Follow these steps to view and remove these unnecessary
device drivers:
- Press [Windows]+[Break] to bring up the System
Properties dialog box.
- Select the Advanced tab and click the Environment
Variables button.
- Click the New button below the System Variables panel.
- In the New System Variable dialog box, type
devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices in the Variable Name text box and 1 in the
Variable Value text box.
- Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog box
and then click OK again.
- Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager
button.
- In Device Manager, go to View | Show Hidden Devices.
- Expand the various branches in the device tree and look
for the washed out icons, which indicate unused device drivers.
- To remove an unused device driver, right-click the icon
and select Uninstall.