Disable Microsoft ehome IR Transceiver in Windows 7

Question

I need to disable the IR receiver device on my Fujitsu Amilo xi3650 laptop. Its running Windows 7 Pro. Its picking up IR signals intended for a separate HTPC running Windows 7 HP.

In device manager I've tried to disable the Microsoft eHome IR Transceiver device, however I guess its been marked as essential hardware as the Disable button is greyed out and unavailable.

Uninstalling the IR transceiver device driver only works till I reboot then it automatically re-installs.

I had a look in the bios but didn't see an obvious way to disable the hardware from there.

Is there a way (short of sticking some tape over the sensor) of turning the receiver off permanently?

I don't want to stop all hardware automatically installing on my machine just to get round this (I've seen this as an option when googling).

Answer 1

I've taken the subtle step of simply covering the IR receiver with a (neatly trimmed) piece of electric tape.

There really ought to be a better way of going about it than this!

Answer 2

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
3. Expand Human Interface Devices.
4. Double-click Microsoft eHome Infrared Transceiver.
5. On the Driver tab, click Uninstall, and then click OK.