Showing Hidden Devices

Warning: This is an advanced Windows tip, and should only be used by those who individuals who understand what they're doing. If you're not careful when preforming this tip, you can disable your system.

By default the Device Manager will hide the following devices: Non-Plug and Play (non-PnP) printers and drivers, and Devices that were attached to your computer at one-time, but have been disconnected (AKA 'non-present devices').

To view the non-PnP devices:

• From the Start Menu, select the Run... command.
• Type "devmgmt.msc" and press the Enter key.
• In the Device Manager, from the View menu select 'Show hidden devices'.

You should now be able to see all the non-PnP devices.

To view the previously attached devices:

• Add the following user or system environment variable to your system (see the following tip for instructions on how to do this):
  
• In the New User or System Variable dialog box, in the 'Variable name' field, type "DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES", and in the 'Variable value' box, type "1".
• Open the Device Manager, from the View menu select 'Show hidden devices'.

You should now be able to see all the non-PnP devices and previously attached devices.