has problems and what needs to be done to solve them.

In many instructions for setting up the Windows operating system that are published on the Internet, you can find recommendations on using Device Manager. But it is not always explained to the user in sufficient detail how to open Device Manager, what it is and how to work with it.

In this article, we will try to close this gap by describing all the main ways to open Device Manager in all major versions of the Windows operating system.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 10 or Windows 8

If you are using the Windows 10 or Windows 8 operating system, you can open Device Manager using a new menu that opens using the Windows-X key combination or by right-clicking on the START menu.

This menu appeared in Windows 8 and has since been available in all versions of Windows. In addition to Device Manager, you can use it to open other standard utilities of the Windows operating system. For example, using this menu you can open Power Management, Event Viewer, Network Connections, Disk Management, Computer Management, etc.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 7

There are different ways to open Device Manager in Windows 7. The following algorithm is most often used: open , and open the section “ system and safety».

In chapter " system and safety"Open the "System" section.

After this, a window will open with the main characteristics of this computer. Here you need to click on the link “ device Manager", which is located on the left side of the window.

After this, the Windows 7 Device Manager window will open in front of you.

How to open Device Manager in Windows XP

In Windows XP, Device Manager opens in a similar way. First, open the Start menu and go to Control Panel. In the Control Panel you need to open the “System” section.

After this, the window “ Properties of the system" Here you need to go to the “Equipment” tab.

On the equipment tab, click on the button " device Manager».

After this, the Device Manager window will open in front of you.

How to open Device Manager using command

There are also universal ways to open Device Manager that work in any version of Windows. For example, this can be done by running the command “mmc devmgmt.msc”. To do this, open the “Run” menu (key combination Windows-R) or the command line and enter “mmc devmgmt.msc”. This command works on Windows 10, Windows 7 and Windows XP.

In the Windows 7 operating system, as well as in newer versions of Windows, you can use the search bar to open Device Manager. To do this, you just need to open the Start menu and enter the phrase “Device Manager” into the search, and then open the program suggested by the system.

If you have Windows 8, which does not have a Start menu, then you can enter the phrase “Device Manager” into the search form on the Start screen.

Device Manager is present in all versions of Windows and allows you to manage all devices connected to your computer. Thanks to it, you can work with drivers, connect or disconnect external and internal devices, and also find detailed information about them. To open it, built-in OS tools are used.

How to open Device Manager in Windows 7

In Windows 7, there are several ways to navigate to the Manager to get started with it. Most of the manager launch options are configured by default, but you can add one more manually to get the fastest access to the program.

Via My Computer

Through computer control

Via Explorer

Via quick access program

Through command execution

Video: opening the dispatcher

Manually adding another method

If you want the manager to be open directly from the context menu that appears when you right-click on the “Computer” icon, then follow these steps:

How to show hidden devices

Some devices are hidden in the manager by default for the following reasons:

Hardware Manager allows you to check and update drivers for connected devices detected by the system. This system tool is often useful in diagnosing problems, so information on how to open Device Manager will be useful to all users.

Windows interface

The fastest way to enable Device Manager is to right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Manage” from the context menu. In the “Computer Management” window that appears, select “Device Manager” from the menu on the left.

You can take a slightly longer route and launch the dispatcher through the “Control Panel”:

If this method does not work, try calling the hardware manager directly from the “system32” folder. It doesn't matter what system you have installed: XP, Windows 7 or Ten. The path to the executable file of the hardware tool remains unchanged.

A hardware manager will appear on the screen, with which you can continue to work, making changes to the software of connected devices.

Run menu

Another method, which works on all versions of Windows without exception (from XP to Windows 10), is to use the “Run” window, which can be opened through Start or launched using the Win + R combination.

Through Run, any programs, system tools and folders are included - you just need to correctly specify the launch command.

Using the Command Line

Let's try to launch the device manager from the command line. First you need to open the command interpreter window itself. On Windows XP, for example, this is done through the Start menu, where among the standard programs there is a command line.

On other versions of Windows, you can use the built-in search bar or the “Run” menu mentioned above, specifying the query “cmd” in it. In addition, the command line is a system application, the executive file of which is stored in the “system32” folder in the “Windows” directory. Go here and double-click on the cmd.exe file to access the Windows command interpreter.

To open the hardware manager via the command line, you need to enter the same command as in the “Run” window – “devmgmt.msc”. After pressing the Enter key, a list of all connected devices with which you can work will appear.

Win+X menu

Windows 8 has a new convenient menu for navigating system tools, which can be accessed using the Win+X key combination. In previous versions, this menu does not work, but it is preserved in the “top ten”, where it can also be called up by right-clicking on “Start”.

