How to remove USB Plug-in Drives from Windows PC?

Windows computer tends to record drivers of every USB connected to the device. It is an in-built feature that allows the Windows to recognize the paired device in the future by directly accessing the drivers stored in the Registry. This prominently saves a lot of time as the user does not have to wait for the drivers to install every time they pair a USB device with the computer.

Still, over time, users tend to stop using some of such USB devices, but the data associated with it always gets stored in the system directory. By removing such useless plug-in drivers, users can free up some space for the better functioning of their computer. To remove such unused files and USB drivers from your computer, follow the steps given below.

•         Head to the Microsoft Windows "Start" menu and use left click of your mouse to launch it. Or hold "Win" key from your keyboard to launch the Start menu.

•         Then choose the "Run" option from the list of programs. Users can also use the short key to directly launch the Run box by holding "Win + R" keys from their keyboard.

•         Once the Run box appears on the screen, select the search text field and type "regedit.exe" and hit the "Enter" key from the keyboard.

•         As you enter regedit.exe, it would redirect you to the registration editor for your installed Windows.

The registration editor stores all the details associated with your system. It includes information of your PC like the user details, hardware specifications, and detailed information related to the installed programs on your PC. Such information is available in abstract tree form, and if a user selects any of the options from the main-tree, a new sub-tree pops out with information related to the selected item.

•         Now from the registration editor look for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Device classes\{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}

•         Then from the sub-tree find "System" folder and select it.

•         After that look for "CurrentControlset" option from the list.

•         Now choose the "Enum" option from the third sub-tree.

•         Then select the folder named "USB" to access all the drivers and stored files associated with all the devices connected to the PC using a USB port.

•         Finally, select all the files under the USB folder and delete them to restore space on your system.

Hopefully, you will be able to delete all the unwanted plug-in and drivers from your computer by following the steps mentioned above in correct order and manage your computer in a much more optimal manner. 

Bella Williams an employee currently living in USA and working at a top email service provider company in the day, and a technical writer at night. I am passionate about writing troubleshooting tips, beginner’s guides, news, and other articles on varied topics like Dell Printer Support, Brother Printer Customer Service etc.