(Approx. 682 words)
Finding Ghosts In Your
Computer
by Mike Morris, Editor,
Front Range PC Users Group,
twriterext(at)gmail.com
Obtained from APCUG with the
author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
You think I am kidding? The Microsoft Knowledgebase article on this
subject refers to “…”ghosted” devices…” and “Phantom devices….”
Before we get started with
an explanation, four facts need to be identified:
1. I owe a thank you to fellow Front Range PC Users
Group member Howard Norlin for suggesting this article.
2. This article is based on the Microsoft Knowledgebase
Article ID 315539 for Windows XP Home and Professional. Connect to http://support.microsoft.com/search/
to locate the article. Enter the
article number, 315539, into the search field and GO. The article has the long title of: “Device Manager does not display devices that are not connected
to the Windows XP-based computer.”
3. Under the “STATUS” heading of this article, you will
find this statement: “This behavior is by design.” [Ed. Note: that means that “(t)his behavior…”
is a feature, not a bug].
4. Yes, I am aware of the famous movie about finding and
destroying ghosts. Even I am aware of
that movie and I haven’t been to a movie in a theater in decades. I decided not to use the movie title in this
article in order to avoid any potential copyright conflict.
The Device Manager feature
in Windows can be used for several purposes.
Perhaps one of the best known uses is troubleshooting. Here is one method of obtaining access to
Device Manager, using a series of mouse clicks:
Click on Start/Click on
Control Panel/Double click on Administrative Tools/Double click on Computer
Management. Then, under System Tools,
click on Device Manager. A list of device
categories is displayed:
It may not be obvious at
first glance, but not everything is displayed that you might expect. On the Computer Management Menu Bar, click
on View, then on "Show hidden devices.”
Examine the result:
Look carefully, and you will
see the “Printers” category has been added.
One may speculate—and
debate—why the printer category is classified as a “hidden” device. The point is, selecting the “Show hidden
devices” option still does NOT provide a complete list of hardware or software
items that are—or have been—connected to the computer. That result is the origin of the phrase
“ghosted devices.”
Why should you care?
Perhaps for the majority of
users, knowledge of this issue is not critical. However, as mentioned earlier, Device Manager can be used as a
troubleshooting aid.
For example, if I click on
the + sign to the left of Disk Drives listed in the right panel of Device
Manager, and then double click on the device displayed, a device-specific
window is displayed.
The window offers several
options for troubleshooting a malfunctioning device.
If the malfunctioning device
is not listed when the “Show hidden devices” option is selected, it is time to
use the procedure described in the article 315539. Note that the article makes reference to USB devices and docking
stations for laptop computers.
There is another type of
“ghost’ revealed when using the procedure described in the Microsoft
article. If you have been using your
computer for any reasonable length of time, the probability is high that you
have installed/uninstalled hardware and software since the original purchase. Using the “show_non_present_devices” command
will reveal leftover drivers that were not (but should have been) removed
during the uninstall process—“ghosts” hiding in your computer.
It is time to answer
the two questions I am certain everybody has:
·
Q: Did I try the
procedure?
·
A: Yes.
·
Q: Did I find any
“ghosts”?
·
A: Yes. I found a driver from a virus protection
software package I uninstalled a long time ago. It was listed under the “Non-Plug and Play Drivers” category.
I wonder if I can now join
the ranks of “Ghost B______.” There—I
(almost) said it.
This
article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by
APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see
e-mail address above).