How to disable a device using Device Manager
We may need to disable a hardware device because of many reasons. For example, a hardware device is not working properly or that hardware device is causing serious problems to the proper functioning of the Operating System (BSoD, Blue Screen of Death). We can disable a hardware device using device manager. Follow below stops to disable a device using Device Manager.
Please click following link to learn how to open Device Manager tool and how to enable a device using Device Manager.
You must be a Windows Server administrator to run these tasks successfully. Click the following link to learn How to run PowerShell as administrator, and how to run PowerShell as administrator in Server Core. Same method, you can run any other app as administrator in Windows Server.
Step 01 – Select the device you want to disable in Device Manager. In this example, I had selected an Ethernet Network adapter. Right–click the selected device and click "Disable device" from the context menu, as shown in the below screenshot.
Step 02 – Click "Yes" in the confirmation dialog box, if you want to disable the device. Please refer below screenshot.
Step 03 – The device is disabled in the Device Manager. The down arrow in the device icon in Device Manager shows that the device is disabled. Please refer below screenshot.
Step 04 – In this example, to confirm whether the device is disabled or not, open "Network Connections" by typing "ncpa.cpl" in Windows Search box and then by clicking the search result. You can notice that the Ethernet adapter is disabled in "Network Connections". Please refer below screenshot.
Written by Jajish Thomas.
Last updated on 13th July, 2024.