ghostbuster Wiki Rss Feed

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:10:44 GMT

Project Description

This application enumerates all devices, detects ghosted devices and removes these if they match selectable devices types and/or devices classes with a single mouse-click.

If you like this tool, leave me a note, rate this project or write a review or Donate to Ghostbuster.

If you've encountered problems, leave a (detailed) issue in the Issue Tracker.

Latest release (Ghostbuster Setup (98926)):

Improved System Restore Detection (search for rstrui.exe).
Flagged null guid device as system so it cannot be removed anymore.
Added <No device class specified> to devices with an empty deviceclass.
Set copyright to 2012.
Version set to v1.0.2.0.
Added Click-Once Release.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 91520
Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.
CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Because Windows has to detect if a devices is ghosted by trying to start it, a large number of ghosted devices will add to the startup time of Windows. The 'regular' way of removing these devices is right clicking each of them, select the uninstall menuitem and wait for the Device Manager to uninstall the device and rebuild it's tree of devices.

Ghostbuster does this all in one click and removes all the ghosted devices matching your own selection criteria with a single click!

You can select and deselect classes or devices through the right-click contect menu of the devices listview. Only ghosted devices (grayed text) AND devices that match the selection criteria (light yellow background) will be uninstalled when the 'Remove Ghosts' button is pressed. All other devices remain untouched.

Beware that windows has a fair number of devices that are ghosted but should not be ununistalled (like devices in the sound, video and game controller class or system and non plug-n-play devices). Ghostbuster marks most of these as services.

Warning:

So use it with care and only if you know what you are doing!

Screenshot:

In above screenshot the yellow colored devices are set to be uninstalled when they become ghosted. Both device and class name selection can be used.

Some reviews (after being added to Softpedia, people started to find GhostBuster):

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:30:38 GMT

Latest release (Ghostbuster Setup (98926)):

Improved System Restore Detection (search for rstrui.exe).
Flagged null guid device as system so it cannot be removed anymore.
Added <No device class specified> to devices with an empty deviceclass.
Set copyright to 2012.
Version set to v1.0.2.0.
Added Click-Once Release.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 91520
Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.
CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:30:00 GMT

Latest release (Ghostbuster Setup (98926)):

Improved System Restore Detection (search for rstrui.exe).
Flagged null guid device as system so it cannot be removed anymore.
Added <No device class specified> to devices with an empty deviceclass.
Set copyright to 2012.
Version set to v1.0.2.0.
Added Click-Once Release.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 91520
Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.
CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:29:18 GMT

Latest release (Ghostbuster Setup (98926)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 91520
Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.
CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Command-line scanning a directory or file with Microsoft Security Essentials

wvd_vegt — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:39:31 GMT

After doing the usual web search with Google and Bing I found only sites claiming doing a scan with Microsoft Security Essentials of a file or directory from the command-line was not possible. Most sites just say it’s possible to initiate a quick or full scan or even update signatures from the command-line. But as Microsoft Security Essentials has real-time protection there is no need to scan manually (as a lot of us are used to) to make sure the file is scanned.

But on Windows 7 (x64 version confirmed) the tools in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client contain some files that look promising. My first guess was to look into %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client\msseces.exe, but that program only pops-up the user-interface and worse case starts a default scan.

As Microsoft Security Essentials is able to scan manually (it has a explorer context menu, located in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client\shell.ext.dll)

A far shot was to search for rundll32 to be used to fire the context menu but all I found was references to viruses and trojans doing the same (so not the best way to walk)

Finally I accidently fired up one of the other executables in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client with a promising name (MpCmdRun.exe) with a switch –h and voila a long description with the answer tucked inside.

By issuing the command

“%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Security Client\MpCmdRun.exe" -Scan -ScanType 3 –File “<file or folder to scan>”

one is able to start the command-line version of Microsoft Security Essentials, make it perform a file or folder scan and thus integrate it with popular tools like Winrar like:

Note that although %ProgramFiles% points to c:\program files at both Windows x86 and x64, not all applications will expand it properly to something like c:\program files.

