Unloading a driver

Question

Is it possible to unload a driver which was loaded at boot time. If yes, how can this be done?

System is windows xp. I tried net stop but I got "The requested control is not valid for this service "

The driver is a kernel mode driver which is loaded by a service so I cannot uninstall it from device manager.

Any ideas how to unload the driver?

Thank you.

You need to include information about which operating system.
mcnamara - could you provide some information on what operating system you are attempting to unload drivers from? That may help others to provide a more useful answer. Also, a description of the type of device that you are attempting to unload would also be useful.
If it's a WinXP system, why on earth is this question tagged "Linux"?

Ben S · Answer 1 · 2009-10-09 15:10:19Z

up vote 2 down vote

On Linux you can use modprobe like so:

modprobe -r [module name]

On Windows it can be done using the Device Manager.

On Mac you can use the developer tool kextunload

answered Oct 9 '09 at 15:10

Ben S
1,4561516

1

It's Windows XP dude. – amphetamachine Aug 31 '11 at 8:31

quack quixote · Answer 2 · 2009-10-09 15:20:18Z

up vote 2 down vote

On Windows you can also enter

> net stop [drivername]

on the commandline (or Start > Run) to unload a driver.

answered Oct 9 '09 at 15:20

quack quixote
23.6k53671

1

Doesn't net stop only apply to services? – EvilChookie Oct 9 '09 at 15:39

1

EvilChookie: No, both net stop and sc stop can control both services and drivers. – grawity Oct 9 '09 at 15:57

1

it's a dirty little secret they only tell you when they chain you to the desk and force you to write drivers. – quack quixote Oct 9 '09 at 16:01

Pascal Thivent · Answer 3 · 2009-10-09 23:01:22Z

up vote 0 down vote

On GNU/Linux, you can use rmmod (or modprobe) like so:

rmmod [ -fswvV ] modulename

If you don't want to load a module at bootime, you can blacklist it by editing /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to add a line like so:

blacklist modulename

answered Oct 9 '09 at 23:01

Pascal Thivent
1,340410

It's Windows XP dude. – amphetamachine Aug 31 '11 at 8:31

3 Answers