Device Manager Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How do I disable the keyboard on my laptop?

Posted on June 11, 2020

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Question from Greg T.: I dropped my heavy book bag onto my laptop’s keyboard several days ago, and when it landed I heard a cracking sound.

The keyboard still works, but at random times it’ll just start typing garbage on its own. It’s basically unusable so I’d like to disable the built-in keyboard and use a cheap USB keyboard in its place.

I know I can have the internal keyboard replaced but I don’t want to go to the trouble or expense since I’m going to be replacing this machine in a few months anyway.

So what I need to know is can I disable my laptop’s built-in keyboard? If I can, how do I do it? This machine is running Windows 10 Home.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is there a Floppy Disk drive showing up in Windows Explorer?

Posted on February 26, 2014

Question from Cynthia T.: Hi Rick. I have something going on with my computer that’s driving me up the wall.

Starting 3 days ago there’s a Floppy Disk A: drive showing up in Windows Explorer. I haven’t owned a computer with a floppy drive in it in years!

Why is a phantom floppy drive showing up in my drive list? And more importantly, how can I get rid of it? My computer is a Gateway desktop running Windows 7 Pro.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to find drivers for ‘Unknown Devices’ in Device Manager

Posted on January 23, 2014

microsoft-windows If you have ever had to re-install or upgrade Windows on a PC, chances are you have had to deal with “Unknown Devices” in the Device Manager.

These unknown devices are easy to spot because they are labeled with a small yellow shield that’s stamped with an exclamation point. In some cases they will even be labeled with the words “Unknown Device”.

We end up with unknown devices after completing a Windows installation if Windows failed to recognize one or more devices and install drivers for them. And unfortunately, this happens fairly often.

Oddly enough, Windows will sometimes recognize the device and install the driver if we ask it to perform a re-check. Here’s how to do it: [Read more…]