Clearing USB Device Name/Numbering

[JknowWhat]

I am curious on how to completely remove the numbering system created for devices whenever you plug it into one USB port and then next time plugging it into another USB port on the same computer.

For instance and clarification, lets say I was to plug a device in and it automatically installs itself as "USB Device". If I unplug it when I am done using it and then decide to plug it into the computer again but on a different USB port, it will come up and install itself as "USB Device #2" and so on as long as I do it on other ports. So, I was wondering if there was a way to reset this (like deleting a file somewhere?) that contains this information so that when I plug it in it won't come up as like "USB Device #8" or something. I know its a small thing but it annoys me sometimes.

TIA for the help! :beer:

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: JknowWhat
I am curious on how to completely remove the numbering system created for devices whenever you plug it into one USB port and then next time plugging it into another USB port on the same computer.

For instance and clarification, lets say I was to plug a device in and it automatically installs itself as "USB Device". If I unplug it when I am done using it and then decide to plug it into the computer again but on a different USB port, it will come up and install itself as "USB Device #2" and so on as long as I do it on other ports. So, I was wondering if there was a way to reset this (like deleting a file somewhere?) that contains this information so that when I plug it in it won't come up as like "USB Device #8" or something. I know its a small thing but it annoys me sometimes.

TIA for the help! :beer:

Show non-present devices in W2K/XP Device Manager

That one's a permanent registry tweak, but there's a way to do it in a non-permanent way too, using an enviroment variable and starting Device Manager from a command shell. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315539

Anyways, the general idea is, to remove the "phantom" non-enumerated USB devices listed under Device Manager. If you plug in a USB device, it creates one of these "nodes" in the tree. If you then plug in the same USB device into the same hub/port, it should use the same device node entry; otherwise, it creates a new one for its current connection "path".

It doesn't really hurt much for those phantom entries to be present, but if you need to clean them up, then that tweak should help. It works the same way that booting into Safe Mode in Win9x and then going to Device Manager did; it shows all devices that were ever installed, and allows you to delete them.

 

[JknowWhat]

Thanks for the info!