How fo I stop WindowsXP creating #2,#3... driver names ?

This is very annoying and can't be handled using regedit to rename the Device ID this is very simple to do but hard to find the solution, so here it is for all of Fixya.

Go to the command prompt (Windows + R) then type cmd and enter the lines below the last one will start the devmgmt console you will see the window title change or use THIS batch file for simplicity.



OR to make the change permanent copy these lines and paste them into a reg file use the text edit and save as show.nonpresent.devices.reg as shown here this will place them in Environment Variable so you don't need to keep using the DOS prompt as above.




OR If you prefer to do this manually set this in the Environment Variables

1. Right-click My Computer.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Click the Environment Variables tab.
5. Set the variables in the System Variables box

When the device manager window opens then click menu option view and tick show hidden devices. (these will be grayed out)



Right Click and Uninstall the old version normally without the # (hash) attached in the case above there is a yellow exclamation mark showing that the NVIDIA Video driver has a confilict on the installed driver for more info on this check my tip HERE it is a good idea to remove the older X8AGP driver that would have been from another AGP video card of the same brand.

N.B> You may need to keep some from removable devices like U3 to don't go mad and uninstall every grayed out item.

Popular ones are to remove the Plug and Play Monitor under Monitor the Tree these will always show old Default monitors before the actual TFT screen driver was installed

Using the Dev_Mgr_Show_Details=1 Enviroment Variable an extra tab in the device properties can be displayed for more information on each for troubleshooting needs like Hardware ID and Firmware Details so the tweak you download will also add this for your permanently

Read more tips from Owen Stephen Dawson