how to create shortcut to Scan for hardware changes??

Sometimes, my USB devices will suddenly stop functioning. So, I need to scan for hardware changes to get it back to work again. HOw can I create a shortcut for that?
Thanks.

 

Perhaps you didn't get me. My question is how can I create a shortcut for "Scan for hardware changes" which can be found in Device Manager. Thanks for reply anyway.

 

Code:

[URL=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;311272]devcon[/URL] rescan

in a batch file is another way.

 

Kahn82:

Where in Device Manager do you find "Scan for Hardware Changes "? I don't see it.

Jim

 

JSS3rd - in device manager, when you right click a device, it is an option. Also when you highlight a device and click on Action.

Kahn82 - If you had right-clicked on the Add Hardware piece in control panel (a la Steve), you would have seen an option to create a shortcut to it. That would have run the Add Hardware wizard which does the same thing as a scan from device manager. So, in reality, Steve did "get you" perfectly.

And as unixfan mentioned, devcon rescan can easily be put in a batch file so you can place a shortcut on the desktop and will do the same thing as the other two options. There are lots of other switches/features with devcon.exe but you didn't mention needing any of them. It was designed to be a developer app and can easily be made to do things you might not want done.

So - another case of several ways to get at the same thing in XP. Just a matter of which suits you better.

Do you have any idea why your USB device(s) are locking up often enough you need to shortcut this action?

 

Thanks for all the reply.
Unixfan solution is just what I'm looking for.

Newt, I really have no idea why my usb devices locking up so frequently. I'm currently using a laptop. Whenever I move my laptop to somewhere else, the problem would probably occur upon starting up WinXp. Sometimes, my mouse will suddenly stop functioning until I rescan for it. How can I actually figure out what actually happened? Thanks for your detail explaination.

 

First place I'd check is the event logs to see if the problem is generating an error there. Most things do. And if so, there should be enough information to allow you to find a detailed article in the M$ online help or M$ online technet.