DeviceCleanup V1.2.1 - Removes non-present devices from the Windows device management
Freeware by Uwe Sieber - www.uwe-sieber.de

Works under Window 2000, XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10, 11 and their Server versions.

On x64 Windows only the x64 release can delete devices.


All devices listed by DeviceCleanup are currently not present, usually they have the problem
code 45 which is CM_PROB_PHANTOM, "The devinst currently exists only in the registry".

You can select one, multiple or all devices and remove them by pressing the Delete key or
right-click and select "Remove Device". If the device is attached again it will be detected as new.

The 'last used' time comes from the write time of the device's registry key
under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum

On some Windows the times are set on startup or even while it is running every few hours,
so all devices seem to have the same age. On a Windows 7 the Sysinternal ProcessMonitor
shows a recurring RegSetKeySecurity caused by a svchost.exe hosting the PlugPlay service
every 11 hours 45 minutes. No idea what is causing it. I you want to check yourself:
Set a filter "operation is RegSetKeySecurity" and set the option "Filter -> Drop filtered
events", otherwise your pagefile (or other backing file) gets flooded in no time.

On most Windows the time is set when the device gets active, so it makes sense to use this as
'last used' time.

If the last device using a certain COM-port is removed then the reservation under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\COM Name Arbiter
is removed.
Since Windows 10 version 1903 there is a sub-key "Devices" here where Windows keeps track of COM-ports
and their devices. Windows uses this to remove the reservation when a COM-port device is uninstalled.
Finally after 25 years...

For removing devices admin privileges are required, otherwise you get an access denied error.


System Restore Point

Since Windows 8 one can only create one SRP within 24 hours. For any further the API pretends to have
created one but did nothing in fact.
This can be overruled by setting the registry value SystemRestorePointCreationFrequency under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore to a minimal allowed
interval in minutes, 0 disables the blocking completely.
When creating a System Restore Point, DeviceCleanup sets this value to 0 temporarily.


Setting in the INI file

By default the settings are stored in a DeviceCleanup.ini file beside the EXE.
Since V1.2, when running from the "C:\Program Files" folder and the INI cannot be written because of
missing admin privileges it writes to "C:\ProgramData\Uwe Sieber\DeviceCleanup.ini" instead.



A command line version is available too:
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/misc_tools_e.html#devicecleanupcmd



Licence: Freeware

Allowed:
- usage in any environment, including commercial
- include in software products, including commercial
- include on CD/DVD of computer magazines
- making available for download by means of package managers

Not allowed:
- modify any of the files
- offer for download by means of a "downloader" software



Uwe Sieber, mail@uwe-sieber.de
Dec 2021