Windows XP can display in each device properties dialog box a supplementary tab named 'details' that lists advanced information about the current device that is mainly dedicated to administrators or developpers. To permanently display the 'details' tab in each device properties dialog box of the device manager, use the following method:

Click Start/Control Panel,
Double click 'System',
Click the Advanced tab,
Click 'Environment Variables',
Locate the 'System variables' frame,
Click New,
In the Name label, type: "DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS"
In the Value label type 1 and then click OK, OK and OK,
Now in open the device manager, double click a device of your choice and look: you have a new details tab with tons of informations to dig in.


thanks goes to Julien Jay @ ActiveWin