GhostBuster remove ghosted devices on Windows

Ghostbuster is a program that lets you filter devices/device classes of which you want to remove the ghosted ones. Ghostbuster does exactly the same when you right click a device in the Windows Device Manager and choose uninstall.

1. How do I delete an unplugged device?
2. How do I remove a hidden device from Device Manager?
3. How do I delete unused USB devices?
4. How do I permanently delete devices from Device Manager?
5. Should I clean unplugged device data?
6. What can happen if you don't uninstall a device before removing it from your system?
7. How do I find hidden devices in Device Manager?
8. Why are devices hidden in Device Manager?
9. How do I remove a ghost device?
10. How do I find and delete drivers?
11. How do I clean up old drivers?
12. How do I clear my USB port history?

How do I delete an unplugged device?

Go into the Options menu and enable Mark Connected Devices and Show Non Plug and Play Drivers, then click on the Connected column header to sort the list by which devices are connected and which aren't. Then click, Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select the required devices and go to File > Uninstall Selected Devices.

How do I remove a hidden device from Device Manager?

Open Device Manager

Click the View menu, select Show hidden devices (must be done each time you open the device manager) Devices not present will have a lightened greyed (or washed out) icon. Right click the greyed out item and select uninstall to remove the device's drivers.

How do I delete unused USB devices?

Click View tab and select Show hidden devices. Expand the branches in the device tree & look for the faded icons. These indicate unused device drivers. Right-click on it and select Uninstall.

How do I permanently delete devices from Device Manager?

The Management Console displays the list of devices that have been marked for deletion. Select the check boxes next to the required devices. Above the list of devices, click the Permanently delete button. In the Permanently delete devices window that opens, click the Delete button.

Should I clean unplugged device data?

If some unplugged devices won't be used again, you can choose to clean the related data. Since there are no systematic ways to clean unplugged device data, you may need to check the saving paths and clean up them manually.

What can happen if you don't uninstall a device before removing it from your system?

Sometimes you may be copying files on to it and you may unplug it, the file which was in the process of being copied will end up corrupted. It may be the other way, you may be copying something from the device to your computer, and that file will end up corrupted.

How do I find hidden devices in Device Manager?

COMMAND LINE | To show hidden devices in Device Manager

1. Click Start>Run.
2. Type cmd.exe in the textbox and click OK.
3. Type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and hit ENTER.
4. Type cd\windows\system32 and hit ENTER.
5. Type start devmgmt.msc and hit ENTER.
6. When the device manager opens, click the View menu.
7. Click Show Hidden Devices.

Why are devices hidden in Device Manager?

Device Manager lists the devices that are installed in the computer. By default, certain devices are not shown in the list. These hidden devices include: ... Devices that were physically removed from the computer but whose registry entries were not deleted (also known as nonpresent devices).

How do I remove a ghost device?

In the device manager:

1. Select View > Show Hidden Devices.
2. Expand the Network Adapters List.
3. Uninstall ALL of the VMXNet3 network adapters (there will likely be several; also do not delete drivers).
4. Uninstall any unknown devices.
5. Leave the other network devices alone.
6. Select Action > Scan for Hardware Changes.

How do I find and delete drivers?

Find and double-click the category of device whose driver you wish to uninstall (for example, the graphics card would be listed under Display Adapters). Right-click the device, and click Uninstall. Windows will prompt you to confirm the device's removal. Click OK to remove the driver.

How do I clean up old drivers?

Uninstall Old Drivers in Windows

1. To uninstall the old drivers, press Win + X and select “Device Manager” from the list of options.
2. Go to “view” and select the option “show hidden devices” to reveal all the hidden and old drivers. ...
3. Select the old driver you want to uninstall, right-click and select the Uninstall option.

How do I clear my USB port history?

Right-click the USB device and select Uninstall Selected Devices. A confirmation message will appear. Click Yes to confirm. This deletes the registry entry for the selected device.