How to Troubleshoot Hardware Device Drivers (296060)

MORE INFORMATION

When you are troubleshooting driver or hardware issues (that may cause your computer to fail to shutdown, restart, or suspend correctly, or may cause a device to function incorrectly), you can use the Device Manager in Control Panel to do the following:

• View information about a device driver.
• View information about your hardware.
• View or change resource settings for a hardware device.
• Free resource settings used by disabled hardware.
• Disable a hardware device.

To View Information About Your Hardware

The Device Manager lists the hardware devices on your computer. To see the devices in a category, click the plus sign next to the hardware type or connection name. To see information about a device, double-click it.

An X through a device's icon means that the device has been disabled. A circled exclamation point through the device's icon means that the device has a problem. The type of problem is displayed in the Properties dialog box for the device.

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. (If you don't see the item you want, click view all Control Panel options.)
2. Double-click System in Control Panel.
3. Click the Device Manager tab, and then click the plus sign next to the type of hardware that you want information about.
4. Double-click the icon for the hardware.

To View Information About a Device Driver

1. Double-click System in the Control Panel.
2. Click the Device Manager tab, click the plus sign next to the type of hardware, and then double-click the hardware.
3. Click the Driver tab, and then click Driver File Details. NOTE: Some devices do not have a Driver tab. In this case, you may be able to view information about the driver by clicking the icon in Control Panel for that type of hardware. See your hardware documentation for more information.

To Disable a Hardware Device

1. Double-click System in Control Panel.
2. Click the Device Manager tab, click the plus sign next to the hardware type, and then double-click the device.
3. Under Device usage, click to select the Disable in this hardware profile check box to disable the device in the current hardware profile.
   
   Disabling the device will prevent its Windows driver from being loaded when you start Windows. NOTE: The device will be disabled, but the resource settings may not be freed unless you have Plug and Play hardware. To find out how to free the resource settings used by this device, see the next topic in this article, "To Free Resource Settings Used by Disabled Hardware."

To Free Resource Settings Used by Disabled Hardware

1. Double-click System in Control Panel.
2. Click the Device Manager tab, click the plus sign next to the hardware type, and then click the device that is disabled.
3. Click Remove, and then click OK.
4. Click Start, click Shut Down, and then click OK.
5. When the message appears stating that it is safe to turn off and unplug your computer, do so.
6. Remove the card for this hardware from your computer, or remove the cable that connects this hardware. NOTE: If you have a Plug and Play device, resources are freed automatically when you disable or remove a device. To see if resources are free after the device is disabled, but before removing the device, double-click the device in the hardware list in Device Manager, and then click the Resources tab.

To Remove Hardware

1. Double-click System in the Control Panel.
2. Click the Device Manager tab, and then click the plus sign next to the hardware type of the device.
3. Click the device that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
4. In the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK.

NOTE: When you remove a device, make sure that you also remove the hardware card from your computer so the resources used by the device will be freed and, in the case of a Plug and Play device, it will not be automatically reinstalled the next time you start Windows.

For information about reinstalling a device you removed, see the next topic in this article, "To View or Change Resource Settings for a Hardware Device."

To View or Change Resource Settings for a Hardware Device

1. Double-click System in Control Panel.
2. Click the Device Manager tab, and then click the plus sign next to the hardware device type.
3. Double-click the hardware.
4. Click the Resources tab.
   
   If your device does not have a Resources tab, either you cannot change its resources or it is not using any resource settings.
5. If necessary, click to clear the Use automatic settings check box.
6. In the Resource type list, click the resource that you want to change, and then click Change Setting.
   
   NOTE: In some cases, you may see Set Configuration Manually. You may have to click this button before you can change resource settings.

To Set Up New Hardware

After you remove hardware, reinstall the hardware to see if this resolves the issue.

1. Double-click Add New Hardware in Control Panel.
2. Follow the instructions on your screen. NOTE: Whenever possible, let Windows detect your new hardware. Make sure you have connected your hardware or installed its components on your computer before you run the Add New Hardware Wizard. If you are installing a Plug and Play device, do not use the Add New Hardware Wizard. For information about installing a Plug and Play device, see the next topic in this article; "To Install a Plug and Play Device."

To Install a Plug and Play Device

1. Turn off your computer.
2. Connect the device to your computer according to the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Turn on your computer and start Windows.
   
   Windows automatically detects the new Plug and Play device and installs the necessary software. NOTE: If Windows does not detect a new Plug and Play device, then the device itself is not working properly, is not installed correctly, or is not installed at all. Do not use the Add New Hardware Wizard. The Add New Hardware Wizard cannot solve this issue.

To Update Drivers to Improve Your Computer's Performance

Updated drivers may solve the issue with your hardware. When you install or attach hardware such as a sound card, printer, camera, or joystick to your computer, you also install software called a driver, or device driver, that makes the hardware work.

Windows automatically searches for and installs the driver for your hardware after the new hardware is detected, or after it is installed by using the Add New Hardware Wizard in Control Panel and the floppy disk (or CD-ROM) that accompanied your hardware. If an updated driver is available, the Update Hardware Wizard starts and prompts you to install the updated driver.

If you have previously been connected to the Web, Windows might also prompt you to check for the latest drivers on the Windows Update Web site.

To Get the Newest Drivers by Using Windows Update

1. To start Windows Update, click Start, and then click Windows Update.
2. Follow the instructions on your screen. NOTE: If you have the CD-ROM version of Windows, you can install specific drivers from the Drivers folder on the compact disc.

To Get Additional Drivers from the Microsoft Download Library

1. From one of the following sources, download or copy the drivers that you want to a folder on your computer. To do this, do one of the following:
   • If you do not have a modem, request a disk that contains the driver by calling Microsoft Product Support, and then proceed to step 3.
   • If you have the CD-ROM version of Windows, you can obtain some drivers from the Drivers folder. If the driver you need is in that folder, proceed to step 3.
   • If you have a modem, connect to the Microsoft Download Library and download the driver you want. If you are in the United States, call (425) 936-6735. If you are in Canada, call (905) 507-3022.
2. In My Computer, double-click the file that you downloaded to extract the driver file.
3. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
4. Double-click Add New Hardware, and then follow the instructions on your screen.
5. When you see Do you want Windows to search for your new hardware?, click No.
6. Click the hardware type for the driver that you are installing.
7. Click Have Disk, and then type the location of the driver file.
8. Follow the instructions on your screen.

NOTE:

• The driver file may have an .exe, .dll, or another type of file extension.
• The driver file is extracted to the same location as the downloaded file.
• If you have an Internet connection, you can click Start, and then click Windows Update.

Contact the Manufacturer of the Device for Additional Drivers

To further help resolve this issue, contact the manufacturer of the device for additional drivers.
For information about how to contact the manufacturer of the device, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
For additional information about renaming the Driver Information Database, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If these steps were unable to resolve your issue, please contact a Technical Support representative for further help with this issue.

Support WebCasts

Support WebCasts are a product support information service offered to all Online Support customers. To view a basic WebCast on Troubleshooting Hardware issues in Windows Me, visit the following Microsoft Web site: