Proper way to remove an old driver from %systemroot%system32drivers
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
Recently I was trying to find why out Windows 10 updates were failing on my computer. The Driver Verifier utility indicated a problem with dcrypt.sys
, a file that had been left in %systemroot%system32drivers
even after I had uninstalled DiskCryptor several years ago.
I made the mistake of deleting dcrypt.sys
myself, but when I did that, Windows stopped loading. My inference is that, despite its being third party software, its presence was somehow required by the Windows startup sequence. (I ended up solving this by reinstalling Windows completely.)
What would have been the proper way to get rid of such a file?
windows drivers system32
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
Recently I was trying to find why out Windows 10 updates were failing on my computer. The Driver Verifier utility indicated a problem with dcrypt.sys
, a file that had been left in %systemroot%system32drivers
even after I had uninstalled DiskCryptor several years ago.
I made the mistake of deleting dcrypt.sys
myself, but when I did that, Windows stopped loading. My inference is that, despite its being third party software, its presence was somehow required by the Windows startup sequence. (I ended up solving this by reinstalling Windows completely.)
What would have been the proper way to get rid of such a file?
windows drivers system32
New contributor
add a comment |
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
Recently I was trying to find why out Windows 10 updates were failing on my computer. The Driver Verifier utility indicated a problem with dcrypt.sys
, a file that had been left in %systemroot%system32drivers
even after I had uninstalled DiskCryptor several years ago.
I made the mistake of deleting dcrypt.sys
myself, but when I did that, Windows stopped loading. My inference is that, despite its being third party software, its presence was somehow required by the Windows startup sequence. (I ended up solving this by reinstalling Windows completely.)
What would have been the proper way to get rid of such a file?
windows drivers system32
New contributor
Recently I was trying to find why out Windows 10 updates were failing on my computer. The Driver Verifier utility indicated a problem with dcrypt.sys
, a file that had been left in %systemroot%system32drivers
even after I had uninstalled DiskCryptor several years ago.
I made the mistake of deleting dcrypt.sys
myself, but when I did that, Windows stopped loading. My inference is that, despite its being third party software, its presence was somehow required by the Windows startup sequence. (I ended up solving this by reinstalling Windows completely.)
What would have been the proper way to get rid of such a file?
windows drivers system32
windows drivers system32
New contributor
New contributor
edited 4 hours ago
Twisty Impersonator
17.4k136394
17.4k136394
New contributor
asked 8 hours ago
adam.baker
1262
1262
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
If you prefer a GUI method, use Microsoft's Autoruns for Windows. It requires no installation. Simply run it elevated, then navigate to the Drivers tab, clear the checkmark next to the driver you wish to disable, then reboot the computer:
Not only is this a simple way to enable/disable drivers and services (along with pretty much anything else that starts automatically in Windows), but it's very easy to undo changes if you find they have unwanted consequences or you're simply experimenting with your configuration.
By the way, the next time you disable a critical startup item and Windows will not boot, try using System Restore. It is capable of restoring the driver file you deleted as well as any Registry settings you might change (including changed made by Autoruns) in an effort to disable it.
Windows automatically creates Restore Points when certain critical actions are about to be taken (such as before installing Updates), but it's a good idea to create one manually before making changes to important startup items. And if your system fails to boot and you need to use a Restore Point, here are directions on how to do that.
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
Start regedit. In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServices
Now look for a subkey under services called dcrypt
.
If it’s not there, look for something of a similar name, like
dskcrypt
.If you still can’t find it, use regedit’s Find command to search for
dcrypt.sys
in
a subkey underServices
. The stringdcrypt.sys
should be in a value called
ImagePath
.
When you find the key, navigate to it and check that you do indeed see
ImagePath:
...dcrypt.sys
in the right pane. Now double-click the value
called Start
and change it to 4
, which means Disabled.
That should do it.
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
From and administrative command prompt:
pnputil /enum-drivers
Find the driver on the list, get the name of the INF file.
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf
change oem0.inf to whatever you discovered windows named it in the step above.
If windows was broken and didn't start.
Boot off the windows install media
Use F10 (or maybe F8) to get to a command prompt
do a dir command on each letter until you find the windows folder.
dir c:
dir d:
dir e:
....
