Removing Hardware

Before unplugging a USB, FireWire, or PCMCIA device, tell Windows XP to stop using it. This prevents data loss caused by unplugging the device before XP has finished saving all of your data. You can stop these devices by clicking the PC Card icon in the system tray. Unplug the device or card only after Windows informs you that it is safe to do so.

For the most part, other hardware can be removed simply by shutting your computer off, unplugging it, and removing the unwanted hardware. When Windows restarts, it will recognize that the device is missing and will carry on without problems.

If you do want to completely delete the driver for an unneeded device, use the Device Manager computer management application. (One major change from Windows 2000 to Windows XP is that the Add Hardware wizard in Windows XP no longer doubles as the Remove Hardware wizard.) Delete the drivers before uninstalling the hardware; otherwise the device won't appear in the Device Manager's list.

For details about the Device Manager, p. 1174.