How to show hidden devices. How to remove unused drivers in Windows. How to remove unused drivers

"Ghost" and hidden devices that do not appear in Windows Device Manager can cause crashes and system conflicts. In this article, we will talk about how to force the Manager to show all hidden devices to make it easier to diagnose problems.

One of the strangest hardware-related flaws is the presence of "ghost" and hidden devices that do not appear in the system, but can cause a system conflict. It will be impossible to diagnose such a conflict even using Device Manager.

There are several types of hidden devices in the Manager. First, it does not display printers, drivers, or other devices that do not support Plug and Play. This problem only affects those with legacy hardware because Plug and Play devices are recognized and installed automatically by XP. If the device does not support this standard, it can be connected to the computer, but will not appear in Device Manager.

Secondly, there are so-called “missing” or “ghost” devices - that is, equipment that was disabled without uninstallation, as well as devices whose removal procedure was incorrect. They are not physically present in the system, but XP believes that they are still connected and allocates system resources to them. For example, simply removing an old network card without uninstalling it can lead to other similar problems because XP will perceive the card as still present in the system.

Device Manager may also not show temporary devices that are frequently connected and disconnected from your computer, such as MP3 players that are connected only to delete or download new files. Even when such devices are disabled, XP continues to allocate system resources to them. Therefore, when replacing one USB device with another of the same model, it is better to uninstall it.

In addition, there are devices that have been moved from one slot to another. XP sometimes treats them as being connected to both connectors and directs system resources to both.

Finding these hidden devices can make diagnosing problems much easier. For example, a hidden device may conflict with a visible one, and sometimes you just need to uninstall hidden hardware - for example, when moving a network card that does not support Plug and Play from one slot to another. But to do this, you need to force Device Manager to show all hidden equipment, otherwise it will be difficult to solve the problem.

Getting Device Manager to show printers, drivers, and other devices that don't support Plug and Play is fairly easy. To launch the Manager, type devmgmt.msc at the command line and click , and then select the menu item “View | Show hidden devices" (View | Display Hidden Devices).

Enabling the display of "ghost" or missing devices is a little more difficult. To do this, you need to set a system environment variable that will force Device Manager to show such hardware. To do this, right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select the “Properties | Additional | Environment Variables (Properties | Advanced | Environment Variables). The Environment Variable dialog box appears, allowing you to create environment variables for the entire system and for individual users. Environment variables define various operating system settings, such as the location of the Windows and TEMP directories, as well as the file name and address of the shell that is launched when the command line is invoked.

The Environment Variables dialog box is divided into two parts: User variables and System variables. To create an environment variable for an individual user, use the User Environment Variables dialog box; To create a system variable, refer to the System Variables dialog box. In our case, it is necessary to create an environment variable for the entire system, so the “New” button should be clicked in the “System Variables” section. Clicking this button will display the New System Variable dialog box. In the Variable name field, enter devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices. In addition to the name, the variable must also be assigned a value. To enable the display of missing hardware in Device Manager, enter the number 1 in the Variable value field. The completed dialog box is shown in Fig. 13-3. After that, click "OK" to finish creating the new variable and "OK" to close the Environment Variables dialog box.

Figure 13-3. Configure Device Manager to always show missing hardware.

So, the system environment variable has been created. But in order for “ghost” devices to appear in the Manager, it must first be configured accordingly. To do this, launch the Manager from the command line or from the Run window with the command devmgmt.msc and press . Then select the menu item “View | Show hidden devices." After this, the missing devices will appear in the list, as shown in Fig. 13-4. The list of devices should lengthen significantly because it will include drivers that do not support Plug and Play. Typically, devices not connected to the computer are grayed out, while installed devices are black. Some devices may appear in the list several times, as shown in Fig. 13-4.

Figure 13-4. Enable the display of missing hardware in Device Manager.

You can now use Device Manager to diagnose and resolve problems caused by ghost devices, as detailed in Troubleshoot Hardware by Decoding Device Manager Error Messages. If you find ghost devices that are no longer used on this computer, remove them using Device Manager. To do this, right-click on the device and select the “Uninstall” menu item.

