How to Find a Lost, Missing, Hidden or Removed Network Card (NIC) or Other Device and Even Remove it
In a scenario where you have physically removed hardware from a machine you can no longer see it in device manager. This does not mean that it is gone. Evidence of that is, if for example you had a network card that had a Static IP address set and you remove the card and add a new one then try to set the IP address to the same as the old NIC you will get an error message. The error might look something like “The IP address 192.168.30.100 you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter (Microsoft Virtual machine Bus Network Adapter #3) which is no longer present in the computer. If the same address is assigned to both adapters and they both become active, only one of them will use this address. This may result in incorrect system configuration”. In Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 it actually gives you an opportunity to “remove the static IP configuration for the absent adapter”. If you say Yes, this will eliminate the IP conflict problem but does not solve the problem of the adapter still being present in the machine. In older versions of the OS, it was even worse because every time you go into network properties it gives you an error message. Another way this comes up is if you move a virtual machine from one host to another. Like in the case of moving from Virtual Server 2005 R2 to Hyper-V or perhaps you are moving from one Hyper-V machine to another but you did not do an export, you just moved the VHD’s and created a new machine.
Getting rid of these old devices is actually very simple. Well, it is simple if you know how ;)
Before you proceed, I recommend that you confirm that you have a good backup. I have never had a problem with this but hey, it is your server not mine.
| Description | What to do | |
| Step 1: You need to run a command prompt so you can set an environment variable prior to opening the Device Manager This will bring up a command window | Click Start – Type the following command and then press ENTER
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| Step 2: We have the command window open. We now need to set the variable (that is the “set” line and then with the variable set, we need to run Device Manager. The file name for the Device Manager snap-in is devmgmt.msc. The first line will not appear to do anything but it is setting the environment for next step. The second command will actually open the Device Manager but it will be in a “special” mode which allows you to show devices that no longer exists. | Type the following commands pressing ENTER after each line
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| Step 3: Now all we have to do is show hidden devices and you will be able to access the devices that are not present in the machine. This will also turn a checkbox on in front of the Show Hidden Devices menu option. | In this Special Device Manager Window; on the menu, click View then Show Hidden Devices | |
| Step 4: Now you can just go find the adapter or device that is missing and delete it! Expand the network adapter (or whatever category of device) and look for the device that needs to be removed. The error message that you got should tell you the “name” of the device so you just have to go find that named device. You may also notice while you are there that the icon for the “non-present” or missing device is slightly subdued so that will make it easier to find it if you have many devices in a category. See screen shot below | Expand the network adapter (or whatever category of device) and look for the device that needs to be removed. Right-Click the Device and select Uninstall | |
| Easy!!! It IS easy if you know how. Now you know how!!! | On the Warning “You are about to uninstall this device from your computer” just click OK | |
| IMPORTANT Note: Lastly, if there are other devices that are subdued / hidden, please to not just go in and delete them all. If you do, you are asking for trouble. Just get rid of the things that you know are gone for good and are not coming back! If you are not absolutely positive, do not remove it. If you do anyway, better have that backup handy :) Also, remember, if you change too much stuff at once, you may have to reactivate Windows | Restore from Backup… Just kidding :) |
Comments
Anonymous
September 25, 2010
I also like setting the environment variable in system so I can view the hidden items anytime I want without having to set it manually.Anonymous
November 08, 2010
Thank you! Great tip! Helped me removing some unused interfaces from a VM setup using kvm and Red Hat's Virtio drivers.Anonymous
January 07, 2011
I'm having the same problem, but windows said: "Failed to uninstall the device. the device may required to boot up the computer" what i have to do???] TnksAnonymous
February 10, 2011
The comment has been removedAnonymous
August 31, 2011
thanks for your help. Worked like a charmAnonymous
October 18, 2011
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 07, 2012
Awesome post, pulled hair out over this one! ThanksAnonymous
June 29, 2012
Just a tip to those trying to find IP addresses, etc. I always run an ipconfig /all >> c:ipsetup.txt from a cmd prompt when everything is initially built. Also 2008 R2 and VMWare seem to have this issue as well when installing SP1, so I run the ipconfig gathering command before the Service pack install. Will save tons of grief later.......Anonymous
October 11, 2013
I don't know what happened, but I turned my puter on and tried to get online - got msg that there was NO NETWORK CARD.... had my cable company come out and check it - tech couldn't find it anywhere - just vanished. He was able to give me a wireless connection, but said that he didn't know how long it would be good. What should I do now?Anonymous
January 25, 2014
nice post! very helpful!Anonymous
May 25, 2014
Hi Guys,
Also check in your DHCP server which may have the IP address in dhcp Hosts! If you remove that too, can help!Anonymous
June 06, 2014
Great man same problem occured but we solve it because of you man ! Thanks a lot ! Gr8Anonymous
January 25, 2015
WOW, that helped , Big ThanksAnonymous
March 03, 2015
Very good article. I found it stupid to set this as a Env variable, meanwhile you have in the menu "Show Hidden Devices", it should have a "Show Non-Present Devices" also ... this kind of thing make Windows not logic and confiousing. Anyway thxAnonymous
May 04, 2015
this was super helpful, thank you!Anonymous
May 21, 2015
Thanks It's cool ))))) I <3 itAnonymous
August 20, 2015
I was pretty excited to find this article, and it seems thorough and well written. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I upgraded from Windows 8.1 to 10. Apparently it decided to make my NIC a ghost, holding previous settings somewhere, and making a new one using the same hardware. I've never had any other NICs on this machine, and there's only one - it's built in (on the motherboard). Not sure why this would happen, but... it is what it is. Problem is, I really need to set my IP to a specific static one.
I tried deleting all NICs in the registry in addition to this guide. When I look in device manager - which I ran as admin too - and show hidden devices, I see only the real NIC, which is named with #2 at the end. The error is for the same name with no #2. Very frustrating.Anonymous
September 29, 2015
You can also try: Device Cleanup Tool , GhostBuster or editing registry. Details here:http://www.sysadmit.com/2015/09/windows-eliminar-dispositivos-ocultos.htmlAnonymous
October 19, 2015
great helpAnonymous
November 21, 2015
thanks broAnonymous
December 03, 2015
The comment has been removedAnonymous
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Something you may want to try if this doesn't solve your problem is to reset your network stack (works in XP and later). This should clear the Static IP settings on all adapters.
Just open a cmd window as administrator and type:
netsh int ip reset log.txt