Removing dead drivers and installing new devices correctly using CC Cleaner

You have a new device and you need to install its driver in Windows. After the installation failed the first time, Windows aborts all following attempts with an error message. Failed installations leave behind entries and data in the system, and these can cause trouble for your PC depending on which point the installation was interrupted at. Sometimes, these remnants suffice to make Windows believe that it already has a perfect driver installation, although the partially installed data interferes with the correct functioning of the device in question. In addition, the device is not visible to the user, making uninstallation of the driver using the built-in Windows resources impossible. Windows happily rejects any new installation in such scenarios with the message that the driver already exists on the system and cannot be installed again. Naturally, a system recovery or reinstallation of the entire OS would be the tried and tested approach, but is a huge inconvenience and waste of time. If you do not have the inclination to sit through a full reinstallation or are simply don't have time to initiate a system recovery, you can remove dead drivers using a system cleaning tool such as ‘CCleaner’. It searches for unwanted registry entries as well as temporary files that hog hard disk space, plus it is a good tool for removing dead drivers. Once installed, open ‘CCleaner’ and select ‘Registry’. When you click on ‘Scan for Issues’ you should get the option of backing up your registry. You can either choose to back it up or not. For a proper registry cleanup, make sure you run the tool two or three times. You will then be able to install your new hardware.