Wipe Out Drivers? Old Ones Left Behind..

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07-14-2004, 05:21 PM
Wolfmight

I need a way to wipe out multiple and old drivers for hardware that I dont even use anymore! I dont know why, but even after uninstalling they're software and "so-called" drivers.. I still continue to have them picked up by "driver scanning software".

Drivers that I still have, even though I completely removed the hardware include:

Microtek ScanMaker 3750i
ATI TV Wonder Video Capture
ATI TV Wonder Audio Capture
WinFast TV2000 XP WDM Audio Capture
WinFast TV2000 XP WDM Video Capture

Drivers that appear multiple times (obviously problematic) include:

Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #2
Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #3
Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #4
Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #5
Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #6
Intel® PC Camera CS630 Image Storage #7

Intel® PC Camera CS630 #2
Intel® PC Camera CS630 #3
Intel® PC Camera CS630 #4
Intel® PC Camera CS630 #5
Intel® PC Camera CS630 #6
Intel® PC Camera CS630 #7
(Only installed it once and it all went fine! Why 7!?!?!? Only 1 camera!!)

Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC #2
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC #3
Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC #4
(Took this card off when I upgraded to my new mobo with onboard lan)

Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC #3
(The onboard Lan driver, but why does it say #3?.. only installed it once)

Unknown drivers that :angry: "REFUSE" :angry: to uninstall:
Joystick_de_consola_01
(I tried useing a modified version of controller software, but decided to stick with the original drivers... Now I've gone haywire trying to take this off..even by removeing the controller hardware itself...still forces me to only disable it, otherwise it will nag me on each startup)
besides.. i get paranoid with foreign drivers that dont seem to have an english label.

any help would be greatly appreciated!
07-15-2004, 01:24 PM
Wolfmight

still no reply???
07-15-2004, 01:26 PM
Snee

Do you mean you have them in the driver database on your pc, or that your 'puter for some odd reason is using them, despite having no hardware to use it for?
07-15-2004, 02:42 PM
Wolfmight

driver database, but programs like Driver Detective still think I'm useing em.
maybe it's just those programs, but isnt there a way to remove them from the database also?
07-15-2004, 03:00 PM
Snee

You could always do it manually, and wipe them from the registry if you have to, if you know the name of the files.

But as long as your system isn't using them, I don't think there should be a problem, no harm in having them except the room they steal, and that isn't much.

But it sounds weird that anything should report them as being used. :blink:

You tried uninstalling all applications they came with if any, right? And you uninstalled the units themselves from within the device manager, right?
07-15-2004, 03:07 PM
Wolfmight

Quote:

Originally posted by SnnY@15 July 2004 - 09:08
You could always do it manually, and wipe them from the registry if you have to, if you know the name of the files.

But as long as your system isn't using them, I don't think there should be a problem, no harm in having them except the room they steal, and that isn't much.

But it sounds weird that anything should report them as being used. :blink:

You tried uninstalling all applications they came with if any, right? And you uninstalled the units themselves from within the device manager, right?

Yea.. I suppose the Driver Detective website scans all the drivers you ever install. Still, it would make sense to remove every trace of a driver when you uninstall it... heh means no one could swap thousands of hardware/drivers without having to reformat from lack of space hehe. For now, that's never gonna happen, so I suppose it's ok then.

Well how could I remove that last driver now? My computer reports it as a hardware device still connected! I know theres no such thing connected.
It's pullin a Daemon Tools "Software Emulated Hardware" on me.
07-15-2004, 04:35 PM
Snee

All I can suggest is that you do it manually, delete the driver, and do the same in the registry, also makes sure it isn't somehow running a process in the background. You'd better know what you are doing tho'.

Wouldn't it be neat if you removed every trace of it only to find that that's a piece of hardware you were actually using, despite thinking you aren't?

Before you do anything tho', maybe you could wait a bit and see if someone with a better suggestion comes along.

And what is this device that won't disappear?
07-15-2004, 04:44 PM
lynx

Quote:

Originally posted by SnnY@15 July 2004 - 16:43
Wouldn't it be neat if you removed every trace of it only to find that that's a piece of hardware you were actually using, despite thinking you aren't?

Unless it's a driver that prevents you from booting, and you've got drivers for all the hardware you've currently got, you can simply re-install the drivers.

Quote:

Before you do anything tho', maybe you could wait a bit and see if someone with a better suggestion comes along.

Well, we know what that's going to be - Reformat and reinstall.

Quote:

It's pullin a Daemon Tools "Software Emulated Hardware" on me.

You should be able to remove that in Control panel/Add or Remove Programs. If it isn't there, simply re-install Daemon Tools then uninstall again.
07-15-2004, 04:51 PM
Snee

Quote:

Originally posted by lynx+15 July 2004 - 17:52--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lynx @ 15 July 2004 - 17:52)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-SnnY@15 July 2004 - 16:43
Wouldn't it be neat if you removed every trace of it only to find that that's a piece of hardware you were actually using, despite thinking you aren't?

Unless it's a driver that prevents you from booting, and you've got drivers for all the hardware you've currently got, you can simply re-install the drivers. [/b][/quote]
True, and none of the devices that he's listed seem to be of that kind now that I look at the list again.

Silly me.

Quote:

Quote:

Before you do anything tho', maybe you could wait a bit and see if someone with a better suggestion comes along.

Well, we know what that's going to be - Reformat and reinstall.

I said better suggestion. :blink:

Tho' I know the occasional reformat can be both fun and fantastic. :rolleyes:

Quote:

Quote:

It's pullin a Daemon Tools "Software Emulated Hardware" on me.

You should be able to remove that in Control panel/Add or Remove Programs. If it isn't there, simply re-install Daemon Tools then uninstall again.

Not sure he meant it was daemon-tools, or a similar program at all, I thought that it behaved like that was an error.

But otherwise, yeah, do like lynx says.
07-15-2004, 04:55 PM
lynx

Quote:

Originally posted by SnnY@15 July 2004 - 16:59
I said better suggestion. :blink:

Sorry.

Mind you, there's a lot here who think that IS a better suggestion.
07-15-2004, 05:01 PM
Snee

If I reformatted and reinstalled every thing something wasn't behaving the way it should I'd never come here, I'd be too busy reformatting and reinstalling. :lol:

Seriously tho', it's a last resort kind of thing. Makes me feel like I'm giving up if I have to do it.
07-15-2004, 06:44 PM
Wolfmight

Yes..after a few reformats awhile back.. I decided to learn how to partition and keep backup hardware..but even then. What if you backup the bad version of your system? heh, it only goes so far.
07-15-2004, 06:55 PM
lynx

Here's a thought if you haven't already tried it.

Go into device manager (Control Panel/System/Hardware tab/Device Manager button) and select View/Show hidden devices. You should be able to see most of those devices and you should be able to simply delete them, but be careful with anything you are not sure about.

To be sure, remove a couple that obviously match the descriptions you've got, then run Driver Detective again and check that they've gone. You can clean up your system quite a lot using this method.

It is a good idea to turn Show hidden devices off when you've finished with it.