Rename Hardware in the Device Mgr

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cloverdale
  • Start date Start date
C

Cloverdale

Is there a way to change the name of the hardware items
listed in system properties under the device manager?
After a few reinstalls, WinXp has appended a #2, #3, etc.
on to the names that I would like to delete.
 
Hi, Cloverdale.

Some devices may let you rename them, but not most. The name you see is
coded into the device (or the device driver) by the hardware maker.

To remove the #2, etc., you probably will need to uninstall ALL
installations of that device, including those shown when you click Show
hidden devices. For some kinds of devices, you may need to physically
remove it from your computer and reboot without it at least once to let
Windows "clear its head" and forget that such a device was ever there. Then
shut down, physically add the device and reboot. Let WinXP detect it and
install the driver for it. All this is not required for every kind of
device, but you didn't say what device you are dealing with.

RC
 
There are ways of doing this in the registry as well, but you really
don't want to edit anything in there, especially if you don't know what
you are doing.

What device is it that is doing this to you? I am going to guess maybe
a network adapter. To make it start the numbering over, just delete
each instance of that specific peice of hardware from the
HKLM-System-CCS-Enum and device type, then remove the folder that
contains the problem devices. Don't change anything unless you know
what you are doing. I can't emphasize the importance of this as you
could render Windows useless by editing information in the registry.
 
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