In the Win+X context menu, among other things, there is a link to the device manager - click on it to see a list of connected equipment on the screen.

Making changes to the registry

The first method describes how to launch the hardware manager through the “Management” section of the “Computer” context menu. But if you make small changes to the system registry, you won’t have to open the “Management” window—the “Device Manager” item will immediately appear in the context menu:

After completing these steps, a link to the Hardware Manager will appear in the Computer context menu next to the Manage tool, which you can use if necessary.

In a computer, as in an army, the commands of the commander in chief (the processor) must be carried out quickly and accurately. System and peripheral combat units within the PC act harmoniously, each knows the assigned task and receives from the system the necessary resources to successfully complete it. It’s just that in the army the operational headquarters monitors the interaction of various branches of the military, and in a personal computer these functions are performed by the Windows Device Manager.

Calling the Windows 7 Device Manager

Device Manager is a special program that allows you to flexibly interact with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which first appeared in Windows 95. Using the manager, the user can view all devices installed on the PC, obtain information about the resources allocated to them, and control how they are turned on/off , as well as manipulate drivers.

There are several ways to open the Device Manager window:

• using the Windows Control Panel;
• via the command line or the Run window;
• through the interface of the OS itself.

Since the dispatcher is formally located in the control panel, to call it we will first need to open this panel:

You can do without searching. To do this, select the “System and Security” section in the control panel and go to the “Device Manager” menu item in the “System” subsection.

You can also launch the console snap-in through the Computer Management window.

You can launch the dispatcher even faster by calling it by file name. To do this, you just need to open the “Run” window (Win + R), write devmgmt.msc in it and click OK. Using another hotkey - Win+Pause - you can open the "System" window of the Windows Control Panel, which also contains a link to launch the Device Manager.

Show hidden hardware in Device Manager

The manager window provides graphical information from the Microsoft management console about the equipment installed on a personal computer or laptop. Devices in the list can be grouped either by type or by connection. You can change the grouping principle by selecting the appropriate item in the “View” menu.

The Windows 7 Device Manager window provides information about the hardware installed on your personal computer.

Devices that are not recognized by the system (for example, if there are no drivers installed for them) or operate with errors are marked with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside.

However, in its standard form, the device manager does not show all the equipment known to it, because the system may also contain so-called hidden devices. One of the typical types of such equipment are devices with previously installed drivers, which are now disabled. To view hidden devices, go to the “View” menu of the manager and check the “Show hidden devices” checkbox.

There is one more small but important nuance when displaying hidden devices.. Device Manager stores information even about those previously installed devices that are currently disabled (physically absent, disabled in the BIOS, etc.). The environment variable DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES is responsible for displaying this type of equipment. If it is assigned the value 0, then the device data will not be shown to the user. Before starting the MMC console, the value of this variable is checked by the devmgr.dll library. It is worth mentioning that such ghost devices can cause conflicts with existing equipment. So, when installing a new network card, the system can warn you about a conflict of IP addresses with the controller that was installed in this PC sometime in the past. To obtain information about installed but currently disabled hardware in Device Manager, follow these steps:

In the future, these two commands can be formatted as a bat file to significantly simplify launching the device manager with the parameters you need.

If Device Manager does not open

Sometimes users face problems when opening Device Manager using any of the methods described above. It may simply not start, or a window may appear indicating various errors. In the vast majority of cases, this behavior of the operating system is caused by the consequences of computer viruses. It also happens that the device manager files on the disk are damaged or missing, which can also be caused by the machinations of malware that have entered your PC from the network. In any case, the first thing you should do is check your computer for viruses and, if any are found, get rid of them. If you do not have any anti-virus software installed, we recommend downloading at least a portable, constantly updated and free utility from Dr.Web and checking your PC with it.

If the problem with starting the manager cannot be solved by cleaning it from viruses, use the built-in capabilities of the OS to find errors and restore damaged system files. To do this you will need to do the following:

You can independently check the presence of the necessary files in the System32 subdirectory of your OS. If you have problems launching the Device Manager, you should make sure that the devmgmt.msc file itself is present on the disk, as well as the libraries devmgmr.dll, msxml3.dll, msxml6.dll and others. If these files are missing, you will have to use a bootable LiveCD and manually copy them from the Windows 7 distribution.

Common problems when working with Device Manager

If you were able to successfully launch Device Manager, you may still encounter a number of problems while working with it. For example, the device you need will not be displayed in the list, the manager will not be able to detect it when updating the equipment configuration, or even the manager window will be completely empty. Our advice will help you overcome these unpleasant moments.

