Unknown Devices in Device Manager

[pcuk]

Hello,

I am experiencing a problem with Online Armor Free. Every time I start my computer Windows tries to install a driver but the installation always fails because the device is unknown. The unknown device is then added to Device Manager and I have now about one hundred unknown devices in Device Manager under Network Adapters. When right clicking on the devices and selecting Properties then Details the unknown devices are identified as nt_oanetmp and that is an Online Armor Miniport, if I am not wrong.

I tried to unistall the devices either in normal and safe mode but they cannot be unistalled, I can only disable them. I also tried to get rid of the devices by unistalling Online Armor Free in safe mode and re-booting the computer twice. I have then re-installed the latest version of Online Armor Free (version 5.5.0.1557) in safe mode, re-booted the computer, completed the installation then I unistalled Online Armor again in safe mode and re-booted the computer twice. Unfortunately it didn't work and the devices are still there. When Online Armor is not installed Windows does not try to install the driver but I have now re-installed Online Armor Free and Windows is trying to install that driver again so this is definitely a problem caused by Online Armor.

How can I stop Windows from trying to install the driver and then add the unknown device to Device Manager at every startup and how can I remove all those unknown devices that are already in Device Manager?

I am running Online Armor Free version 5.5.0.1557 on Windows 7 Professional 32 bit with Service Pack 1. The other security applications installed are Avira Antivirus Premium, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free (on demand scans only) and SpywareBlaster.

Thank you in advance for your support.

[stapp]

Have a look at this thread here, in particular post 16 from Andrey the OA dev.

Does that help at all? You may have to uninstall OA first again and then reinstall.

http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/7644-miniport-problem/

[pcuk]

Hello stapp and thank you for your help. I had already seen that post before posting my own and unfortunately it didn't help. There are no Online Armor network components listed in my Network Adapters' properties or at least I cannot find them (but I looked...). Also that user had ports in Device Manager specifically marked as Wan Miniport - Online Armor Miniport my entries are just marked as Unknown Device. I have over one hundred now. Any idea? Thank you.

[pcuk]

Hello again.

Any idea on how to solve this problem? I know that I can just uninstall Online Armor to stop the driver installation at every start up but how do I get rid of all those unknown devices that Online Armor has already installed? I don't really want to re-format my hard disk and re-install Windows. Can somebody help please? Thank you.

[GT500]

Please uninstall Online Armor, restart your computer, then click on the Start button, type network connections into the search field at the bottom of the Start Menu, click on View network connections in the search results (should be at the top of the list), and right-click on your network interface and select Properties. There should be a list in the middle of the window of components that your network connection is using. Look through that list for anything related to Online Armor, and if you find one then click on it to select it and then click on the Uninstall button. If you have more than network interface, then you should repeat that for each one.

After that, check and see if you can delete those phantom devices in the Device Manager.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for your support. I looked before for anything related to Online Armor in all the network interfaces in my network connections after unistalling Online Armor but I couldn't find any. This time though I found one (OA Helper Driver) and I unistalled it. Unfortunately it didn't solve the problem and I still can't delete the unknown devices in Device Manager. I did try both in normal and safe mode and after restarting my computer. Do you think I can remove them by deleting their values in the registry? There is a folder named nt_oanetmp in the registry with a lot of subfolders containing the keys of those unknown devices, do you think it would be safe to delete that folder and all the subfolders or is that not advisable? Also do you have any idea why Windows is trying to install that driver at every start up when Online Armor is installed?

[GT500]

I've asked for some input from our developers on this. I'll let you know what they tell me.

[GT500]

Could you reinstall Online Armor and then enable Beta Updates? There's a possibility that that might fix it.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for looking into this, it is very much appreciated. I will re-install Online Armor with Beta Updates enabled and then I will let you know how it goes. Thank you again.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Just a quick update. I installed the latest beta version and now Windows doesn't try to install that driver at start up anymore. I still cannot get rid of those unknown devices though. Any idea? I would really like to get rid of them without having to re-install Windows if possible. Thank you.

[GT500]

There are a couple of possibilities. One is to forcibly remove them from the registry, however I intend on reserving that as a sort of "last resort" for when I have run out of other ideas since I cannot guarantee that it is a safe thing to do.

The other possibility is to uninstall your network adapters in the device manager, and then attempt to uninstall the phantom devices. I suspect that this will not work, however it is worth trying. Windows will automatically reinstall your network devices after you restart your computer.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for your continous support, it is very much appreciated. I am not very comfortable either with the idea of forcibly remove the devices from the registry, will see. I did what you suggested and uninstalled my network adapters and then I tried to uninstall the unknown devices but unfortunatley it didn't work. I tried again after Windows re-installed my network adapters, just in case, but that didn't work either.

I also tried to update the drivers manually, by pointing the installation to the system32 folder, to see if I could then unistall the devices but again I didn't work and Windows displayed the following message:

Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it.

