Phantom devices are devices for which drivers have been installed but are no longer in the machine itself. Most commonly, this occurs on laptops when drivers for PCMCIA cards have been installed, but the card is not present. By default, Windows does not display these devices within Device Manager. This tweak enables the viewing of phantom devices, thus enabling their uninstallation.
To view phantom devices in Device Manager:
Use a registry editing tool to navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
Insert a value with the following details:
Data Type: DWORD
Value Name: DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Value: 1
Reboot your machine for the change to take effect
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Registry Settings Summary
Key NameHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
Value NameDEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Value Data0x00000001
[download]
To view phantom devices in Device Manager:
Use a registry editing tool to navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
Insert a value with the following details:
Data Type: DWORD
Value Name: DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Value: 1
Reboot your machine for the change to take effect
Sponsored Links
Registry Settings Summary
Key NameHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
Value NameDEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Value TypeREG_DWORD
Value Data0x00000001
[download]
