Force Vista to "forget" a USB device

I have a device (HTC Dream / G1 Android phone) that I want to set up with a specific driver. Unfortunately I have already previously installed the device with the default driver. Even after uninstalling the device, every time I connect it Windows automatically recognises and reinstalls using that same default driver - I never get the chance to override this process.

Is there some way I can force Vista to "forget" the device so I can start over?

Solution 1:

1. Press [Windows]+[Pause Break] to bring up the System Properties dialog box.
2. Click Advanced System Settings
3. Click Environmental Variables
4. Click the New button below the System Variables panel.
5. In the New System Variable dialog box, type devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices in the Variable Name text box and 1 in the Variable Value text box.
6. Click OK to return to the System Properties dialog box and then click OK again.
7. Press [Windows]+[Pause Break] to bring up the System Properties dialog box.
8. Click Device Manager
9. In Device Manager, go to View | Show Hidden Devices.
10. Expand the various branches in the device tree and look for your phone.
11. Right-click the icon of the thing you want to get rid of and select Uninstall.

Solution 2:

Unless the existing driver crashes, there's usually no need to do this. Right-click on the device in Device Manager, select Update Driver Software... from the context menu, and a wizard will pop up that lets you select the new device driver.

Solution 3:

What worked for me in the end was (massive pain in the arse and mildly scary) deleting the registry keys, for the device, uninstalling the driver, re-connecting the device and then I finally got the wizard that gave me the option to select a specific driver.

Solution 4:

I would suggest NirSofts' USB Device View:

Download this tool (download is way down at the very bottom) - please note if you have 64 bit system you will need the 64 bit tool.

Extract this tool, run it, and then choose your device. (If you have plugged it in in different ports you will see it several times.) Delete the device entry. (Delete all of them if the device is listed more than once.) Now unplug the device, plug it back in and reinstall using your driver.