Device Remover Is An Absurdly Powerful Device Manager
Windows only: Standing next to Device Remover, the built-in Windows device manager looks like a 90 pound weakling next to the Hulk—it’s just that powerful.
Installing and launching the utility is simple enough—but this is one utility you’ll want to use with a great deal of caution unless you really know what you are doing. You can view almost any data on a device, update or backup drivers, and pretty much control anything you want for the device.
I’ve previously written about a hidden trick for the Windows device manager to remove old drivers after upgrading, but Device Remover lets you easily view all hidden, nonpresent, unplugged, or problem devices and deal with them accordingly—a common scenario for system tweakers.
Device Remover is a free download for Windows, requires the .NET 3.5 Framework, and should be used with caution—with great power comes great system crashes. If you simply want to backup your drivers, you can use DriverMax or previously mentioned Double Driver to make a copy of your system’s drivers.
Device Remover [via Life Rocks 2.0]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Aha! Take THAT, stupid USB network adapters 2 through 28!!! And don't come back, I only need one.
Dammit. Just today, I finished setting my system up anew. I've spent 3 hours for the drivers. Had I known of this program, I could've been faster. Anyway, thanks LH, next time when it's reset time, I can use it. :)
BillyPreston
@jkrell: I think there is no definite primary audience. It's just a Super Device Manger/Process Explorer. It can be used for Driver Problems, Virus Problems, Driver updating, Hardware upgrading, Random process killing, and many more things. It's somewhat a clarification for things that device manager just doesn't tell you.
@robio376: If you took the time to check out the link to the webpage, one of the first things you'd see is:
Prerequisites:
* Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0+ (Redistributable will be just fine)
[.NET 2.0]
[.NET 3.5 (Windows XP and Vista only)]
* Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows7 based Operating Systems (32-Bit and 64-Bit)
I guess I am not a "system tweaker" because I see myself having absolutely no need for this... Is the primary audience gamers who are constantly updating their systems to have state of the art hardware?
jkrell
Lifehackered - the site is down.
QADude
Shock and awe! It's like having the keys to an F22A Raptor: you know you want to fly the thing, but you also know you'll wet your pants if you grab the controls.
pkoutoul
Too bad i'm going to have a hard time trying to find a use for it before my computer acytually crashes on its own; before it does, wouldn't the program be useless to me?
Looks great but even as an IT professional I'm slightly afraid wielding the kind of power this tool provides!
I look forward to a detailed guide for this. I'm sure I could put this to use on my main box because I'm always messing with things.
m-unit
Before installing and trying this, does it work in Windows 7?
robio376
Cool
MontgomeryEuryale
Wow...sweet! I was looking for something just like this after a recent bad flash of a firmware upgrade for my dvd burner. Thanks for the great posts, Lifehacker!
ZakiaEliphino
@bimplebean: It started up fine on my 64 bit system. I used the executable + file option, rather than an install. It seems I had full access to all my drivers and such, though I didn't mess with anything.
grawss
@BillyPreston: I guess I don't throw away my driver discs when I buy hardware.
Dang. 32-bit only. :~(
@jupiterthunder: Yeah, sadly our mind-reading devices are on a bit of a delay. =P
@BillyPreston:
Never do anything until after 5 pm ET. That way, you can be pretty sure LH isn't going to have offered a better way. Of course, that just means they will do it first thing in the morning.
jupiterthunder
@Adam: Unless your system is physically broken because you kicked it, you can always boot into Safe Mode and then use this program. It is a repair tool vs. a prevention tool; ala a penicillin shot vs. a condom.
Aquila76
Great program. Saved me from re-installing windows. A faulty driver installed by a video capture program named BB Flashbak 2 cause windows to crash when I exit from any game. Uninstalling the program - with Revo - failed, but removing the driver with device remover solved the problem. Thanks.
sherif_shaaban
Um, it doesn't seem to do anything extra. Maybe a little easier/faster for removing multiple items but that's it.
TheMadMidget
Device Mangler is plenty for me. Besides, this thing wants .NET...... and I don't want that.
I'll take any "90 lb weakling" over something that needs .Net for a crutch. Thanks LH and howtogeek but no thanks. :(
paintbox
Does this mean I can finally disable my laptops annoying touchpad without it just automatically reinstalling a second later?
thorax232
This would be handy on my "tech support" USB stick if it didnt require .NET...
WTF? Why is .NET such a blocker for you??? Do you also avoid programs written in Visual C++ because you don't want to install the mfcm90.dll runtime? And Visual Basic because you don't want to install the msvbvm60.dll runtime?
GrahamS
Hi, i am the developer of Device Remover. I am very glad you liked the application. Always keep in your mind: You have the option to create a System Restore Point before you make any modification to your System. SRP are available from Windows XP on. On Windows 2000 you could make a NTBACKUP (both options offered from application menus!). DR is still in deveopment and will have lots of more power in the future, though it is quite stable and powerfull now. The real power of it comes to light, when you cant boot your system normally and start DR in Safe Mode to cleanup all faulty devices, drivers and services, including very important information of filter devices entry problems (MainMenu->Tools->System->Show Filtered Devices. Also take a look at the WMI Query Interface (one menu item below Filter View). here you can Query nearly all System Information you like. Also a look at the "restarts" application is recommended (MainMenu->Tools->Application-> restarts. There is lots to find out! Enjoy!
MontgomeryHaphy
@robio376:
I think Windows 7 device removal is much improved.
Toribor
@ZakiaEliphino:
Were you having a problem with the drive? I can't think of a reason to flash the firmware on a DVD drive unless it has severe issues, in which case I'd return it. (Or buy another... $25 is worth saving myself hardware/software woes)
Toribor