Remove phantom NIC in Windows

When you have a VM on XenServer and static IP settings you have to be aware you always first install XenServer Tools before configuring the NIC. If you don’t the Tools create a new NIC and the old one become hidden. So if you configure the new NIC created by the Tools you will get a message the IP allready excists on the NIC you cannot configure anymore.
To solve this:
– open a command prompt and use the command set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 (this command creates a environment variable to see hidden devices. When you close the command prompt the variabel is reset to default)
– in the same command prompt start device manager by command devmgmt.msc (if you don’t open the device manager trough this command prompt you the next stepts don’t work)
– In the Device Manager click on View > Show hidden devices
– expand Network Adapters and there is the greyed out hidden NIC which you can uninstall now by right clicking on it.
Bastiaan van Onselen