How to display hidden device drivers in Windows Device Manager

Ever wanted to find that other ethernet device that was pulled from you system but don’t see it anymore in Microsoft  Windows Device Manager? What about a pesky AOL adapter driver or some other non existant device that you want to get rid of?

In order to show hidden devices:

 

  1. Right click My Computer and Select Properties
  2. Click Advanced tab
  3. Click Environment Variables
  4. Below the bottom Environment Variables window pane (System Variables), click New
  5. For Variable Name, enter devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
  6. For Variable Value enter 1
  7. Click OK. OK to close My Computer
  8. Open Device Manager, click on View, select show hidden devices from the menu. Most of the orphans will be in non-plug and play drivers and the icons will appear grayed out. You can right click the grayed out driver and click uninstall.

 

Enjoy

Cubert  😎