# Solved: How do I uninstall USB drivers that I can't see



## MaryWells (Jun 6, 2006)

Hi,

My brother installed some extra USB drivers on my computer (don't know which ones) as he said to "fix it so it worked better." Now, the darn thing won't even work with most of the USB devices and I thought it was fine before. HOw do I see the drivers to get rid of them, because they sure aren't in the control Panel removal area? My system restore was also turned off by him some time ago, so that is not an option at this time. * Help!*


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## immortal_creatio (Dec 2, 2006)

You would have to know the names of the drives to completely uninstall them


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## kiwiguy (Aug 17, 2003)

Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus controllers (expand this) right click on the controller(s) and slect Properties, then driver tab

A provision is there to "roll back driver"


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

First step, Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Create a restore point and name it something like "Before USB Fix". This is to bail you out if something goes wrong during the following process and makes things worse.

Create a file with NOTEPAD containing the following lines and save it as FIX.REG
-------------------------- Use text after this line --------------------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]

"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"="1"
-------------------------- Use text before this line --------------------------------

Double click on FIX.REG and say yes to the Merge Into Registry question.

Unplug ALL USB devices.
Open Device Manager.
View, Show Hidden Devices.
Uninstall all devices under USB Controllers.
Uninstall all devices under Disk Drives that you know are not present.
Uninstall all devices under Storage Volumes. Say no to any reboot prompts until you are finished. Also, if a Storage Volume doesn't uninstall, ignore it and move to the next one.
If you have a yellow ? with unknown devices, uninstall all of the entries there as well.

When this is done, reboot TWICE.

Reconnect the USB devices and see if they're recognized properly.

NOTE: If you have a USB keyboard and/or mouse, you'll have to modify the instructions and leave enough parts for those to function. I don't have one yet, so I haven't had time to modify the instructions.


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## MaryWells (Jun 6, 2006)

Hello there kiwiguy and Johnwill,

You two are simply wonderful. I got it taken care of with your thoughtful advice and we are now up and running with no problems. Thanks so much.

Mary

BTW: I am going to smash that little nerd brother of mine for getting me in this fix.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Glad we could help. Don't hurt your little brother too much, just don't let him use your computer. 

*You can mark your own threads solved using the thread tools at the upper right of the screen.*


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