"Device Manager" is one of the most common magic weapons used by DIYer. Here you can manage common devices, including deactivating or enabling devices, updating device drivers, resolving conflicts between devices, etc. But do you know the tips for using it? Let's take a look together below.
1. Make your device manager more powerful
"Device Manager" is a good helper for managing computer devices. In fact, just by following the following simple steps, your "Device Manager" can display more device details, making it more powerful.
Click "Start → Run", type "cmd" and then enter to open the command prompt window. Enter "set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1" to enter, then type the "start" command and press Enter to start "Device Manager". Take a closer look at your "Device Manager" and find out what's the difference? By the way, there is an additional "Details" tab that can help you understand the specific parameters of computer components more deeply and in-depth. However, the only drawback is that after closing the "Device Manager", the "Details" tab will disappear when you open it again next time!
2. Cleverly hide optical drive
Click "Start → Run", type "" and press Enter to open "Device Manager". Then find and expand "DVD/CD-ROM Drive" in "Device Manager", select the specific optical drive model you want to hide (if there are multiple), then click the "Disable" button on the toolbar or select "Disable" from the right-click menu, and a confirmation dialog box will pop up. Click the "Yes" button directly. After a while, you will see an additional cross on the front of the device, indicating that the optical drive has been disabled. Now open "My Computer" or Explorer again, and you will find that the optical drive letter is gone!
Tip: In addition, if your optical drive is connected to the second IDE interface alone, you can also hide the optical drive by disabling the "secondary IDE channel": First, find the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller" item in the "Device Manager" and expand it, then right-click the "secondary IDE channel" and select the "deactivate" command.
3. Make all devices display
Let’s take Windows XP as an example: in the “Device Manager” window, click “View → Show Hidden Devices” and you will find that there are several more devices in the list. After comparison, you will find that there are three hidden devices, namely: NT Apm/Legacy Support—NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node (Tip: If your Windows XP is powered down and it is constantly powered, it is very likely that it is because NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node is not started, you can try to start it to see if it can solve the problem); Storage volume—general volume; non-plug-and-play driver.
1. Make your device manager more powerful
"Device Manager" is a good helper for managing computer devices. In fact, just by following the following simple steps, your "Device Manager" can display more device details, making it more powerful.
Click "Start → Run", type "cmd" and then enter to open the command prompt window. Enter "set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1" to enter, then type the "start" command and press Enter to start "Device Manager". Take a closer look at your "Device Manager" and find out what's the difference? By the way, there is an additional "Details" tab that can help you understand the specific parameters of computer components more deeply and in-depth. However, the only drawback is that after closing the "Device Manager", the "Details" tab will disappear when you open it again next time!
2. Cleverly hide optical drive
Click "Start → Run", type "" and press Enter to open "Device Manager". Then find and expand "DVD/CD-ROM Drive" in "Device Manager", select the specific optical drive model you want to hide (if there are multiple), then click the "Disable" button on the toolbar or select "Disable" from the right-click menu, and a confirmation dialog box will pop up. Click the "Yes" button directly. After a while, you will see an additional cross on the front of the device, indicating that the optical drive has been disabled. Now open "My Computer" or Explorer again, and you will find that the optical drive letter is gone!
Tip: In addition, if your optical drive is connected to the second IDE interface alone, you can also hide the optical drive by disabling the "secondary IDE channel": First, find the "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller" item in the "Device Manager" and expand it, then right-click the "secondary IDE channel" and select the "deactivate" command.
3. Make all devices display
Let’s take Windows XP as an example: in the “Device Manager” window, click “View → Show Hidden Devices” and you will find that there are several more devices in the list. After comparison, you will find that there are three hidden devices, namely: NT Apm/Legacy Support—NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node (Tip: If your Windows XP is powered down and it is constantly powered, it is very likely that it is because NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node is not started, you can try to start it to see if it can solve the problem); Storage volume—general volume; non-plug-and-play driver.