disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

[Guest Steoh]

I need to disable certain devices in a particular HW profile.

In a normal situation this is a no-brainer, Device Manager has a 3-

way scroll-box with options to enable/disable/enable in this HW

profile for each device.

 

However, that option has been deactivated (is greyed-out, and the

scroll-box non functional) for some of the devices which I want to

disable :=(

The only possibility apparently remaining would be to remove the

device(s) completely from system, which is /not/ what I want !!!

 

Please tell how to reenable the choice - I assume it's a flag to

reset somewhere in the registration information for the affected

device(s).

 

Alternately, may I use "devcon" to permanently disable a device from

the current HW profile /only/ ?

 

Or, could I find and nuke the appropriate bit(s) in the devices' .inf

installer file(s) ?

 

Please help ! I know what I'm doing disabling these devices, in fact

I have done it previously but, the greyed-out status is new, probably

post device driver updates.

 

TIA

 

--

Steph (no working email)

[Guest Dave Patrick]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

It may be dependant on the device.

 

 

 

--

 

Regards,

 

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

"Steoh" wrote:

>I need to disable certain devices in a particular HW profile.

> In a normal situation this is a no-brainer, Device Manager has a 3-

> way scroll-box with options to enable/disable/enable in this HW

> profile for each device.

>

> However, that option has been deactivated (is greyed-out, and the

> scroll-box non functional) for some of the devices which I want to

> disable :=(

> The only possibility apparently remaining would be to remove the

> device(s) completely from system, which is /not/ what I want !!!

>

> Please tell how to reenable the choice - I assume it's a flag to

> reset somewhere in the registration information for the affected

> device(s).

>

> Alternately, may I use "devcon" to permanently disable a device from

> the current HW profile /only/ ?

>

> Or, could I find and nuke the appropriate bit(s) in the devices' .inf

> installer file(s) ?

>

> Please help ! I know what I'm doing disabling these devices, in fact

> I have done it previously but, the greyed-out status is new, probably

> post device driver updates.

>

> TIA

>

> --

> Steph (no working email)

[Guest Steph]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

"Dave Patrick" wrote

> "Steoh" wrote:

>> However, that option has been deactivated (is greyed-out, and the

>> scroll-box non functional) for some of the devices which I want to

>> disable :=(

> It may be dependant on the device.

 

Would you please expand a little over this laconic statement ?

The device manager /has to/ find the flag somewhere (obviously in the

Registry) that tells it to grey out the 3-way option; of course this

is per device, and I need to know how it's encoded in the Registry

entries for the device. I really need to. A pointer to appropriate

MSDN docs could help.

 

Thank you for your given time !

 

 

--

Steph

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

 

"Steoh" <steph@email.invalid.com> wrote in message

news:XnF9A99E1F40C7F1bzi7h1r@207.46.248.16...

>I need to disable certain devices in a particular HW profile.

> In a normal situation this is a no-brainer, Device Manager has a 3-

> way scroll-box with options to enable/disable/enable in this HW

> profile for each device.

>

> However, that option has been deactivated (is greyed-out, and the

> scroll-box non functional) for some of the devices which I want to

> disable :=(

> The only possibility apparently remaining would be to remove the

> device(s) completely from system, which is /not/ what I want !!!

>

> Please tell how to reenable the choice - I assume it's a flag to

> reset somewhere in the registration information for the affected

> device(s).

>

> Alternately, may I use "devcon" to permanently disable a device from

> the current HW profile /only/ ?

>

> Or, could I find and nuke the appropriate bit(s) in the devices' .inf

> installer file(s) ?

>

> Please help ! I know what I'm doing disabling these devices, in fact

> I have done it previously but, the greyed-out status is new, probably

> post device driver updates.

>

> TIA

>

> --

> Steph (no working email)

 

Most devices are associated with a service whose name you can

see in the Device Manager. Double-click the device under consideration,

then click the Details tab and look for the "Service" item in the

drop-down box.

 

Once you know the service name, check its properties in the registry:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\. By comparing the

values of several services you should be able to find out what disables

the "Enable/Disable" drop-box.

 

As you said yourself, you need to know what you're doing in order

play this safely. In addition I would use a tool such as regback.exe

to back up my registry beforehand, just in case.