OnlineArmor Miniport

Insufficient system resources exists to complete the requested service.

If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and check the support section for driver software.

[GT500]

OK, lets get some more information. Our developers want a log from System Information, and I would like to see an OTL log, so here's instructions for getting both:

System Information

1. Click on the
   Start
   button.
   
   
2. Go to
   All Programs
   .
   
   
3. Go to
   Accessories
   .
   
   
4. Go to
   System Tools
   .
   
   
5. Click on
   System Information
   .
   
   
6. Click on the
   File
   menu to open it.
   
   
7. Click on
   Save
   .
   
   
8. Save the System Information on your desktop (this may take a few minutes).
   
   
9. Close the System Informaton window and then right-click on the System Information file you saved, go to
   Send to
   , and select
   Compressed (zipped) folder
   . This will add your System Information file to a ZIP archive that you can attach to a reply in this forum topic.
   
   
10. Reply to this topic by using the
    More Reply Options
    button to the lower-right of where you type in your reply, and attach the ZIP archive to a reply.
    
    

OTL

1. Click this link
   to save OTL onto your desktop (please make sure to click 'Save' instead of 'Run').
   
   
2. Double click on the OTL icon on your desktop to run it. Make sure all other windows are closed and to let it run uninterrupted.
   
   
3. Click the
   Run Scan
   button. Do not change any settings unless otherwise told to do so. The scan will take a few minutes.
   
   
4. When the scan completes, it will open two Notepad windows.
   OTL.Txt
   and
   Extras.Txt
   . The first one (OTL.txt) will be automatically saved on your desktop next to OTL, and the second one will need to be saved manually.
   
   
5. Please make sure that both
   OTL.txt
   and
   Extras.txt
   are saved on your desktop, and then attach both of them to a reply.
   
   

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Please find enclosed the files that you requested. Unfortunately I must report that the driver installation at startup has started again so more unknown devices are currently being installed.

[Andrew F.]

Hello pcuk,

Do you have anything by McAffee installed ?

[pcuk]

Hello Andrey,

I don't have any MacAfee product installed that I am aware of. I can't remember now but maybe there was a trial version installed when I first got the computer. That would have been uninstalled straight away though, together with all the other unnecessary stuff that comes with new machines. I have downloaded and run the MCPR removal tool from MacAfee -just in case- so any leftover from a possible previous installation should be gone now.

[Andrew F.]

Hello Andrey,

I don't have any MacAfee product installed that I am aware of. I can't remember now but maybe there was a trial version installed when I first got the computer. That would have been uninstalled straight away though, together with all the other unnecessary stuff that comes with new machines. I have downloaded and run the MCPR removal tool from MacAfee -just in case- so any leftover from a possible previous installation should be gone now.

Your system information file shows that you still got some mcaffee drivers installed and running

[pcuk]

Hello Andrey,

Oh I so hate it when manufacturers install unwanted programmes in brand new computers but I hate it even more when it is so difficult to remove said programmes completely. I have run the MCPR tool (McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool) a few times and it seemes that the only driver left is one called mfetdik.sys. It is a kernel driver, it is running and it seems that the tool is not able to remove it. I found it in the system32/drivers folder, do you think it would be safe if I manually delete it and then do the same with the registry key? I have found this Corporate McAfee KnowledgeBase document:

https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB74869&pmv=print

As you can see even if it refers to a completely different problem it mentions the manual removal of mfetdik.sys but I have no idea if it is safe to do it in my case. What do you think?

[GT500]

I have written a cleanup script for OTL (if you need to, you may download OTL from this link) which will tell it how to get rid of the leftover McAfee stuff (note that some of this appears to be related to McAfee drive encryption, so if you used it to encrypt any data then you will need to decrypt it before running this script).

1. Please download the following OTL_Script file, and save it on your desktop. After saving it, open it, run OTL, and copy and paste the contents of the OTL_Script file into the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom of the OTL window:
   
2. Then click the Run Fix button at the top.
   
3. Let the program run unhindered, restart your computer when it is done (it may automatically restart your computer on its own).
   
4. After your computer has restarted, please open OTL again and click the Quick Scan button. Attach the log it produces in your next reply (just the OTL log, as I don't need to see the Extras log again). You will need to click the button that says More Reply Options to the lower-right of where you type your reply to be presented with the attachment controls.
   

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for writing the cleanup script, that is very kind of you and and it is absolutely superb support. I am away at the moment but I will be back tomorrow and I will run the script and then attach the log that you requested. Thank you again.

[GT500]

You're quite welcome.

Let me know how it goes, and if it makes any difference with the problem. I don't actually think it will fix it, but with a problem like this it is hard to say what will (other than restoring the system to a state it was in before this happened).

