Many times we have reported different ways to keep a computer clean, there are several tools especially indicated to clean registry keys and obsolete files in order to save space on the PC and make it more stable.
Certain Windows errors are then caused by incorrectly installed programs or by badly uninstalled software which should theoretically be corrected by other types of system maintenance tools.
Among the more delicate programs there are drivers, which are used to connect the PC to external hardware such as the printer.
READ ALSO: Uninstall NVIDIA, AMD and Intel video card drivers completely
When a mobile phone is attached to a PC, a camera, a printer and whenever the driver of the AMD or Nvidia video card, or of the sound card, must be updated, in general, whenever a driver is required to be installed, this remains in the memory of the PC, is loaded when the computer starts and is often totally invisible.
These drivers, on a heavily used computer, accumulate and, every time you add or change a piece of hardware that can also be, for example, the sound card, a new driver is installed and, a normal person, he will hardly remember to delete that of the old card.
It turns and turns, the risk becomes of finding conflicts and errors on the drivers and having to struggle to put the new toy purchased into operation and to detect its own operating system.
Normally, the drivers can be seen by right-clicking the My Computer icon -> Hardware Tab -> Device Manager .
The old hardware drivers, however, remain hidden from this list because the Device Manager utility displays only the active ones.
Using a special command, it is possible to force the computer to show the user also these old and useless nuisances.
The good thing is that the old devices will appear gray and their removal and uninstallation will be just a matter of a click away.
The short and easy method of preventing the computer from being bombarded by leftovers from drivers that are no longer used is the same for both Windows XP and Vista.
Open the " Command Prompt " window in administrator mode.
From Start - All Programs - Accessories - Command Prompt - right click and select Run as ... - The administrator .
Alternatively, Start - Run - Type cmd - press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run as administrator.
Now type (or do copy-paste from here) the following command in the window and press Enter.
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES = 1
This forces invisible old drivers to show up in Device Manager.
To enter now directly in the Device Manager. the devmgmt.msc command can be written in the same Dos window.
From here, go to the View menu and press on " Show hidden devices ".
The list now includes all active and unused devices that appear gray.
From the list, right click on the inactive driver you want to remove and press the Uninstall button to remove the driver and delete it forever.
In addition to this, some automatic programs can be used which make the operation easier.
DriveCleanUp is a small program to remove references on Windows (in registry keys) to hardware devices that are no longer used and disconnected from the computer
An even simpler way can be to use the Nirsoft program, DriverView which draws up a list of all those loaded on the computer.
Another good program to see all the peripheries that have been attacked and installed on the computer is GhostBuster .
This opensource program shows everything that has been used and is currently attached to the computer and allows you to remove it and uninstall the driver.
However, you have to be careful because many of the peripherals found such as your mobile phone or camera, may not be used only because they are disconnected from the computer so, if you remove them, you must then, when they are reattached, reinstall the relative driver.
USBDeview instead allows you to know all the USB devices connected over time to the computer and to uninstall the ones that are no longer used.
In addition to this, I point out the Device Remover tool, a portable software, which does not require installation, which allows you to manage all the drivers and hardware peripherals of the system .
This tool, however, should be used with a little attention to avoid risking damage and only as a second option if there are obvious problems with external devices and normal uninstallation with the procedure described above has failed.
In addition to the possibility of removing any driver, it displays all the devices, both active and inactive and allows you to manage and modify them, even if to do this you need to know what you are touching.
The main utility of this tool is certainly the informative one to have a clear brand of models and performances of every single piece of the computer, both internal and external.
An additional problem that occurs with certain brands especially of video cards like Ati and Nvidia, when a driver is uninstalled, it always leaves a trace of itself.
When it comes to updating a driver (they make updates every month at ATI) the situation gets even worse because the different versions of drivers are installed one on top of the other.
As recommended also by the manufacturers, before updating you must remove the previous version.
To remove one of these drivers completely, after having uninstalled it from the "installer" menu as seen above, you can, in addition, use the Driver Sweeper program.
Driver Sweeper now in version 2.1, allows you to remove all drivers on Windows, even Windows 7, of all types, with all the related files and registry keys, and is perhaps the best program to uninstall them and clean your computer all.
To conclude the article, I report an article from Microsoft support to correct the " Unknown device " error that becomes visible when yellow exclamation marks appear in the Device Management list.
In those cases the errors can depend on the complete lack of a driver, on a conflict or on many other circumstances that should be verified on a case by case basis.
Finally, remember that a computer with a thousand things attached, consumes a lot of current, so if you don't use certain devices, better turn them off or unplug them.
