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How to Force uninstall of problematic network adaptors (says device required to boot)

Attempting to resolve issue with sons' computer continually rebootiing. That issue was resolved by performing repair XP install from CD. XP install program saw existing \Windows folder, and PC now boots with existing apps intact. Now dealing with lockup issue when installing Realtek ethernet driver. At device manager, have entry for "Parallel Adaptor", and several entries for "WAN Miniport (etc, etc)"

I can't uninstall w/o getting message "Failed to uninstall the device. The device may be required to boot up the computer." (Even in Safe Mode.)

My initial thoughts were to track down the driver filenames (from properties, driver details), and rename them in the C:\WINDOWS\System32 folder, "forcing" an uninstall. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Makaveli213

Hello,

The best way to completely remove drivers is to use Driver Cleaner Pro from what i have found.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

Try that and see if it solves your problem.

Cheers,
Mak

dhjensen

ASKER

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. Bear with me...the PC is at home.

dhjensen

ASKER

Downloaded Driver Cleaner Pro, and ran it for "Intel Extreme" after reading the instructions. The entries in the Device Manager are still there. There were no entries in Driver Cleaner that appeared to relate to the entries below under Network Adaptors:

Packet Scheduler Miniport #5
Direct Parallel
Realtek RTK8139/810X Family Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport
WAN Miniport (IP)
WAN Miniport (IP) - Packet Scheduler Miniport
WAN Miniport (LLTP)
WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
WAN Miniport (PPTP)

Hope that helps.

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Makaveli213

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dhjensen

ASKER

Thanks, I'll check out those articles. By the way, the Realtek adaptor *is* the current adaptor (and has worked in the past which just compounds the frustration!) I'll let you know how things go....

phototropic

In Device Manager, click on the "View" tab, and then select "Show hidden devices".
You will probably see a few more entries under Network Adapters. Try selective deletion to see if that helps...

dhjensen

ASKER

phototropic:

Under "show hidden devices" is where they are being displayed (and still can't be deleted). Thanks for the advice though.

dhjensen

ASKER

Makaveli213:

Ran the automated TCP/IP repair utility you suggested under :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357

and that seemed to fix a lot of corruption which enabled me to access the PC and solve the problem. Ultimately, I replaced the ethernet card in the PC and am up and running finally!

dhjensen

ASKER

Thanks for your help!