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

All done and please find enclosed the log that you requested. It seemes that all the McAfee drivers have been removed now, thank to you. I tried to remove the devices but no luck yet.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

I am sorry to report that after uninstalling Online Armor, re-booting my computer twice and checking for any reference to Online Armor in all my network connections (none found), nothing has changed. Unknown devices are still being installed and I still cannot delete them

[pcuk]

Hello,

No more ideas on how to solve this issue please? I know that you suggested to restore the system to a state it was in before the problem happened Arthur but that is not possible because I don't know when it happened exactly. I normally step away from my computer after I switch it on so I am rarely in front of it during the boot up sequence. One morning I stayed in front of the machine while it was booting up and it was only then that I realised that Windows was trying to install an unknown device. When I looked in Device Manager there were already about 60 or 70 unknown devices installed so I don't really know when this problem started. Even if I check all the the dates, to find out when the very first unknown device was installed, I suspect that it happened well before my currently available oldest restore point. I could uninstall Online Armor I suppose but I don't really want to do that, firstly because I really like Online Armor and I cannot think of a good alternative and secondly because even if I remove it I will still have over one hundred unknown devices in Device Manager that I cannot delete. Can anybody help please? Thank you.

[Andrew F.]

Hello pcuk,

Could you please post a screenshot of device manager showing these unknown devices?

Thank you in advance,

[pcuk]

Hello Andrey,

As per your request, here are the screenshots. I have enclosed three showing all the unknown devices currently present in Device Manager plus one showing the unknown device details. Please note that the devices are disabled because I have manually disabled them all, one by one. Let me know if you need anything else and thank you for looking into this.

[thinman]

Did a Google search for nt_oanetmp and got -2- that might shed some light on

what's happening. The links are shown below....

http://www.treiber.d...geraet/3082497/

http://www.driverhive.com/driverdetails.aspx?m=TLEM&d=OnlineArmor+Miniport

thinman

[stapp]

There was a poster here who had a similar issue with Eset. May not help I know, but it was so similar I had to let you see it

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/142246-more-than-100-unknown-devices-network-adapters.html

[pcuk]

Thank you for your contribution thinman and stapp

[pcuk]

Hello again,

I don't really want to uninstall Online Armor and I will not but I really want to be able to delete those unknown devices that are piling up in my Device Manager. I don't mind Online Armor trying to install the devices at startup, as long as I am able to uninstall them safely and clean up Device Manager periodically. The problem is that at the moment I can't get rid of them and they are growing (yes I know, it sounds like a creepy horror movie hahaha). Maybe Andrey could develop a safe clean up tool? I am sure that it could be useful in future to other users who may experience the same problem. What do you think?

[stapp]

Does it allow you to delete the unknown drivers if you enable super admin mode?

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/enable-the-hidden-administrator-account-on-windows-vista/

Please make sure you disable super admin mode after trying to delete the unknown drivers.

[pcuk]

Hello stapp,

Thank you for your suggestion, I tried that but it didn't work. How can I get rid of those unknown devices..... ? On the positive side it seems that Online Armor is not installing new ones any more.

[GT500]

Unfortunately, aside from deleting the registry keys that define these unknown devices, our developers are fairly certain that the only way to get rid of them is to reinstall your operating system.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Thank you for your reply. I don't really want to re-install my operating system so do you and the developers think that it is safe to delete those registry keys?

[GT500]

It should be possible to delete the registry entries that define those devices without any collateral damage, however it is still a good idea to use the System Restore to create a Restore Point in order to make a backup of your system's settings so that, in the event that something bad does happen, you can restore it to a working state.

Here are instructions for creating a new Restore Point on Windows 7:

1. Click on the Start button.
   
2. Right-click on Computer
   
3. Select Properties from the list.
   
4. In the window that pops up, click on the System protection link in the menu on the left.
   
5. The buttons may not be clickable for a few moments, but once you can click on them select the drive in the list near the bottom that shows protection is on (this will usually be you C: drive) and click the Create... button.
   
6. Fill in a name for the restore point, and click the Create button.
   
7. Once it is done, you can close the windows that were opened to get to the System Restore settings.
   

I also recommend creating a system repair disk, which will allow you to access the System Restore in the event that your computer can no longer properly start. If you have a blank CD and a CD/DVD burner you can do this by following the instructions below:

1. Click on the Start button.
   
2. Type backup in the search field.
   
3. Select Backup and Restore from the search results.
   
4. Make sure that a blank CD is in your CD/DVD burner, and click Create a system repair disk on the left.
   
5. Make sure that your CD/DVD drive is selected, and then click the Create disk button.
   

Following those steps above will ensure that you will be able to recovery your computer if something bad happens.

[pcuk]

Hello Arthur,

Sorry if I didn't reply earlier but I was away. Thank you for your recommendations and I will certainly follow your advice to the letter. It seems that we tried everything we could and that there is nothing else left to do now so thank you very much for all your help in trying to solve this problem. A big thank you also to all the other members of the forum who helped.

[GT500]

You're quite welcome. Let me know when you're ready to try deleting those registry entries.