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:30:16 GMT

Latest release (Ghostbuster Setup (91520)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:23:25 GMT

Latest release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
It shows a dialog with some more information on the driver properties found in the registry.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.
This will hide all unfiltered and non ghosted devices and will condense the list's size.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:21:41 GMT

Latest release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support.
Note this is experimental code, it creates a 'GhostBuster Restore Point'.
Removed test code from program.cs.
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:17:19 GMT

Latest release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support
Removed test code from program.cs
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:16:35 GMT

Latest release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Added WMI based RestorePoint support
Removed test code from program.cs
Improved counting.
Changed color of ghosted but unfiltered devices.
Changed HwEntries into an ObservableCollection.
Added Properties Form.
Added Properties MenuItem to Right-Click Context Menu.
Added Hide Unfiltered Devices to Right-Click Context Menu.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

CS 80445:
Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.
CS 77227:
Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
CS 76647:
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
CS 74907:
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).
Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:04:27 GMT

Latest beta release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).

Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Home

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:59:42 GMT

Latest beta release (GhostBuster Setup (80445)):

Commandline support,
Eventlog output,
Task scheduler support (thanks to http://taskscheduler.codeplex.com),
The scheduled task can be used to run GhostBuster without further UAC prompts.

See the Documentation and Advanced Options for more information on these new features.
The screenshot below is also updated, for more screenshots see Screenshots.

Previous releases:

Fixed broken wildcard device removal.
Added statusbar.
Added wildcard support (* and ? are supported as wildcards).
Added Friendly Name / Device Description Column.
Added column showing the match type.
Improved performance
Improved coloring of matching items
Removed non functional checkboxes (right click a device for the context menu).

Now compatible with UAC (Vista/Windows 7).
Now compatible with WHS and W2K3 Server.
Some user-interface enhancments.
Portable version.
Added some help / tooltips.
Correctly Enable and Disable Context MenuItems.
Ini File now created in %AppData%\GhostBuster.

About Ghosted Devices:

By default Windows does not show ghosted devices. Windows will show Ghosted devices only if two criteria are met:

An environment variabe DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES with a value of 1 is added
In Device Manager (StartMenu & Run 'compmgmt.msc' ) if you check the View|Hidden Devices menuitem.

Warning:

Updated Wiki: Screenshots

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:58:41 GMT

Screenshots

Application:

Windwows 7 Task Scheduler:

Windwows 7 Eventlog:

Updated Wiki: Screenshots

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:57:39 GMT

Screenshots

Application:

Windwows 7 Task Scheduler:

Windwows 7 Eventlog:

Updated Wiki: Screenshots

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:57:10 GMT

Screenshots

Application:

Windwows 7 Task Scheduler:

Windwows 7 Eventlog:

Updated Wiki: Screenshots

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:55:40 GMT

Screenshots

[image:

Updated Wiki: Advanced Options

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:53:08 GMT

Advanced Options

The latest (beta) release of GhostBuster (GhostBuster Setup (80445)) supports a number of commandline options and can now be used from the commandline without user-interface and with help of the task scheduler even without further UAC prompts.

The commandline syntax is:

GhostBuster [Option [Configuration File]]

Valid options are:

Option	Arguments	Purpose	UAC
/Help	none	Displays a popup help dialog	no
/NoGui	The filename of the configuration file to be used	Removed the selected ghosted devices without showing a window	yes
/Register	The filename of the configuration file to be used	Add a task named GhostBuster to the Windows Task Scheduler	yes
/Unregister	none	Removes the scheduled task	yes

In order to use the same confguration as used when running interactive supply:

'%AppData%\GhostBuster\GhostBuster.ini'

as configuration filename to the /NoGui and /Register options (without quotes).

The options /NoGui, / Register and /Unregister all need to be executed from an UAC elevated command prompt (run as administrator).

Once a task is scheduled it will, by default, run one minute after a user logs on. The can be disabled in the Task Scheduler.

The scheduled task can be executed (without any UAC elevation) with the following command:

schtasks /run /tn GhostBuster

This command can also be used to create a shortcut that does not need UAC elevation anymore to run.

The eventlog shows simple information on the number of detected devices and which are removed. It is the ONLY output when running in /NOGUI mode.