Temporary display of missing devices

If you don't want the missing hardware to appear in Device Manager permanently and don't want to set a new environment variable, you can create a temporary variable—for example, for just one launch of the Manager. To do this, enter on the command line and press . No result of the command will be shown - the command line window will remain empty. In the same window, enter start devmgmt.msc and press . After this, Device Manager will open in a new window. Now turn on the display of hidden devices in the same way as you did before.

Keep in mind: Device Manager in this case should be launched from the same copy of the command line as the command devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1. If you run it in another way, the "ghost" devices will not be displayed.

Has it ever happened that you tried to change the port in a device to a specific COM port, only to find that it was in use, but there was no device present in Device Manager? This happens because the device that is connected using that particular COM port is not actually present on your system, but the drivers for that device claim that the device is using the COM port. You can easily view which devices have been configured to use which COM ports in Windows by viewing hidden devices.
If you want to view hidden devices on Windows PC, then you can follow these steps:

Press Win+R to open the Run dialog. Then, to open Device Manager, in the Run dialog box, you need to enter the command devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
In the Device Manager window, select View → Show hidden devices.

You will now be able to see all devices, including those that are hidden because they are no longer present on your system.

The above instructions work in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 without any problems. But if you're using Windows 7 (and earlier versions of the OS), you'll have to do some extra work before using the instructions above. You must set the DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES environment variable and assign it the value 1 in the following order:

Press the Win+Pause combination to open the system information window.
Click on "Advanced system settings" on the left side of the window that appears.
Click on the "Environment Variables" button in the System Properties window.

Under the System Variables section, click on the Create button.

Enter the variable name DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES, set its value to 1, and click OK.

Close all previously opened windows by clicking on the appropriate OK buttons. Now you can open Device Manager and follow the instructions as described in the first part of this article to see hidden devices.

The article describes an example of how to prevent the installation of a device in Windows Device Manager once and for all.

Sometimes a situation occurs when, after hastily installing drivers, a device is prescribed in Windows that prevents the system from working normally. And sometimes it’s easy to just start. It is firmly “stuck” in the Windows Device Manager, and even after removal, the system continues to install it with each subsequent boot. The user either has to roll back through system recovery (if he managed to create a point), or each time delete the device in the Manager. And the driver is known, and you see the device, but it seems that nothing can be done. And Windows is completely new... But every time the system boots, it is accompanied by an annoying window:

If you recognize the situation, read on to see how to prevent device installation in Windows Device Manager.

We will carry out the work in several stages. To be sure. The next 4 points work for Windows Vista/7/8, the last one works for Windows XP (but here is where the hard work awaits you). Don't forget about system recovery!

Remove the device and delete it from system memory

We will now have to clean up the Windows memory a little. We will delete the corresponding device .inf file located in the Windows root directory %windir%\inf. In the Windows search engine you can type this. Here she is:

and here are the device files

Almost every such file has a file of the same name with the extension .pnf. He will get it too... Then we will adjust the Windows Group Policy settings. And finally, let's remove the annoying warning. But first we have to make sure that:

this device is independent of other devices and is in no way connected with them; and to make sure of this, remember that...
Removing an “extra” sound or video card is sometimes accompanied by removing ALL of them, and then installing only the cards you need
if you delete unnecessary Bluetooth, disable first WiFi map
It is better to perform the operation in Safe Mode

How to prevent device installation in Windows Vista/7/8/10: remove it from Device Manager

To find the required file of an unnecessary device, we need to isolate it in Windows Device Manager. Let's go there using WIN + R, command devmgmt.msc.
Double-click on it with the mouse, calling up its properties.
For example, I have a “left” speaker registered in the system, which constantly conflicts with the working driver Realtek. The sound may disappear right in the middle of a Windows session. This is what I’ll deal with now (you, of course, have your own problematic devices):

I selected the tab Intelligence. And in the drop-down window Property I'll find it INF Name. Here it is:

I decided on the name in the Windows directory. We go there, look for the files we are looking for - there are two of them, and delete them:

Now Disable And Remove device in the tab Driver

Let's prevent Windows from installing devices: everything you need is already there

