Over time, Windows stores many backups in the system, temporary files, old drivers, which will gradually take up space on your hard drive. Of course, you can free up space on your hard drive, but what to do if old drivers for a device interfere with the installation of new versions? Particularly problematic are wireless mice, keyboards and other USB devices that sometimes do not want to work until we remove the old drivers and install new ones.
Drivers are necessary little applications that are needed to connect any device and make it work. The Windows system has a very large database of drivers for different types of devices: printers, mice, sound cards, boards, etc. Some manufacturers release their own versions of drivers that are necessary for operation, and drivers in the Windows database may not always work with a particular device. To do this, we need to remove old unnecessary driver versions and install new ones from the manufacturer.
How to remove a previous driver version
Every time the driver is updated over and over again, the old backup copies of the drivers remain in the system, thereby clogging the hard drive and preventing the installation of new driver versions. To remove previous versions of the driver, write in "Search" (near Start) Command line or CMD, right-click on it and run from administrator name, then in the window that opens, enter the command cleanmgr.
Check the box next to the item Device driver packages and click OK. This will clean up all old driver packages.
How to remove old device drivers in Windows
Most often, native hidden installed drivers remain, which the above method will not remove them. Hidden drivers remain in the system even when a new device is detected and install the old version of the driver rather than the new one, which causes various errors when installing new drivers and device inoperability.
- Press a combination of buttons Win+R and enter the following command devmgmt.msc to open Device Manager.
- In Device Manager, click View > .
If for some reason they are not displayed, then see below how to fix hidden display of devices.
We see poorly highlighted devices in the picture above; these are hidden drivers that sometimes interfere with us.
- To remove old hidden drivers, just right-click on it and Delete.
- If you have the option to check a box, check the box.
How to identify hidden device drivers in the device manager
The command is related to displaying hidden drivers in Device Manager, older versions of Windows XP, 7.
Launch Command Prompt as administrator and enter the command:
- SET devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices = 1
You can go to Device Manager and try to show hidden ones.
The older the system running on a PC, the more files and programs that are unnecessary and sometimes interfere with normal functioning accumulate in memory.
To avoid conflicts when installing new equipment and in general to optimize the operation of your computer, it is recommended to promptly clear it of software from equipment that is no longer in use.
Removal procedure
A lot of unnecessary and outdated programs only interfere and reduce the performance of the computer, and sometimes users install drivers from third-party resources, which leads to serious failures in the OS, for example, such as the appearance of a blue screen or system error messages.
Therefore, owners of Windows 7 computers need to know how to properly remove the driver from the system. Before starting to follow the instructions below, it is recommended to create an OS restore point so that in case of unsuccessful attempts to tamper with the system software, you can rollback the “Seven” to a working state.
Method 1: Through Device Manager
To remove drivers, you need to perform the following sequential steps:
- In the search column, type “cmd” and then open the context menu from the console icon;
- Click “Run as Administrator”;
- In the command line that appears, type “SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES = 1”;
- Next, execute the request “devmgmt.msc”, which will open the “Device Manager (DU)”;
- You can also call the remote control in Windows 7 through “Start” by right-clicking on the “Computer” line;
- Click “Properties”;
- Then click “Remote” in the menu that appears;
- Enter the “View” tab;
- Check the box for displaying normally hidden devices;
- Expand the section in which the component planned for removal is located;
- For example, as can be seen from the screenshot above, over a long period of operation of the computer, several different drive models were connected to it. Although, usually, only one name of the component device is currently used. This applies to all sections of connected equipment: printers, mice, USB devices, etc. Obviously, long-life computers require careful cleaning. But even owners of new PCs only need to estimate how many different external memory media they have already used, and each new flash drive requires its own drivers for full operation;
- If the user has replaced the graphics adapter in the computer, then it would be advisable to clean the corresponding partition;
- You need to select one of the already unused devices and press “Enter”;
- Next, go to the “Driver” tab;
- Click on the virtual “Information” button;
- In the menu that appears, the user will have access to information about the location of the software and equipment of interest. Drivers are stored in system directories in the important “Program Files” directory, as well as in the “Windows” directory (if the OS is 32-bit, then in the “System32” folder. When x64, then in “SysWOW64”);
- In order to completely get rid of unnecessary ballast, you need to right-click on the device;
- Click “Delete”;
- Check the box indicated by the red arrow in the screenshot below and click “Ok”;
- Ready. Now the software for the missing equipment has been removed, and if it needs to be connected someday, it will be possible to reinstall the latest drivers from the device manufacturer’s resource.
Following the described instructions, you can sequentially get rid of all drivers of unused devices, but you should be careful not to remove software whose purpose the user is not one hundred percent sure. Incorrect interference with the integrity of the system can lead to negative consequences for it.
If the user is unable to apply the above method due to objective reasons, then methods using the Windows 7 control panel and third-party programs are described below.
Method 2: Using the built-in tools of the Control Panel (CP)
You will need to do the following sequential actions:
Method 3: Using third-party applications
If your PC runs Windows 7 or a more modern version of the Microsoft OS, then the special program “Threexy Driver Fusion” will help you cope with the task.
It's free and allows you to safely remove unnecessary drivers without affecting your PC's boot software.
The application has support for a Russian-language interface, however, only in the English version it works without failures, so it is recommended that all actions to uninstall the software be performed in the English shell.
The following steps must be followed:
If the user wishes to use a program with a Russian-language interface, the “Driver Sweeper” utility is suitable.
It is also freely distributed and safe to use, of course, with a certain degree of caution from the computer owner himself.
It is equipped with a simple interface and will not complicate operation even for a novice user.
You just need to complete the following few steps:
Good day everyone and all sorts of other such differences. We are glad to see you again.