Empty Device Manager

There are several main reasons why the dispatcher window can shine with pristine whiteness.

Most likely, malicious viruses, for example, may again be to blame for this. In this case, scan your PC with an anti-virus scanner and get rid of unwanted “guests”. For the Apropos virus, the easiest solution is to use the utility. Boot your computer into Safe Mode, extract the AproposFix files from the archive and run the RunThis.bat file. When the virus removal procedure is completed, the program will write a log file to disk, which will list everything that was found and fixed (or deleted).

Another reason for an empty device manager may be a disabled Plug & Play system service, which is responsible for recognizing changes in installed hardware. To enable this service, you must complete the following steps.

In addition, you may not have access to entries that describe devices in the system registry. To resolve this issue, you will need to launch Registry Editor and follow these steps:

What to do if an unknown device is detected

Windows considers unknown equipment to be any hardware for which there is no driver, or one exists, but is intended for a different version of the system, or the OS was unable to recognize the device identifier code used in the Plug & Play standard. The most often unknown are complex and composite devices that work in the USB and IEEE 1394 standards and do not fall into any of the classes defined for Windows and supported by the system.

Such a device is marked in the dispatcher with a special icon - an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle.

Unknown devices are marked with a special icon in the form of an exclamation mark on a yellow background

In order for Windows OS to see and recognize the connected device, you must install its driver, either using the update center or downloading the installation package yourself from the equipment manufacturer’s website. To do this, right-click on the unknown hardware, select “Update driver” from the menu that opens and follow the system prompts.

Video: how to install a driver through Device Manager

If you don't know what kind of device it is and where to get a driver for it, try searching for the required software by hardware identifier.

Video: how to find a driver by device ID

Problems with USB ports

Since the USB controller, like any equipment, interacts with the OS through a driver, first make sure that all the necessary drivers are installed from the motherboard disk.

If everything is fine with installing the drivers, but your computer suddenly stops detecting USB devices, a simple system reboot can help you. Restart your computer normally. With a high degree of probability, we can assume that after a restart this trouble will disappear without a trace.

In the case when an immediate reboot is undesirable for some reason (for example, you are running some long-running task that you don’t want to interrupt), you can use the device manager for a gentle “reboot” (restarting only hardware drivers).

Another way to get the ports to work is to remove and then rearrange the USB controllers.

If you consider yourself a fairly experienced user who knows how to handle the Windows system registry correctly and without destructive consequences for the PC, you can try another error correction option to get rid of the problem with USB ports. To do this, launch from the “Start” menu or using the “Run” window (Win + R) call the regedit registry editor and perform the following actions in it:

COM and LPT ports are missing in Device Manager

Sometimes you may need to configure the parameters of a serial COM port (for example, if you want to connect a programmer or a specialized industrial controller to your computer), and this section, as well as the ports themselves, are not in the device manager. It should be noted that in modern computers, especially laptops and netbooks, COM and LPT ports may be completely absent on the motherboard as unnecessary. The required ports can simply be disabled in the BIOS and, because of this, not appear in the manager. If you want to use a COM or LPT port, be sure to go into the BIOS and enable this type of hardware. It's a good idea to make sure that the drivers for your computer's motherboard are installed and up to date.

If the above tips do not help, there is an option to force these ports from the Device Manager itself. To do this you need:

1. In the “Action” menu, select “Install old device”.

   To install missing ports, select “Install old device”

2. Select the required type of equipment.

   In the list of equipment types, select the line “Ports (COM and LPT)”

3. Select the required port.

   We indicate which port we need to install: serial (COM) or parallel (LPT, printer port)

4. If necessary, configure the port that appears in the device manager.

   All that remains is to configure the port that appears in the equipment list or update its driver

The printer connected to the PC was not detected

First of all, make sure that the printer is physically connected to the PC. Check the cord itself, as well as the condition of the connectors on the printer and motherboard. If your printer is not listed in the device manager, but is visible in the Devices and Printers section of the control panel and prints with noticeable delays, this may indicate that it does not have enough USB power. This problem can be resolved by connecting the printer not directly to the PC, but via a USB hub with additional power to the ports. If you are working on a laptop, you should make sure that the USB controller does not turn off when switching to power-saving mode. To do this, you will need to prevent Windows from managing the power supply of the USB controller so that the OS does not turn off this equipment when it is forced to idle in order to save energy.

Uncheck the box that allows the system to turn off the USB controller to save power

If your printer supports Plug and Play, but when you connect it, it does not appear in the Device Manager under "Printers", make sure that there are no other unknown devices in the device manager. It is possible that the drivers for the printer have crashed, and now the dispatcher simply cannot identify it correctly. Reinstall the drivers and restart your computer.

