ChuckOp's eXPeriences

Commentary on software design, development and management - plus much more.

Show all in Device Manager

The Windows registry keeps track of all hardware devices that have been installed on the machine.  The Device Manager only displays the hardware devices that are currently connected to the machine.  Hardware that is not currently connected, such as a USB device, or a Firewire hard disk is not shown.  Over time, a lot of devices can be registered, particularly if you connect the same device to different USB ports.

By using an environment variable, you can have the Device Manager display all the hardware that have  been installed on the machine.  Set the devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices" environment variable to “1” using the System Properties dialog.  Alternatively, just type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 at a command prompt.

Then using Device Manager, make sure the "Show hidden devices" option is set on the view menu.  Normally when "Show hidden devices" is set, only non-PnP devices are shown.  With the environment variable set, Device Manager also shows disconnected hardware using a semi-transparent icon.  You can then uninstall the device and all the associated drivers.

An easy way to load Device Manager is to type devmgmt.msc at the Run dialog or command prompt.  A quick way to get to System Properties is to press Win+Break.

Posted: Jul 23 2004, 08:26 AM by ChuckOp | with 2 comment(s)
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Comments

Jeroen Frijters said:

Thanks! I moved my harddisk from my previous laptop to my current laptop, so I had a whole bunch of these ghost devices and that always kind of bothered me.
# July 24, 2004 10:03 AM

Wes said:

Cool tip! thanks.
# July 25, 2004 3:06 AM
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