Ghost NIC in Device Manager

[Roman]

Hi Group,

I don't normally frequent this news group however it's the best place for
this question. I have an XP Pro client in my network which has had a NIC
change. I assume the old NIC was not disabled and uninstalled before being
physically removed. How do I remove it from Device Manager now? I can't
recall the error dialogue but it goes something like "uninstall failed
because it is required for system bootup".

Cheers,
Roman

 

[R. McCarty]

In Network Connections, what LAC ( Local Area Connection ) is
shown ? Does it have a number appended to the end such as LAC-3.
Windows retains/remembers all NICs and their associated LACs so if
the device becomes active it's LAC can be used.

Also XP doesn't show "Phantom" Plug-&-Play devices by default. To
do that you have to add a System Environment Variable:
DevMgr_Show_NonPresent_Devices
and set it's value = 1
Then in Device Manager, Click View, tic/check "Show Hidden Devices".