Phantom Devices only visible in safe mode

[Wayne Morgan]

I have found that any device that has ever been installed on the computer
will show up in Safe Mode's Device Manager. There have been times that I
have had to go into safe mode and remove some of these items, such as
multiple CD-ROM drives, in order to solve a problem with detecting a new
CD-ROM drive.

I am guessing that this is how the hot plug-n-play is supposed to work. Once
the device has been configured, it remains listed in the registry so that it
can be used if reinstalled or connected (i.e. USB devices).

Wayne Morgan

"Lee C. Wertheimer" <In...@pomapi.com> wrote in message
news:dipoAwpk$GA....@CPMSFTNGSA04.privatenews.microsoft.com...
> Just wondering why you can see devices in Device Manager in Safe Mode that
> don't exist on the computer in question.
>
> I assumed it just meant that the devices were once installed and the
drivers
> are no longer active but readily available should the device return.

[Lee C. Wertheimer]

Just wondering why you can see devices in Device Manager in Safe Mode that
don't exist on the computer in question.

I assumed it just meant that the devices were once installed and the drivers
are no longer active but readily available should the device return.

But I had an episode with a new Compaq Laptop recently that gave me pause.
Media Player wasn't reading MPEGs from the CD for more than a minute or so.
Compaq's fix was to start the computer in Safe mode and remove the two other
CD and DVD ROM drives from Device Manager. I did so and the problem
disappeared. This suggests to me that the drivers were still active and can
affect the system.

This worries me particularly as regards to AGP cards and HSP modems which
provide too much of my fun around here.

Any thoughts, anybody?
Lee C. Wertheimer