Removing Hardware

Hot-pluggable devices don’t follow the type of removal discussed in this section. To remove a USB or FireWire device, or a PC card or memory card, see the section “Disconnecting hot-pluggable devices” earlier in this chapter. This section is about removing more complex devices such as internal components. Before you follow the procedures described in this section, make sure you understand what you’re removing and why you’re removing it. Do not attempt to fix a problem by removing devices based on sheer guesswork.

You’ll need administrative privileges to perform the tasks described here. It might be best to sign into a user account before you get started so you don’t have to rely on privilege escalation along the way.

Before you physically remove a device from the system, first uninstall its driver through Device Manager by following these steps:

1. Open File Explorer and right-click Computer.

2. Choose Manage and then click Device Manager in the left pane to open Device Manager.

3. Expand the category in which the device is listed. Then, right-click the name of the device you intend to remove and choose Uninstall, as in Figure 44.16.

FIGURE 44.16 Uninstall a hardware device.

4. Click OK.

Now you need to shut down the computer, unplug the power cord, and physically remove the device from the system. Then plug the machine back in, start it up, and everything should be back to the way it was before you ever installed the device. If you set a protection point just before installing the hardware, you can return to that protection point just to make sure.