How to Uninstall a Device in the Device Manager in Microsoft Windows

The Device Manager is a program in the Windows operating system that manages all of the various hardware components installed in your computer. The Device Manager is typically used to diagnose the problems that you may experience with your hardware. You will also need to use the Device Manager when removing a particular piece of hardware from your machine. If you uninstall your computer’s wireless Internet card, for example, an entry for that card will remain in the Device Manager because that card’s driver is still installed. You can uninstall a device from the Device Manager in the Windows operating system by following just a few basic steps.

Step 1

Locate the icon labeled “Computer” on your Windows desktop. Right-click on this icon one time and select the “Properties” option. Note that some configurations will not display a “Computer” icon on your desktop. If the appropriate icon is not present, click the “Start” menu and right-click on the icon in that location to continue the process.

Step 2

Click the option labeled “Device Manager” on the left side of the screen. Note that if you are not logged in as the administrator account on your computer you will have to provide the administrator password before you are allowed to continue.

Step 3

Locate the category for the device you just uninstalled. If you just installed a network adapter, for example, click the category labeled “Network Adapters” one time to expand it. A list of all hardware components that fall into that category will appear on screen.

Step 4

Right-click on the option for the hardware device you want to uninstall. Select the “Uninstall” option from the menu on screen. A new window will appear.

Step 5

Click the “OK” button to uninstall the device driver for the selected hardware component. Restart your computer to finish the installation process. The selected device will no longer be installed on your machine. Note that you can repeat these steps for any other device you want to uninstall at any time using the Windows operating system.