USB Plug&Play Drivers

[MikeB]

I'm having a question here. I'm new to Vista, so it is sort of based
on issues I have with XP.

In XP, if I plug a device into a USB port, then Windows installs
drivers for it. It also does this if I plug a card into the Cardbus
slot.

If I keep using the same port or slot, then the driver isn't installed
again. Howver, if I plug the device into another port or slot, it
seems the device drivers are installed again. This way I ended up with
multiple designations for my Wireless card.

I could never figure out how to delete this, except by actually
reinstalling the OS. Is there a way to see what PnP drivers are
installed even if they are not active and then uninstall them?

Thanks.

 

[Jim]

I'm having a question here. I'm new to Vista, so it is sort of based
on issues I have with XP.

In XP, if I plug a device into a USB port, then Windows installs
drivers for it. It also does this if I plug a card into the Cardbus
slot.

If I keep using the same port or slot, then the driver isn't installed
again. Howver, if I plug the device into another port or slot, it
seems the device drivers are installed again. This way I ended up with
multiple designations for my Wireless card.

I could never figure out how to delete this, except by actually
reinstalling the OS. Is there a way to see what PnP drivers are
installed even if they are not active and then uninstall them?

Thanks.

Because it is a different "port" .

 

[MikeB]

Because it is a different "port" .

Yes, well I figured that out. What I'd like to be able to do is to "go
in" and delete some of these PnP drivers. In one instance I had a
problem with a woreless card, and I could not get it fixed. I finally
could make it work by putting it into the other Card Slot, but
eventually I had to reinstall windows and then of course the problem
went away and I could use the card in the original slot again.

 

[Sinner]

Put the card into the slot that you want to delete, find the device in
Device Manager, right click it and select "Uninstall". Remove the device
before scanning for new hardware. Repeat for each device/slot combination
you want to remove.

Because it is a different "port" .

Yes, well I figured that out. What I'd like to be able to do is to "go
in" and delete some of these PnP drivers. In one instance I had a
problem with a woreless card, and I could not get it fixed. I finally
could make it work by putting it into the other Card Slot, but
eventually I had to reinstall windows and then of course the problem
went away and I could use the card in the original slot again.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I'm having a question here. I'm new to Vista, so it is sort of based
on issues I have with XP.

In XP, if I plug a device into a USB port, then Windows installs
drivers for it. It also does this if I plug a card into the Cardbus
slot.

If I keep using the same port or slot, then the driver isn't installed
again. Howver, if I plug the device into another port or slot, it
seems the device drivers are installed again. This way I ended up with
multiple designations for my Wireless card.

I could never figure out how to delete this, except by actually
reinstalling the OS. Is there a way to see what PnP drivers are
installed even if they are not active and then uninstall them?

Thanks.

This article is for Windows 2000, but works for XP and Vista (if you run
cmd.exe as administrator) - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/241257. It
describes how to get Device Manager to show installed but not connected
devices.

Good luck!