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Troubleshooting Device Manager Issues in Win XP |
How to Manage Devices in Windows XP
When you use Device Manager, you have a graphical view of the
hardware that is installed on your computer. You can use Device Manager to
change the way your hardware is configured, and to change the way your hardware
interacts with your
computer's microprocessor.
When you use Device Manager, you can:
- Determine if the hardware on your computer is working properly.
- Change hardware configuration settings.
- Identify the device drivers that are loaded for each device and obtain
information about each device driver.
- Change advanced settings and properties for devices.
- Install updated device drivers.
- Disable, enable, and uninstall devices.
- Reinstall the previous version of a driver.
- Identify device conflicts and manually configure resource settings.
- Print a summary of the devices that are installed on your computer.
Typically, Device Manager is used to check the status of computer hardware and
update device drivers on the computer. If you are an advanced user, and you have
a thorough understanding of computer hardware, you can use Device Manager's
diagnostic features to resolve device conflicts, and change resource settings.
To access Device Manager, use any of the following methods:
- Click Start, click Run, and then type "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotation
marks).
- Right-click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.
- Right-click My Computer, click Properties, click the Hardware tab, and then
click Device Manager.
- Type the following command at a command prompt: start devmgmt.msc
If you want to access Device Manager on a local or remote computer:
1. Click Start, click Run, and then type "mmc" (without the quotation marks).
2. Click Add/Remove Snap In on the File menu (or press CTRL+M), click Add, and
then click Device Manager.
When you use this procedure, a shortcut to Device Manager is created that you
can use to open Device Manager.
How to Configure Device Manager to Display Detailed Information
To configure Device Manager to show details:
1. Click Start, click Run, type: cmd.exe, and then press ENTER.
2. Type: set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1, and then press ENTER.
3. Type: start devmgmt.msc, and then press ENTER.
In Device Manager the properties for a device should now provide a Details tab
that contains additional information about the device.
You can view the Details tab to see the following device information:
Device Instance ID, Hardware IDs, Compatible IDs, Matching Device ID,
Service, Enumerator, Capabilities, Devnode Flags, Config Flags, CSConfig
Flags, Ejection Relations, Removal Relations, Bus Relations, Device Upper
Filters, Device Lower, Filters, Class Upper Filters, Class Lower Filters, Class
Installer, Class Coinstallers, Device Coinstallers, Firmware Revision,
Current Power State, Power Capabilities, Power State Mappings.
NOTE: Not all of these properties will be populated for a given device.
In other words, although all of these properties are listed, some may not
contain information when viewing a particular device.
How to Troubleshoot the Display Adapter Driver in Safe Mode
In Safe mode, the computer does not start the display driver
that is used during normal operations, so you need to use Device Manager to
discover, update, roll back, or uninstall the display driver instead of
accessing the Display properties.
To locate the display adapter that is used in Normal mode:
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System, click Hardware, and then click Device Manager.
3. Click the PLUS SIGN to expand Display Adapters.
To run the display troubleshooter:
1. Follow steps 1 through 3 to find the display adapter.
2. Double-click the display driver.
3. On the General tab, click Troubleshoot.
To view driver details, and to update, roll back, or uninstall the display
driver:
1. Follow steps 1 through 3 to find the display adapter.
2. Double-click the display driver.
3. On the Driver tab, click the appropriate button based on the action that you
want to perform:
Driver Details
Update Driver
Roll Back Driver
Uninstall
It is not necessary to start the computer into Safe mode to perform the tasks
that are listed in this article.
When you start the computer in Safe mode, your display resolution and colors may
temporarily change in such a way that the windows and icons on your screen
become very large, which may make it difficult for some windows to fit. This
behavior is dependent of the type of video adapter that you are using.
Note: In Safe mode, if you
1. Open the Display properties.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Click Adapter.
5. Click Properties.
6. Click Driver.
You may notice an option to stop the VgaSave service. The VgaSave service should
not be stopped while the computer is in Safe mode because it is a component that
allows Windows to display the screen.
How to Use the Roll Back Driver Feature
The Roll Back Driver feature enables you to replace a device
driver by using a previously installed version. You can use this feature if you
have installed a new device driver that causes your computer to be unstable.
When you use the Roll Back Driver feature, you can restore (or roll back) the
previous device driver, and continue to use the computer.
To use this feature, follow these steps:
1. Start Device Manager.
2. Double-click the device for which you want to restore the driver.
3. Click the Driver tab, and then click the Roll Back Driver button.
Description of the Microcode Update Device
If the computer that you are using does not contain the processor described in the "Summary" section of this article, or if your BIOS is up to date with Intel's latest microcode, the Microcode Update device is not initiated; the device is unloaded to free up resources. Device Manager marks the device with a code 24 status message:
The device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed.
If the microcode on your computer is current, the drivers are unloaded by design. In this case, the code 24 status message is expected, and it does not indicate a problem. The device is marked as hidden and is not visible by default. Therefore, when the code 24 status message occurs, the message is not displayed when you are using the default configuration.
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How to Add OEM Plug and Play Drivers to Windows XP
This describes the steps required to add Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM)-supplied drivers to Windows installations. This article only
includes drivers that are normally installed during graphical user interface
(GUI)-mode Setup or post Setup by normal Plug and Play enumeration. This allows
you to pre-load OEM Plug and Play drivers that you can use at a later time when
the associated hardware is introduced in the system.
This describes how to add OEM Plug and Play drivers in the following situations:
- Unattended Setup
- Sysprep Setup
- Remote Installation Service (RIS) installations
- Riprep images
- Existing Windows installations
If you need to add OEM supplied mass-storage devices during text-mode Setup,
please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
Q220845
Adding Third-Party or Updated Driver During Windows XP Setup
Q225125
Limited OEM Driver Support with F6 During Windows XP Setup
Drivers that are installed during the "Installing Devices" portion of GUI-mode
Setup have to be found in certain locations. At this point, Setup is installing
the devices using Plug and Play IDs that have been enumerated by Windows Plug
and Play. Setup searches a pre-defined path on the drive, looking in .inf files
to find the best match for the Plug and Play ID of the device. This path is
defined in the following registry location and is set to %SystemRoot%\Inf by
default:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DevicePath:
REG_EXPAND_SZ:%SystemRoot%\Inf
Setup uses this path to locate .inf files for device installation. After Setup,
this path is also used for any new hardware found and installed. If you modify
this key during Setup using the Sysprep.inf or Unattended answer file, the value
is saved and is also used after Setup.
More
detailed information here.
The Add Hardware Wizard May Detect Disabled COM Ports
COM Port Not in Available Ports List for Modem
While you are using the Add Hardware Wizard to install a new modem, you may find that one of your COM ports is not in the list of available COM ports. This behavior can occur if another program or service is holding that COM port open. To work around this behavior, quit the program or service that is holding the COM port open, and then run the Add Hardware Wizard again.
New Hardware Wizard Detects Printer Device After Every Restart
Whenever you restart your computer, the New Hardware Wizard may detect your previously installed printer, even though it is not a newly installed printer. This problem can occur when the printer driver is initially installed. The printer installation program from the manufacturer does not enable the New Hardware Wizard to finish its detection of the newly installed printer. To work around this problem, enable the New Hardware Wizard to finish, even though the wizard cannot detect a new printer.
Device Manager Displays Multiple Scanners When Only One Exists
XP Support-
01/01/2005 12:43 AM -
Home Page WinXP
© Copyright Kelly Theriot MS-MVP(DTS) 2005. All rights reserved.