For real this time.
Stop Plug and Play from detecting devices
One of the problems with Plug and Play (PnP) is its tendency to detect and
load drivers for devices you don??™t want to use. Although there is no way to
prevent Windows??™ PnP feature from detecting and installing drivers for some
devices, you can disable most devices that may be causing conflicts.
To disable a device and prevent Windows from detecting it again, right-click
it in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), and select Disable. A red ?— then
appears over the device??™s icon to signify that it has been disabled. You can
later re-enable the device by right-clicking and selecting Enable.
Uninstall drivers for devices you no longer use
By default, Device Manager doesn??™t show devices that aren??™t connected to
your computer, even if the drivers for those devices are installed and loaded.
But why would you want to do this?
When you disconnect or remove a device from your system without first
right-clicking its entry in Device Manager and selecting Uninstall, its driver
will remain installed on your system. The only way to remove it is to either
reattach the device, or show hidden devices.
Now, in Device Manager, you can select Show hidden devices from the
View menu, but all this will add to the listing are non-PnP devices. To have
Device Manager show all hidden devices, follow these steps:
318 | Chapter 6: Troubleshooting
1. Open the System page in Control Panel, and then click the Advanced
system settings link on the left.
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