Find the offending driver.
dism /image:d: /Get-Drivers
replace something.inf with the offending driver name.
dism /image:d: /remove-driver /driver:something.inf
/enum-drivers
is invalid option
– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
add a comment |
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
If you prefer a GUI method, use Microsoft's Autoruns for Windows. It requires no installation. Simply run it elevated, then navigate to the Drivers tab, clear the checkmark next to the driver you wish to disable, then reboot the computer:
Not only is this a simple way to enable/disable drivers and services (along with pretty much anything else that starts automatically in Windows), but it's very easy to undo changes if you find they have unwanted consequences or you're simply experimenting with your configuration.
By the way, the next time you disable a critical startup item and Windows will not boot, try using System Restore. It is capable of restoring the driver file you deleted as well as any Registry settings you might change (including changed made by Autoruns) in an effort to disable it.
Windows automatically creates Restore Points when certain critical actions are about to be taken (such as before installing Updates), but it's a good idea to create one manually before making changes to important startup items. And if your system fails to boot and you need to use a Restore Point, here are directions on how to do that.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
If you prefer a GUI method, use Microsoft's Autoruns for Windows. It requires no installation. Simply run it elevated, then navigate to the Drivers tab, clear the checkmark next to the driver you wish to disable, then reboot the computer:
Not only is this a simple way to enable/disable drivers and services (along with pretty much anything else that starts automatically in Windows), but it's very easy to undo changes if you find they have unwanted consequences or you're simply experimenting with your configuration.
By the way, the next time you disable a critical startup item and Windows will not boot, try using System Restore. It is capable of restoring the driver file you deleted as well as any Registry settings you might change (including changed made by Autoruns) in an effort to disable it.
Windows automatically creates Restore Points when certain critical actions are about to be taken (such as before installing Updates), but it's a good idea to create one manually before making changes to important startup items. And if your system fails to boot and you need to use a Restore Point, here are directions on how to do that.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
If you prefer a GUI method, use Microsoft's Autoruns for Windows. It requires no installation. Simply run it elevated, then navigate to the Drivers tab, clear the checkmark next to the driver you wish to disable, then reboot the computer:
Not only is this a simple way to enable/disable drivers and services (along with pretty much anything else that starts automatically in Windows), but it's very easy to undo changes if you find they have unwanted consequences or you're simply experimenting with your configuration.
By the way, the next time you disable a critical startup item and Windows will not boot, try using System Restore. It is capable of restoring the driver file you deleted as well as any Registry settings you might change (including changed made by Autoruns) in an effort to disable it.
Windows automatically creates Restore Points when certain critical actions are about to be taken (such as before installing Updates), but it's a good idea to create one manually before making changes to important startup items. And if your system fails to boot and you need to use a Restore Point, here are directions on how to do that.
If you prefer a GUI method, use Microsoft's Autoruns for Windows. It requires no installation. Simply run it elevated, then navigate to the Drivers tab, clear the checkmark next to the driver you wish to disable, then reboot the computer:
Not only is this a simple way to enable/disable drivers and services (along with pretty much anything else that starts automatically in Windows), but it's very easy to undo changes if you find they have unwanted consequences or you're simply experimenting with your configuration.
By the way, the next time you disable a critical startup item and Windows will not boot, try using System Restore. It is capable of restoring the driver file you deleted as well as any Registry settings you might change (including changed made by Autoruns) in an effort to disable it.
Windows automatically creates Restore Points when certain critical actions are about to be taken (such as before installing Updates), but it's a good idea to create one manually before making changes to important startup items. And if your system fails to boot and you need to use a Restore Point, here are directions on how to do that.
edited 4 hours ago
answered 4 hours ago
Twisty Impersonator
17.4k136394
17.4k136394
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
Start regedit. In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServices
Now look for a subkey under services called dcrypt
.
If it’s not there, look for something of a similar name, like
dskcrypt
.If you still can’t find it, use regedit’s Find command to search for
dcrypt.sys
in
a subkey underServices
. The stringdcrypt.sys
should be in a value called
ImagePath
.
When you find the key, navigate to it and check that you do indeed see
ImagePath:
...dcrypt.sys
in the right pane. Now double-click the value
called Start
and change it to 4
, which means Disabled.
That should do it.
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
Start regedit. In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServices
Now look for a subkey under services called dcrypt
.
