How to Reveal the Hidden Devices in your Computer


There is a list of hidden devices that do not normally show up in the Device Manager. You can get XP to reveal these devices by either changing a Registry entry, or by creating a batch file to launch the Device Manager with the correct options.

 

If you’re comfortable with the Registry, open the Registry Editor and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Environment\.

 

Here, create a String Value called DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES, and give it a value of 1. If you’d rather create a batch file, open Notepad, and type in the following:

@Echo Off
Prompt $p$g
set
DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVIC
ES=1
start devmgmt.msc
exit

Then save it as “devmgmt.bat”. You can use any descriptive filename you like with the .bat extension.

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