Windows vista delete unused ports

Might be use full for sys admin on a domain with standardized names for IP printers. Remove-PrinterPort seems to be available since Windows 8, so Powershell 3. Won't be an option with plain Windows 7. I get the error message "The filename, directory name or volume label syntax is incorrect.

But I think it is a bit overkill here and most importantly, it won't solve your issue if you can't do it on Windows control panels. My code will also fails with "requested resource is in use" if Windows is telling so.

So I will first try Arthur Xie answer and more specifically tried that logged as an administrator: a printer can indeed by installed by an user and only this user or the admin can un install it. Same applies for the port that can be removed only once all printers using it are removed. Right on! I also had the "port still in use" even though I deleted the printer. And you are right, it's because the printer test page that failed to print from the bad printer install was still in the spooler!

That of course is a big bad Microsoft bug. To go around it, I exited the printer window, entered it again, the "deleted" printer reappeared with a yellow warning sign.

Right click on it, "See What's Printing" to open the spooler, right click on the stuck document, hit Cancel. The printer eventually disappears but not the spooler window nor the doc, another bug. Close that, now I can delete the port. All these very basic known bugs after all these years. Office Office Exchange Server. Not an IT pro? Windows Client.

Sign in. United States English. Ask a question. Quick access. Search related threads. Remove From My Forums. Answered by:. Archived Forums. Windows 7 Miscellaneous. Use this forum to discuss miscellaneous issues that cannot be covered in any other Windows 7 forum. Sign in to vote. Can anyone help? Sunday, November 22, PM.

Ok, then we have a problem! But as we know all problems can be fixed : Start regedit. You might have to restart the Print Spooler service after deleting that key to see the change go through. As always when working with the registry be careful and to be on the safe side create a System Restore Point before doing the edit.

There is an easier way. Please: 1. Wednesday, November 25, AM. You can do it by starting Print Management printmanagement.

Many thanks Andreas, my version of W7 is Home Premium and it does not appear to have Print Management printmanagement. So what is going on? Thanks again Andreas, followed your advises and that resolved the issue. You would think that there should be an easier and safer way to delete PORTS, as you correctly pointed out, working with the registry can be dangerous and not for everyone.

Why don't you suggest making this easier to Microsoft. Thank you again, Nevio. I'm glad it worked out! I will keep a note about this issue for further reference :. Yes Arthur, you are correct that is a much easier and safer way to delete unwanted port. I will remember that way of going it for the future. Thanks, Nevio. Everyone's comments will be greatly appreciated. Therefore, I have reverted to using a hard-wired serial cable.

August 18, Power up Bluetooth serial AirCable. Start laptop with Vista Home Premium and wait 2 minutes. Plug in the generic Bluetooth dongle. Click tray Bluetooth icon to show Bluetooth devices. If a device is not connected, hit Remove non-present devices.

This will clear all assigned COM port numbers and make them available to assign. You can also clear the COM port manually, by unchecking a specific device from the list. You can also use a third-party tool called Device Cleanup Tool to remove non-present devices and clean up occupied COM ports.

The Device Cleanup Tool is available for free from the official website. Now you can remove all unused ports using their IDs. Now, let us talk about the most challenging methods on how to delete COM ports in use. All that is needed is the Registry Editor which is a part of every Windows installation. Back up the important data and create a system restore point.

Follow the instruction strictly and be careful not to edit random fields. I have tried this in Win 7 x64 and I do not see the ports that are not connected. I am using a USB to Serial adapter FTDI — virtual com and when the usb side of the device is connected to the computer it shows in Device Manager, when the usb side of the device is not connected to the computer is does not show in Device Manager even when using your directions.

Windows Right click start menu, click device manager. After all, this is why GUIs were invented. I tested this just a few minutes ago and yes, it looks like it has changed a little bit.

Got it working. You need to do this. Then type: start devmgmt. Then go up to view and show hidden devices. It worked! Non present devices show up with the port number assigned right next to it.

Thank you Brian for sharing your wisdom! I have over serial ports in use on my pc is there a way to uninstall several ports at 1 time? But then I booted in safe mode, and do this procedure. Thanks, this worked for me. The driver initially can up as COM