How to uninstall hidden devices, drivers, and services


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This solution works with Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Seven, 8, with all SP levels

The code

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

The scenario

Ever have those drivers or devices that just won’t go away even though you’resure you’ve uninstalled them? Or, say you replace your old 100Mbps network card with a faster Gbps adapter. But, you can’t re-assign it the same IP address because your system insists there is still an adapter installed with that same IP address and you forgot to remove the driver before removing the old card (which is now in your little brother’s pc)?

Procedure

To get rid of that unwanted driver, device, or service:

1) Open the “Start” menu and choose “Run…

2) Type in “cmd” (without the quotes) and click “Ok”.

3) At the cmd prompt, type, and then press Enter, the following code:

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

NOTE: that nothing seems to happen–this is OK. We are actually setting an environment variable which is going to help us to see hidden devices.

4) On the next command prompt line, type in “devmgmt.msc” (without the quotes) and press enter. This will launch the Windows Device Manager Console.

5) In the Device Manager Console, from the “View” menu, select “Show Hidden Devices”.

Now, as you expand the different drivers and devices in device manager you will see not only the items that Windows currently detects as installed on your pc (these are the usual items displayed), but you will also see drivers, devices, and services which have been loaded in the past but were not uninstalled or are not currently started. You can find your offending device, right-click, and choose “uninstall” to remove it from the system completely.

Be careful though; you should note that non-loaded devices, drivers, and services are “grayed” out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should delete all of them.

Only remove items you know you don’t need. And, be careful that you don’t change too many devices or you might need to re-activate your Windows installation.

Last thing, if you accidentally exit the Device Manager Console you will need to start over again at the cmd prompt. To close the cmd prompt window, type “exit” (without the quotes).

USB Driver Reset

Start with the following steps to resolve the USB issues:

Show Hidden Devices:

  • Click Start Menu
  • Click All Programs
  • Click Accessories
  • Right click Command Prompt
  • Click Run as administrator

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow. Type into command prompt:

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

Hit Enter and then type the following string (and press Enter again):

devmgmt.msc

Click View (at the top of the new window appeared), then check the Show hidden devices option. Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section. Uninstall any faded devices under Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Fully Uninstall Faded Device Drivers:

  • Click Start Menu
  • Right-Click My Computer/Computer
  • Click Manage
  • Click Device Manager from the list on the left
  • Find the device you are trying to uninstall by expanding the appropriate set of devices
  • Right-click the device
  • Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)

Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device (if this option is available, otherwise just hit OK) and hit OK. Now restart your computer.

Alternatively:

  • Login as an adminstrative user.
  • Click Start Menu
  • Click Control Panel
  • Click Hardware and Sound
  • Click Device Manager (the last link under Devices and Printers)
  • Find the device you are trying to uninstall by expanding the appropriate set of devices
  • Right click the device
  • Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)

Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device (if this option is available, otherwise just hit OK) and hit OK. Restart your computer.

Delete the INFCACHE.1 File:

  • Remove all USB devices possible.
  • Open the Start Menu
  • Open Computer
  • Type INFCACHE.1 into Search Computer
How to uninstall hidden devices, drivers, and services

How to uninstall hidden devices, drivers, and services

Right click INFCACHE.1 located in C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore.

NOTE: In Windows XP and Vista, INFCACHE.1 is located in C:\Windows\inf.

  • Click Properties
  • Click Security to open the Security tab
  • Click Edit...
  • If you are prompted for an administrator password, type the password, or click Allow.
  • Click Add...
  • Type in Administrators within the box for Enter the object names to select and click OK
  • Give Administrators Full control and click OK
  • Click Yes when asked if you want to make changes to the system file
How to uninstall hidden devices, drivers, and services

How to uninstall hidden devices, drivers, and services

  • Click OK
  • Delete INFCACHE.1

Plug in a USB device that is known to be reliable and not cause conflicts on the system.The USB device that you plug in will reinitialize the INFCACHE.1 file. Restart your computer

USB Ports Power State Reset

Also, USB ports can sometimes enter a safe power state to protect the system from power surges due to USB devices. To reset the USB ports to a nominal power state:

1) - Shut down and turn off the computer.

2) - Unplug the computer from the wall or surge protector (then remove the battery if it is a laptop).

3) - Remove the computer from any port replicator or docking station, disconnect cables to printers or devices such as external monitors, USB memory sticks or SD cards, headset or external speakers, mouse or auxiliary keyboard, turn off WIFI and Bluetooth wireless devices. (as suggested, for example, in the article Use Hard Reset to resolve Hardware and Software Issues HP Pavilion dv5000 Notebook PC series - HP Customer Care (United States - English)).

4) - Hold down the power button for 30 seconds. This closes the circuit and ensures all power from components is drained to clear the software connections between the BIOS and hardware and clear any corruption in the temporary memory.

5) - (If it is a laptop, plug the battery back into the laptop and then) Plug the computer back into the wall. Do not reconnect any unnecessary peripherals; monitor, keyboard, and mouse should suffice and be the only peripherals reconnected.

6) - Turn it on to reinitialize the software connections between the BIOS and hardware.