×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS

Contact US

*
*
*
*

Thanks. We have received your request and will respond promptly.

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you a
Computer / IT professional?
Join Tek-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
*Tek-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here
Home > Forums > Desktop Software > PC Operating Systems > Microsoft: Windows > FAQs

Microsoft: Windows FAQ

WinXP Tips

How to view/show unused devices by DelphiAaron
faq779-7342
Posted: 19 Apr 10

When you install a device driver on a Windows XP machine, the operating system loads that driver each time the computer boots regardless of whether the device is present—unless you specifically uninstall the driver. This means that drivers from devices that you have long since removed from your system may be wasting valuable system resources.

Follow these steps to view and remove these unnecessary device drivers:

Press [Windows]+[Break] to bring up the System Properties dialog box.
Select the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button.
Click the New button below the System Variables panel.
In the New System Variable dialog box, type devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices in the Variable Name text box and 1 in the Variable Value text box.
Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog box and then click OK again.
Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
In Device Manager, go to View | Show Hidden Devices.
Expand the various branches in the device tree and look for the washed out icons, which indicate unused device drivers.
To remove an unused device driver, right-click the icon and select Uninstall.

Back to Microsoft: Windows FAQ Index
Back to Microsoft: Windows Forum

My Archive
Close Box

Join Tek-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical computer professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Tek-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close