During the life of a computer (or laptop), we constantly connect any USB devices to it, be it a keyboard with a mouse or flash drives, scanners, printers, etc.
Not everyone knows, but every connected device leaves its mark on the system in the form of a driver. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s universal or not, but the fact remains a fact.
The result of this trace can be very different and sometimes lead to problems in connecting or identifying this (or another) device in the future (especially if the initial driver was incorrectly defined or configured).
Today I want to tell you about a program that allows you to interact with USB drivers deeply and powerfully.
Let's get started.
Maximum USB information with USBDeview
As you already understood from the title (and subtitle), we will talk about the program. This miracle of programming thought can see and tell about all USB devices ever (and now) connected to your computer (or laptop).
It doesn’t matter whether it was a flash drive, a mobile phone, a printer, a camera, an ax or anything else, and it doesn’t matter at all when it was, provided that you didn’t reinstall the system after that.
Moreover, you can see almost all the information that was received from the device and its driver, starting from the banal name and ending with the driver version/file, firmware version, energy consumption, date of last connection/disconnection to the computer, type of port used and God knows than else.
And not only look, but you can also interact in every possible way with existing drivers and records of information from them. You can disable, enable, remove the driver, view detailed information, find a registry branch, open the disk with the device (if it is, say, a flash drive), make reports and.. all sorts of different things.
You can download it. No installation required - just unzip the archive. The version that is in the archive is actually indicated in the screenshot below.
How to take off with this? Everyone can come up with an application for themselves. For example, I personally have repeatedly “repaired” incorrectly installed (or deleted unnecessary) versions of drivers for a mobile phone with it before flashing it (Odin did not respond until the required driver version was installed, which, by the way, was not yet installed via USB Deview the primary will not be deleted). I also had to extract the firmware version of the printer and some other devices in order to further manipulate it.
So it goes.
Afterword
In general, I think that the program will be useful in the arsenal of any IT specialist (and not only). Keep it in mind and keep it at hand - sometimes with the help of it you can solve many rather tricky problems in a couple of clicks.
As always, if you have any questions, additions, thoughts, etc., please feel free to comment on this post.
Almost every user connects a phone, tablet, reader, flash drive and external HDD to a computer. When working with these devices, Windows installs their drivers. At the end of use, they are not deleted from the computer (that is, they gradually accumulate) and, just like temporary files, unnecessary registry entries clutter the system.
In addition to this, if devices are disconnected from the USB port incorrectly (they are pulled out without software shutdown using the “Eject” function), then the installed drivers not only remain in the system, but also continue to function. Because of this, they often become the cause of a software conflict when connecting another USB device (the system “does not see” the device, gives errors, freezes).
This article will help you avoid all these troubles: it will tell you how to completely remove the driver of an unused USB drive or gadget from the operating system, and how to automatically uninstall all USB drivers.
Removal using standard means
Surface cleaning
1. Open the Start menu.
2. Right-click in the “Computer” panel that appears. From the list of commands, select “Properties”.
3. In the left column, click “Device Manager”.
4. In the manager window, in the horizontal menu, open the “View” section and click “Show hidden devices”.
5. Open the “USB Controllers” directory.
6. Remove an old or unused driver: right-click on its name → click “Delete”.
Deep cleaning
1. Hold down the Win key and press the Pause/Break key. Or open: Start → right-click Computer → Properties.
2. In the window that opens, in the left panel, click “Advanced system settings”.
3. On the Advanced tab, click the Environment Variables button.
4. In the top block, click “Create”.
5. In the New User Variable window:
- in the “Variable name” line, enter - devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices;
- in “Variable value” - 1.
6. Click OK in the Variable panel and in the Environment Variables window.
7. Return to the system properties window (Win+Break) and click “Device Manager”.
8. In the manager, open: View → Show hidden…
9. Click the “Update configuration...” button (the last one in the panel).
10. Icons of unused drivers in the manager are grayed out (that is, you can remove this driver). Open the following directories one by one and remove unnecessary elements (right-click on the name → Delete):
Non-plug and play device drivers
Advice! In this directory you can also remove old drivers installed by programs that have already been uninstalled from Windows (for example, the Comodo firewall package).
This device section displays installed drivers for flash drives, readers, and hard drives. Transparent object icons indicate that they are not in use (not connected). This means you can safely get rid of them.
11. Once cleaning is complete, restart your PC.
Automatic removal by USBDeview utility
1. Copy this link into the address bar of your browser - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html#DownloadLinks (official website of the utility). And then press "ENTER".
2. On the page that opens:
- if you have a 32-bit system, click the first link “Download USBDeview”;
- if 64-x, the second - “... for x64 systems”.
3. Unpack the downloaded archive: right-click on it → select “Extract all...” → in the “Extract...” window, click “Extract”.
4. Open the unzipped folder. Run the USBDeview executable file with administrator rights.
5. The utility window displays a list of all drivers installed in the system. Disabled elements are marked with red “chips”.
To remove a driver from Windows, select it with a mouse click, and then click the “Trash” icon in the USBDeview panel. Or right-click on it and select “Uninstall Selected Devices” from the context menu.
Note. In addition to the removal function, USBDeview allows the user to disable/enable the driver and view its properties.
Removing all USB device drivers
Global driver cleaning can be performed using the DriveCleanup utility (download link - http://uwe-sieber.de/files/drivecleanup.zip).
1. Unpack the archive downloaded to your computer.
2. If you have 32-bit Windows, open the “Win32” folder; if you have 64-bit, open the “x64” folder.
3. Run the “DriveCleanup” file as administrator.
After launch, the utility will automatically perform cleaning. When the procedure is complete (when the message “Press any key” appears in the console window), press any key.
Good luck in setting up the system!