Updated Wiki: Advanced Options

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:48:44 GMT

Advanced Options

GhostBuster [Option [Configuration File]]

Valid options are:

Option	Arguments	Purpose	UAC
/Help	none	Displays a popup help dialog	no
/NoGui	The filename of the configuration file to be used	Removed the selected ghosted devices without showing a window	yes
/Register	The filename of the configuration file to be used	Add a task named GhostBuster to the Windows Task Scheduler	yes
/Unregister	none	Removes the scheduled task	yes

In order to use the same confguration as used when running interactive supply:

'%AppData%\GhostBuster\GhostBuster.ini'

schtasks /run /tn GhostBuster

This command can also be used to create a shortcut that does not need UAC elevation anymore to run.

Updated Wiki: Documentation

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:46:10 GMT

Short Manual for GhostBuster

Ghostbuster is a program that lets you filter devices/device classes of which you want to remove the ghosted once.

For the advanced features of the latest beta (commandline and task scheduling) see Advanced Options.

Ghostbuster does exactly the same when you right click a device in the Windows Device Manager and choose uninstall. The ony difference is that GhostBuster does it in bulk for all filtered devices that are ghosted and thus saves a lot of time.

It will in contrast to the device manager GhostBuster will NOT uninstall active devices and certain device types that are considered to be services, even if they're ghosted.

Ghostbuster's filters are applied by right-clicking the devide list and select one of the 2 menu-items. Depending on the item chosen, parts of the device list will be colored (green not ghosted and red for ghosted devices).

In above screenshot the 'Generic USB Hub' is marked as a device to be removed if ghosted.
'USB Mass Storage Devices' are marked by using a wildcard ('* Mass Storage Devices'),
one of them is ghosted and will be removed.

When the Remove Ghosts button is pressed, the program might restart in elevated mode if needed by the operating system (Vista/Windows7).

If UAC is not present or the program is already running in elevated mode, Ghostbuster will remove ONLY the ghosted devices from the filtered (faint yellow colored) devices. It will NOT remove enties marked as services or non ghosted devices. The need for elevation is shown by a small UAC shield on the Remove Ghosts button.

Please be carefull with marking devices escpecially under System, Non PnP and Audio are some that seem to be ghosted permanently but are required for correct operation of hardware. Also do not remove (if present) the top entry with a null guid as name as I'm still not sure what it's purpose is. Use the class filter carefully.

Ghostbuster removes devices by name, class or wildcard so cannot be used to remove only one of two ghosted devices that share the same name, it will always try to remove all matching ghosted devices.

Ghostbuster will NOT remove drives or inf files so most drivers (like for flash drives) will re-install when the hardware is re-attached to the computer.

Updated Wiki: Documentation

wvd_vegt — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:45:21 GMT

Short Manual for GhostBuster

Ghostbuster is a program that lets you filter devices/device classes of which you want to remove the ghosted once.

For the advanced features of the latest beta (commandline and task scheduling) see Advanced Options.

Ghostbuster does exactly the same when you right click a device in the Windows Device Manager and choose uninstall. The ony difference is that GhostBuster does it in bulk for all filtered devices that are ghosted and thus saves a lot of time.

It will in contrast to the device manager GhostBuster will NOT uninstall active devices and certain device types that are considered to be services, even if they're ghosted.

Ghostbuster's filters are applied by right-clicking the devide list and select one of the 2 menu-items. Depending on the item chosen, parts of the device list will be colored (green not ghosted and red for ghosted devices).

In above screenshot the Generic USB Hub is marked as a device to be removed if ghosted.
USB Mass Storage Devices are marked by using a wildcard marh (* Mass Storage Devices) and one of them is ghosted and will be removed.

When the Remove Ghosts button is pressed, the program might restart in elevated mode if needed by the operating system (Vista/Windows7).

If UAC is not present or the program is already running in elevated mode, Ghostbuster will remove ONLY the ghosted devices from the filtered (faint yellow colored) devices. It will NOT remove enties marked as services or non ghosted devices. The need for elevation is shown by a small UAC shield on the Remove Ghosts button.

Please be carefull with marking devices escpecially under System, Non PnP and Audio are some that seem to be ghosted permanently but are required for correct operation of hardware. Also do not remove (if present) the top entry with a null guid as name as I'm still not sure what it's purpose is. Use the class filter carefully.

Ghostbuster removes devices by name, class or wildcard so cannot be used to remove only one of two ghosted devices that share the same name, it will always try to remove all matching ghosted devices.

Ghostbuster will NOT remove drives or inf files so most drivers (like for flash drives) will re-install when the hardware is re-attached to the computer.