[Guest Dave Patrick]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

I guess I really can't without knowing what device specifically but you

might check the hardware manufacturer's web site for the driver specific

details.

 

 

 

--

 

Regards,

 

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

"Steph" wrote:

> Would you please expand a little over this laconic statement ?

> The device manager /has to/ find the flag somewhere (obviously in the

> Registry) that tells it to grey out the 3-way option; of course this

> is per device, and I need to know how it's encoded in the Registry

> entries for the device. I really need to. A pointer to appropriate

> MSDN docs could help.

>

> Thank you for your given time !

>

>

> --

> Steph

[Guest Steph]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

Master Pegasus wrote :

> Most devices are associated with a service whose name you can

> see in the Device Manager. Double-click the device under

> consideration, then click the Details tab and look for the

> "Service" item in the drop-down box.

> Once you know the service name, check its properties in the

> registry: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\. By comparing

> the values of several services you should be able to find out what

> disables the "Enable/Disable" drop-box.

 

Shall try, thank you !

 

Otherwise, do you have experience with "devcon" (from the Windows

2000 CD or ressource kit) ? It features a command for disabling a

device, which /might/ bypass the problem seen with the graphical UI

(or not). However do you know if changes made with devcon will apply

to the current HW profile only ?

 

Regards

 

--

Steph (no working email)

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

 

"Steph" <steph@email.invalid> wrote in message

news:XnF9A9B8A0C873FEbzi7h1r@207.46.248.16...

> Master Pegasus wrote :

>

>> Most devices are associated with a service whose name you can

>> see in the Device Manager. Double-click the device under

>> consideration, then click the Details tab and look for the

>> "Service" item in the drop-down box.

>

>> Once you know the service name, check its properties in the

>> registry: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\. By comparing

>> the values of several services you should be able to find out what

>> disables the "Enable/Disable" drop-box.

>

> Shall try, thank you !

>

> Otherwise, do you have experience with "devcon" (from the Windows

> 2000 CD or ressource kit) ? It features a command for disabling a

> device, which /might/ bypass the problem seen with the graphical UI

> (or not). However do you know if changes made with devcon will apply

> to the current HW profile only ?

>

> Regards

>

> --

> Steph (no working email)

>

 

Here is how I can disable/enable my inbuilt CD drive with devcon.exe:

devcon disable "IDE\CdRomTEAC_DW-224E____________________________B.2A____"

devcon enable "IDE\CdRomTEAC_DW-224E____________________________B.2A____"

Since the action affects the hardware, it would be effective

for all hardware profiles.

[Guest Steph]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

"Dave Patrick" wrote :

> I guess I really can't without knowing what device specifically

> but you might check the hardware manufacturer's web site for the

> driver specific details.

 

My guess would differ, since the greying out occurs MS device manager

(devmgmt.msc) that MS program has to pull the information in a manner

independent from the particular manufacturer. Besides, as you know,

HW manufacturers usually rely on Microsoft provided sample drivers

rather than innovate (they'd rather not indeed).

 

The affected devices, that can't be selectively disabled per HW

profile are the SiS integrated display adapter and, more

importantly, the SIS integrated disk controller.

 

Although I haven't been able to answer my original question directly,

I found a solution that has allowed me to circumvent it completely,

and namely it was the workaround descrived in MS kb article 314082 :

 

<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314082>

 

Regards

 

--

Steph

[Guest Steph]

Re: disabling device per HW profile, but option greyed out !

 

"Pegasus \(MVP\)" wrote :

>> Otherwise, do you have experience with "devcon" (from the Windows

>> 2000 CD or ressource kit) ? It features a command for disabling a

>> device, which /might/ bypass the problem seen with the graphical

>> UI (or not). However do you know if changes made with devcon will

>> apply to the current HW profile only ?

> Here is how I can disable/enable my inbuilt CD drive with

> devcon.exe: devcon disable

> "IDE\CdRomTEAC_DW-224E____________________________B.2A____" devcon

> enable "IDE\CdRomTEAC_DW-224E____________________________B.2A____"

> Since the action affects the hardware, it would be effective

> for all hardware profiles.

 

Thank you again, I'll experiment in a virtual machine; meanwhile I

was able to work around my original problems - see other post in

answer to Dave Patrick.

 

--

Steph (no working email)