If it’s not there, look for something of a similar name, like
dskcrypt
.If you still can’t find it, use regedit’s Find command to search for
dcrypt.sys
in
a subkey underServices
. The stringdcrypt.sys
should be in a value called
ImagePath
.
When you find the key, navigate to it and check that you do indeed see
ImagePath:
...dcrypt.sys
in the right pane. Now double-click the value
called Start
and change it to 4
, which means Disabled.
That should do it.
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Start regedit. In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServices
Now look for a subkey under services called dcrypt
.
If it’s not there, look for something of a similar name, like
dskcrypt
.If you still can’t find it, use regedit’s Find command to search for
dcrypt.sys
in
a subkey underServices
. The stringdcrypt.sys
should be in a value called
ImagePath
.
When you find the key, navigate to it and check that you do indeed see
ImagePath:
...dcrypt.sys
in the right pane. Now double-click the value
called Start
and change it to 4
, which means Disabled.
That should do it.
Start regedit. In the left pane, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServices
Now look for a subkey under services called dcrypt
.
If it’s not there, look for something of a similar name, like
dskcrypt
.If you still can’t find it, use regedit’s Find command to search for
dcrypt.sys
in
a subkey underServices
. The stringdcrypt.sys
should be in a value called
ImagePath
.
When you find the key, navigate to it and check that you do indeed see
ImagePath:
...dcrypt.sys
in the right pane. Now double-click the value
called Start
and change it to 4
, which means Disabled.
That should do it.
edited 1 hour ago
answered 7 hours ago
Jamie Hanrahan
17.7k34078
17.7k34078
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
From and administrative command prompt:
pnputil /enum-drivers
Find the driver on the list, get the name of the INF file.
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf
change oem0.inf to whatever you discovered windows named it in the step above.
If windows was broken and didn't start.
Boot off the windows install media
Use F10 (or maybe F8) to get to a command prompt
do a dir command on each letter until you find the windows folder.
dir c:
dir d:
dir e:
....
Find the offending driver.
dism /image:d: /Get-Drivers
replace something.inf with the offending driver name.
dism /image:d: /remove-driver /driver:something.inf
/enum-drivers
is invalid option
– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
From and administrative command prompt:
pnputil /enum-drivers
Find the driver on the list, get the name of the INF file.
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf
change oem0.inf to whatever you discovered windows named it in the step above.
If windows was broken and didn't start.
Boot off the windows install media
Use F10 (or maybe F8) to get to a command prompt
do a dir command on each letter until you find the windows folder.
dir c:
dir d:
dir e:
....
Find the offending driver.
dism /image:d: /Get-Drivers
replace something.inf with the offending driver name.
dism /image:d: /remove-driver /driver:something.inf
/enum-drivers
is invalid option
– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
From and administrative command prompt:
pnputil /enum-drivers
Find the driver on the list, get the name of the INF file.
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf
change oem0.inf to whatever you discovered windows named it in the step above.
If windows was broken and didn't start.
Boot off the windows install media
Use F10 (or maybe F8) to get to a command prompt
do a dir command on each letter until you find the windows folder.
dir c:
dir d:
dir e:
....
Find the offending driver.
dism /image:d: /Get-Drivers
replace something.inf with the offending driver name.
dism /image:d: /remove-driver /driver:something.inf
From and administrative command prompt:
pnputil /enum-drivers
Find the driver on the list, get the name of the INF file.
pnputil /delete-driver oem0.inf
change oem0.inf to whatever you discovered windows named it in the step above.
If windows was broken and didn't start.
Boot off the windows install media
Use F10 (or maybe F8) to get to a command prompt
do a dir command on each letter until you find the windows folder.
dir c:
dir d:
dir e:
....
Find the offending driver.
dism /image:d: /Get-Drivers
replace something.inf with the offending driver name.
dism /image:d: /remove-driver /driver:something.inf
edited 7 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
cybernard
9,73931423
9,73931423
/enum-drivers
is invalid option
– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
add a comment |
/enum-drivers
is invalid option
– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
/enum-drivers
is invalid option– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
/enum-drivers
is invalid option– Steven Penny
3 hours ago
add a comment |
adam.baker is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
adam.baker is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
adam.baker is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
adam.baker is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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