In other articles:
The best programs to update drivers automatically;
How to backup all drivers.
Certain Windows errors are then caused by incorrectly installed programs or by badly uninstalled software which should theoretically be corrected by other types of system maintenance tools.
Among the more delicate programs there are drivers, which are used to connect the PC to external hardware such as the printer.
READ ALSO: Uninstall NVIDIA, AMD and Intel video card drivers completely
When a mobile phone is attached to a PC, a camera, a printer and whenever the driver of the AMD or Nvidia video card, or of the sound card, must be updated, in general, whenever a driver is required to be installed, this remains in the memory of the PC, is loaded when the computer starts and is often totally invisible.
These drivers, on a heavily used computer, accumulate and, every time you add or change a piece of hardware that can also be, for example, the sound card, a new driver is installed and, a normal person, he will hardly remember to delete that of the old card.
It turns and turns, the risk becomes of finding conflicts and errors on the drivers and having to struggle to put the new toy purchased into operation and to detect its own operating system.
Normally, the drivers can be seen by right-clicking the My Computer icon -> Hardware Tab -> Device Manager .
The old hardware drivers, however, remain hidden from this list because the Device Manager utility displays only the active ones.
Using a special command, it is possible to force the computer to show the user also these old and useless nuisances.
The good thing is that the old devices will appear gray and their removal and uninstallation will be just a matter of a click away.
The short and easy method of preventing the computer from being bombarded by leftovers from drivers that are no longer used is the same for both Windows XP and Vista.
Open the " Command Prompt " window in administrator mode.
From Start - All Programs - Accessories - Command Prompt - right click and select Run as ... - The administrator .
Alternatively, Start - Run - Type cmd - press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run as administrator.
Now type (or do copy-paste from here) the following command in the window and press Enter.
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES = 1
This forces invisible old drivers to show up in Device Manager.
To enter now directly in the Device Manager. the devmgmt.msc command can be written in the same Dos window.
From here, go to the View menu and press on " Show hidden devices ".
The list now includes all active and unused devices that appear gray.
From the list, right click on the inactive driver you want to remove and press the Uninstall button to remove the driver and delete it forever.
In addition to this, some automatic programs can be used which make the operation easier.
DriveCleanUp is a small program to remove references on Windows (in registry keys) to hardware devices that are no longer used and disconnected from the computer
An even simpler way can be to use the Nirsoft program, DriverView which draws up a list of all those loaded on the computer.
Another good program to see all the peripheries that have been attacked and installed on the computer is GhostBuster .
This opensource program shows everything that has been used and is currently attached to the computer and allows you to remove it and uninstall the driver.
However, you have to be careful because many of the peripherals found such as your mobile phone or camera, may not be used only because they are disconnected from the computer so, if you remove them, you must then, when they are reattached, reinstall the relative driver.
USBDeview instead allows you to know all the USB devices connected over time to the computer and to uninstall the ones that are no longer used.
In addition to this, I point out the Device Remover tool, a portable software, which does not require installation, which allows you to manage all the drivers and hardware peripherals of the system .
This tool, however, should be used with a little attention to avoid risking damage and only as a second option if there are obvious problems with external devices and normal uninstallation with the procedure described above has failed.
In addition to the possibility of removing any driver, it displays all the devices, both active and inactive and allows you to manage and modify them, even if to do this you need to know what you are touching.
The main utility of this tool is certainly the informative one to have a clear brand of models and performances of every single piece of the computer, both internal and external.
An additional problem that occurs with certain brands especially of video cards like Ati and Nvidia, when a driver is uninstalled, it always leaves a trace of itself.
When it comes to updating a driver (they make updates every month at ATI) the situation gets even worse because the different versions of drivers are installed one on top of the other.
As recommended also by the manufacturers, before updating you must remove the previous version.
To remove one of these drivers completely, after having uninstalled it from the "installer" menu as seen above, you can, in addition, use the Driver Sweeper program.
Driver Sweeper now in version 2.1, allows you to remove all drivers on Windows, even Windows 7, of all types, with all the related files and registry keys, and is perhaps the best program to uninstall them and clean your computer all.
To conclude the article, I report an article from Microsoft support to correct the " Unknown device " error that becomes visible when yellow exclamation marks appear in the Device Management list.
In those cases the errors can depend on the complete lack of a driver, on a conflict or on many other circumstances that should be verified on a case by case basis.
Finally, remember that a computer with a thousand things attached, consumes a lot of current, so if you don't use certain devices, better turn them off or unplug them.
In other articles:
The best programs to update drivers automatically;
How to backup all drivers.