If you are using an older printing device that does not support this standard, remember that Device Manager considers such equipment hidden by default. To display equipment of this type in the tree of installed devices, check the “Show hidden devices” option in the “View” menu. Then look for information about the printer in the “Non-plug and play device drivers” section.

Information about printers that do not support the Plug&Play standard can be found in the “Non-plug and play device drivers” section

What to do if the monitor is recognized as universal

Modern monitors in most cases are recognized by the system as a “Universal PnP Monitor” and do not require the installation of special drivers. But for older monitors this may be a problem. Often Windows sets them to "Default Standard Driver (VGA)". However, this mode may not support the monitor's native resolution or refresh rate, which may cause inconvenience when using the computer. Usually the monitor is not detected correctly if the native drivers for the video adapter have not been installed.

For many modern monitors, a standard driver is sufficient, but it may not work correctly with older models.

To install the required monitor driver, boot your computer in safe mode. Uninstall the video card driver and restart the computer again. The system should recognize your monitor again, after which you can reinstall the drivers for the video adapter.

If your monitor supports multiple connection methods to a PC, try connecting it in a different way, for example, use an HDMI port instead of a DVI port, or connect the PC's DVI connector via an adapter to the monitor's VGA connector.

Sometimes it is impossible to properly calibrate a monitor without native drivers

Disk drive missing from device manager

If you are using an IDE or SATA drive, make sure it is recognized correctly in the appropriate BIOS window. The absence of a drive in the BIOS settings may be due to a poor connection of the power cable, insufficient output power of the built-in power supply, or even an incorrect combination of Master/Slave switches (jumpers) that distribute the roles of devices connected via one IDE cable. If the drive is detected in the BIOS, remove and reinstall the IDE/ATAPI drivers:

After reboot, the drivers will be installed automatically.

If you use an external or internal USB drive, visit the motherboard manufacturer's website to download and install the latest drivers specifically for your model of USB controller built into the chipset. It is worth noting that in such circumstances, problems with the PC will not be limited only to the disk drive; flash drives and other devices connected via the universal serial bus will also not work.

Perhaps the lack of a disk drive is caused by third-party software for working with CD and DVD drives (utilities for burning disks, creating virtual drives in the system, etc.). Uninstall the program data from your PC and restart your computer. If the situation does not improve, try cleaning the registry of possible changes they made manually. For this:

Video: how to restore a disk drive in Windows 7 Device Manager

Device Manager does not see video cards

If your graphics card was not working at all, you would hardly see the Device Manager window. Perhaps the system simply could not find the necessary drivers and identified the video card as a standard VGA video adapter. Find this line in the manager and update the driver for the device, having first downloaded the latest version from the manufacturer’s website, designed specifically for your operating system. It is worth remembering that for NVidia video cards there are different drivers for video adapters on desktop computers and graphics cards installed in laptops. For the latter, look for drivers with an "M" at the end of the series (for example, NVidia 9600M Series, not NVidia GeForce 9600 Series).

In addition, you should make sure that there are no unknown devices in the manager. For example, the nVIDIA video card driver on Sony laptops may not install correctly if the SFEP driver is not installed on the system (the Sony Firmware Extension Parser device is considered unknown in the manager).

If the driver is installed incorrectly, the video adapter is defined as standard, and unidentified objects appear in the “Other devices” section

If the PC configuration simultaneously contains a built-in and discrete graphics card, one of the video adapters may generally be recognized as an unknown device. In this case, install the required driver from the disk included with the video card or download it from the Internet. In the case of two video adapters, one of them may be physically disabled, as a result of which it is not in the manager. Check if integrated video or PCI-E graphics card is enabled in BIOS. A similar operation can be done programmatically using the NVIDIA or Catalyst Control Center control panels. If the video adapter was turned off, turn it on and it will appear in the manager.

If the video adapter was configured normally, functioned without errors and suddenly disappeared, try to roll back the system to a restore point where everything was fine with it.

Don't panic if you accidentally disabled your only video adapter from Device Manager and your screen went blank. Restart your computer in Safe Mode and turn on the video adapter in the manager again. If the configuration has built-in and discrete video cards, using the BIOS you can switch the device to which the initial image output will be carried out.

In this case, resetting the BIOS to default values ​​also helps.

Device Manager is, of course, essential for managing your computer. Without it, you won't be able to configure your hardware properly to get the most out of your PC. The key to reliable operation of the OS without annoying errors and crashes is keeping the drivers of the devices involved up to date, disabling unnecessary equipment and reinstalling problematic components. Windows Device Manager will help you with this.