Enough is enough, really. The system is installed, now it’s up to the “native” drivers. Those that are downloaded from the Update Center like to conflict with native drivers. So let's go to the Group Policy Editor. WIN+R command gpedit.msc. We need the path:

Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – System

Here we are interested in two settings: Driver Installation and Device Installation. I will limit myself to setting the second one, find the following items and enable them in the properties:

click to enlarge

Let's remove the message about installing the software

Windows will continue to search and find the device. And every time she will report about it. This means that in the lower taskbar at the bottom right, in the notification area, click on the up arrow and select Disable And Remove it in the tab Driver Tune:

There it is easy to find the corresponding settings and disable them:

I haven’t figured out how to remove a device from the Device Manager list yet (damned function Plug and Play). It will hang there as an uninstalled device with a yellow icon, but it will no longer interfere with the operation of another device.

How to prevent installation of a device or driver in Windows XP?

This version is a little different. And, of course, more difficult. The INF Name item is not included in Device Information, and Group Policy items and settings are not as rich as in later versions. And there are no cherished points that are now directly responsible for installing devices and drivers. So the method for removing and preventing permanent installation of the device and driver in the Windows XP version looks like this:

log in to the system in Safe Mode
let's move on Computer – Properties– tab Equipment- let's choose Never use Windows Update...

in line Execute type the command to launch the Device Configuration utility msconfig and in the autorun tab we will remove all services that are associated with the startup of the conflicting device (when I removed the video driver, I found two of them)
go to Device Manager, double-click on the unnecessary device
in properties and go to the tab Driver. Let's find the button Intelligence…

the last window displays all information related to the device and its drivers. The latter are those that end with sys, and sometimes on exe. And now you will have to somehow remember them and then delete them. Manually. And you will have to look in folders Windows, Windows\system32 And Windows\system32\Drivers- so good luck... But that’s later, but now...
Let's go back to Device Properties and go to the tab Intelligence. There you need to select two parameters in the information drop-down list: Instance code And Service:

just remember up to the & icon

we stop the service in the list of running services in the Computer Management console, but the Device Instance Code is useful for finding the device in the folder inf Windows: this is the most tedious process that awaits you (on your own - the built-in search engine copes with this extremely poorly, I advise you to download it from the outside) - enter this very code in the field by file name and force you to search for it among the files:

and only now in the Device Manager we select the now unnecessary device, Disable it and Delete it:

don’t forget to force Windows not to bother with updates (although what kind of updates are there – it’s old XP...) and set it to prohibit installation of the device through the update node:

By default, Device Manager does not display devices that are not currently connected to the computer (called ghost devices). This applies to all versions of Windows: from Windows XP to Windows 8.1. Devices are not displayed even if the “Show hidden devices” mode is enabled in the “View” menu. How to deal with this? How to remove (for example) a network card [with all its settings]?

To do this, follow the following instructions:

Run the Windows command line (in the case of Windows Vista and higher - as administrator)
At the command prompt, run the following command:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
then press the Enter key
Now launch Device Manager from the command line:
start devmgmt.msc
then also press Enter
In Device Manager, open the "View" menu and turn on the "Show hidden devices" mode.

Note that after closing the Command Prompt window, Windows resets the devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 variable set in step 2, and ghost devices are no longer visible when you select "Show hidden devices".

You can also create a batch (.BAT/.CMD) file to automate these steps. Here are the contents of this file:

@echo off set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 start devmgmt.msc

Persistent display of ghost devices

Developers or power users who want devices not connected to the computer to show up in Device Manager can set this environment variable globally:

Right-click the My computer icon
Select Properties
Open the Advanced tab
Click the Environment variables button
Set the variable values in the System variables field

Note. Use this method only for troubleshooting or development purposes, and to prevent the user from accidentally removing a desired device that is not connected to the computer (for example, a USB device or docking station that is not connected to the laptop).

Additional Information

In Device Manager, in addition to the displayed devices, there are two types of hidden devices:

Common hidden devices that don't show up (drivers, printers, and other non-Plug and Play devices)
Ghost devices that are not connected to the computer