[Ham-Computers] RE: LPT-1

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

Right.  I guess I forgot to copy forward the warning that was also in Aaron's 
original post.

One other thing I'll add about ghosted items, like USB devices you don't keep 
plugged in all the time.  To avoid having to go through the rigamarol of 
waiting while Windows installs them again next time you use them, plug them in 
before starting Device Manager.  The ones actually used will not be grayed out 
(and won't for that matter be hidden, either).  When I first did the tweak, I 
had several USB drives show up.  So I quit out of Device Manager and plugged in 
my Flash Card reader, and then started Device Manager again.  The orphans from 
having twice unplugged the reader without first stopping the service were 
still hidden (gray) and the active one wasn't, so I knew which ones to remove.

In a message dated 2/21/2006 2:08:53 PM Central Standard Time, 
aaron.hsu at nbcuni.com writes: 
> BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHEN USING THIS TWEAK!  MS hid this for a reason -
> some of the entries are not meant to be seen.  Don't touch or delete
> anything in the "Non-Plug and Play Drivers" section unless you know
> exactly what you're doing.  Also be careful when messing with the
> "System Devices" section and the "Sound, video, and game controllers"
> section.  The "Sound..." section contains devices and CODECs that should
> not be removed (unless you don't want to use/play that type of media).
> 
> Some devices are transitive or dynamic in nature - they'll show up when
> you use them and remove themselves when not in use.  This leaves a
> "ghosted" instance of the device so Windows doesn't prompt for drivers
> the next time it's connected/used.  Generally, "ghosted" or "grayed"
> items can be safely removed *EXCEPT* from the sections mentioned above -
> you'll just have to re-install the drivers next time the device is
> connected.
> 

Robert Downs - Houston
<http://www.wa5cab.com> (Web Store)
MVPA 9480
<wa5cab at cs.com> (Primary email)
<wa5cab at houston.rr.com> (Backup email)