Show all hidden devices in task manager. Remove unused hardware Show hidden devices in Device Manager

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 installation of a device 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 search 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:

Often, when moving Windows from machine to machine (virtual machine), many hardware drivers remain in the operating system, which are no longer actually involved in the work, but can serve as interference. Let's figure out how to identify unused equipment, and how to remove these devices and their drivers?

How to identify unused equipment?

By default, in Windows, the option responsible for displaying unused devices in the Task Manager is disabled. There are 2 ways to enable display of hidden equipment. Which one to choose is up to you.

Note. All the above actions must be done with Administrator rights. It is also worth noting that in this case the main thing is not to remove unnecessary things) Otherwise, the system may simply not boot. This especially applies to drivers and hard drive controller devices.

Enable display of unused Windows hardware via GUI

Press the keys Windows + Break/Pause. (Either in " Control panels" select the item " System")
In the window that opens " System"select item" Additional system properties".
In the window that opens " Properties of the system"on tab" Additionally" at the very bottom click the button " Environment Variables".
In the window that opens " Environment Variables" in field " System Variables" To create a new variable, you must click the " Create…"
In the additional window that appears " New system variable" specify the name and value of the variable .
Ok-ok-ok.)))

Enabling the display of unused Windows hardware via the command line

start -> run (Or press Windows keys + R) -> cmd -> OK
Enter Set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 , Press Enter

Note. In this case, after a reboot this option will be disabled. As opposed to setting a variable through the GUI.

How to remove drivers for unused hardware?

The option to show hidden devices has been enabled, let's now look at the devices themselves and remove unnecessary ones. To do this, open Device Manager Start -> Run -> Devmgmt.msc -> OK. For devices to appear in the "Device Manager", you need to go to the " View"select item" Show hidden devices". Now, if you open any item in the tree (which presumably contains unused devices), they will have shaded icons or icons with a yellow exclamation mark. By selecting the device with the right mouse button, you can select the item " Delete". After confirming with the OK button, a reboot may be required.

Original article from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539/ru

Best regards, McSim!

Hidden devices are lists of all installed devices on your PC in Windows 10. By its nature, Windows does not show all devices in Device Manager. Some devices are hidden. There are different classifications of hidden devices. Some of them are not visible because they were removed from your computer, but the registry entry remains. But some devices are available, despite the fact that it is not visible in the list. This article provides steps on how you can see hidden devices in Device Manager in Windows 10.
Device Manager is the most preferred tool because in a couple of clicks you can organize your devices that are installed in your PC, you can also search for devices for which drivers have not been installed or have not been updated for a long time, or you can quickly look into hidden devices. Another category of hidden devices could be drivers that were installed by the software you use on your system. When you choose to see hidden devices in Windows 10, they appear in their own category. You need to look at the categories correctly to find one point after enabling hidden devices. Now, let's start with the steps on how you can see hidden devices in Device Manager in Windows 10.

How to see hidden devices in Windows 10 Device Manager

You need to bring up the Device Manager on your screen to see the hidden devices. There are various ways to do this. You can go with any of the methods to access the device manager.

In order for you to access Device Manager, you need to right-click on the Start menu to bring up various options and select Device Manager from the options provided.

Or you can make your way to the app settings then to the device category. Go to the right pane "Printers and Scanners" and you will see a link to Device Manager at the bottom. Click on it.

But you can also go to another path: Control Panel/Device Manager.

The Device Manager symbol is located under the small icons in Control Panel.

With any of the above methods, launch Device Manager on your screen.
Click the View button on the Menu - Bar tab and select Show hidden devices.

Now look closely at the device categories and you will be able to see the hidden ones.

That's all!!
Device Manager allows you to do many things related to devices and drivers. Find out about your hidden devices with a simple click in Device Manager. Try this method and let us know how easy it was for you so that you can see all hidden devices in Device Manager on Windows 10.

Each device, when connected to a computer running Windows, is identified using drivers - software without which its operation is impossible. During the “life” of a desktop computer or laptop, dozens, if not hundreds of devices are connected to it. External hard drives, flash drives, scanners, printers, gamepads, keyboards, mice are just some of the accessories that automatically install their drivers on the computer or the user does it manually. This applies not only to devices that are connected externally to the computer, but also to internal components - video cards, hard drives, etc.

If the operating system is not reinstalled on the computer for several years and the hard drive is completely formatted, hundreds of drivers are stored in the computer's memory, which are unlikely to be useful to the user. Removing unused drivers is easy, and in this article we will tell you how to do it. Before proceeding with the steps described below, create a file so that you can return to it if problems arise due to deleting unnecessary files.

How to remove unused drivers

The privilege to remove drivers from a computer is only available to an administrator, so before you begin the steps below, make sure you have sufficient rights to do so. To clean your computer of unused drivers, do the following:

Please note: In some versions of the operating system, the display of hidden devices is disabled at the software level. If you are faced with a situation where, after checking the specified box, hidden devices do not appear, you need to follow the steps described below in the article in a separate paragraph.

Interesting fact: On your computer, drivers for even one device are stored in several folders. It’s quite easy to verify this; you need to right-click on the unused device and select “Properties”. Next, go to the “Driver” tab and select “Information”. The “Driver Files” column will display dozens of files that are software for just one device.

What to do if hidden devices do not appear in Device Manager

As we noted above, there are situations when hidden devices are not displayed in the “Device Manager” even after checking the box (or this item is not in the menu at all). In such a situation, you need to do the following to make them appear:

Launch the “Run” line using the Windows + R key combination and enter the following command in it:

control.exe /name Microsoft.System

devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices

For it to be active by default, in the “Variable value” column you should put the number 1, then click “OK”.

A new environment variable will be created, and hidden options will appear in the Device Manager list, the drivers for which can be removed following the instructions described above.

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 it 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.