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- Oct 4, 2013
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I believe the term is "Ghost" Adapter where a non-existent Network Adapter is listed in the O/S and it doesn't exist preventing re-naming an existing active adapter. The error is that there is another adapter somewhere with the same name. It doesn't show in Device Manager even if you check View/Show Hidden Adapters.
There are other programs that do show the entry; System Informer (formally Process Hacker) can show Ghost adapters under Options/Network Devices/Show hidden adapters.
I found this site, but the Registry hack (3/4 down on the page) didn't work since the 3rd entry location that needed to be removed didn't have that bogus entry listed;
I wound up C&P the Registry ID number of the Ghost adapter into a Registry search box and it returned something like 140 entries. No, I'm not kidding. Gotta love M$.
Any ideas how to get rid of this non-existing entry?? Granted, the existing NIC does work, I just don't like the bogus "#2" added the the name of the active entry.
The text is here;
Remove Network Adapter Settings from the Registry
If after removing the ghost NIC in the Device Manager you still cannot assign the old IP address to a new adapter, remove the IP configuration of the old NIC from the registry.
The IP settings of your network interfaces are located under the registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces.
This registry key contains some {Interface GUID} keys. Check them one by one until you find the interface, which IPAddress value contains the IP address assigned to the old network interface.
The IPAddress parameter may contain more than one IP address since in Windows you can assign multiple IP addresses (aliases) to a single network adapter.
Remember the name of the registry key (it is the identifier of the network adapter). Remove the keys:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Adapters\{your_NIC_ID}
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\{your_NIC_ID}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network{your_NIC_ID}
Restart your computer and try to assign the old static IP address to a new network adapter.
There are other programs that do show the entry; System Informer (formally Process Hacker) can show Ghost adapters under Options/Network Devices/Show hidden adapters.
I found this site, but the Registry hack (3/4 down on the page) didn't work since the 3rd entry location that needed to be removed didn't have that bogus entry listed;
How to Remove Hidden/Ghost Network Adapters in Windows | Windows OS Hub
When replacing a motherboard or a network card, during a P2V or cold migration of virtual machines between hypervisors, or when configuring multiple VLANs on a single NIC in Windows,…
woshub.com
I wound up C&P the Registry ID number of the Ghost adapter into a Registry search box and it returned something like 140 entries. No, I'm not kidding. Gotta love M$.
Any ideas how to get rid of this non-existing entry?? Granted, the existing NIC does work, I just don't like the bogus "#2" added the the name of the active entry.
The text is here;
Remove Network Adapter Settings from the Registry
If after removing the ghost NIC in the Device Manager you still cannot assign the old IP address to a new adapter, remove the IP configuration of the old NIC from the registry.
The IP settings of your network interfaces are located under the registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces.
This registry key contains some {Interface GUID} keys. Check them one by one until you find the interface, which IPAddress value contains the IP address assigned to the old network interface.
The IPAddress parameter may contain more than one IP address since in Windows you can assign multiple IP addresses (aliases) to a single network adapter.
Remember the name of the registry key (it is the identifier of the network adapter). Remove the keys:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Adapters\{your_NIC_ID}
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\{your_NIC_ID}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network{your_NIC_ID}
Restart your computer and try to assign the old static IP address to a new network adapter.