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Show Hidden Network Connection in your virtual machine

When you change VM configuration file or copy the VHD file you may face problem that IP you enterned for the new connection is already assigned.

That is because the VM has the old NIC but hidden.

To work around this behavior and display devices when you click Show hidden devices:

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
  2. At a command prompt, type the following command , and then press ENTER:
    set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
  3. Type the following command a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
    start devmgmt.msc
  4. Troubleshoot the devices and drivers in Device Manager.NOTE: Click Show hidden devices on the View menu in Device Managers before you can see devices that are not connected to the computer.
  5. When you finish troubleshooting, close Device Manager.
  6. Type exit at the command prompt.Note that when you close the command prompt window, Window clears the devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 variable that you set in step 2 and prevents ghosted devices from being displayed when you click Show hidden devices.

If you are a developer or power user and you want to be able to view devices that are not connected to your computer, set this environment variable globally:

  1. Right-click My Computer.
  2. Click Properties.
  3. Click the Advanced tab.
  4. Click the Environment Variables tab.
  5. Set the variables in the System Variables box.
  1. August 18, 2011 at 12:31 am

    this approach worked perfectly… thank you!

  1. July 20, 2011 at 2:20 am

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