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This Blasted Thing Doesn't Work!
© 2000 Jonathan Leger
It's bound to happen sooner or
later: you turn on the old computer, and something that was working fine before is no
longer working at all, or is having weird problems. Whether it's your modem, your sound
card, a scanner, or some other device in or connected to your PC, there are a few things
that you can do to get it working again.
To find out exactly how you should go about troubleshooting your
computer, choose which one of the following scenarios describes your situation:
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[1] I just installed this
device. This is the first time I've ever had this kind of device in my computer.
[2] I just installed this device to replace an old device of
the same kind.
[3] I haven't changed anything. This device just stopped
working. |
Regardless of which situation
describes you, ask yourself a few key questions:
[+] Did I install the driver for this device?
Almost all new hardware will require you to install a
"device driver". A device driver is a
program that tells Windows how to control,
or "drive" the device.
[+] After
installing the device, did I check for conflicts in the Device Manager?
Just because Windows appeared to install the device just fine,
doesn't necessarily mean that it's not conflicting (that is, getting in the way of)
another device in your computer.
If you have not installed the driver, do that first. Your
hardware Should have come with a How-To guide (sometimes called Getting Started) that will
explain how to install the driver. If it did not, or if you no longer have the manual, see
'Scenario [3]' for instructions on how to reinstall the driver.
If you have installed the driver, but don't know how to check for
conflicts, see the section further down entitled "Resolving Device Conflicts."
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Scenario [1]:
I just installed this device. This is the first time I've ever
had this kind of device in my computer.
=====================
After having installed the driver and checked for conflicts with
other devices, if your device still is not working properly, there are two things you can
do:
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[1] Go to the
manufacturer's website (which is usually shown in the device's documentation), and
download the latest driver for the device. You will usually find driver updates in a
section of the website called "Support" if there is not a specific section on
the main page for downloading new drivers.
[2] After having installed that latest driver, if the device
still does not work, try installing the device in a friend's computer. If it does
not work in another computer, either, you might have gotten a bad device. This does
happen. We occasionally receive equipment here that was tested before it left from the
vendor, but may have been damaged during shipping. Hopefully you kept the receipt and can
return the item.
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--------------------
Scenario [2]:
I installed this device to replace an old device of the same
kind.
=====================
After having installed the driver and checked for conflicts with
other devices, if your device still is not working properly, ask yourself the following
two questions:
[1] Did I remove/disable the
old device before I installed the new one?
When installing a new modem, for example, it is always a good
idea to remove the old one, especially you are working with an old computer, because the
old modem may not be Plug-N-Play, and so that could cause trouble.
[2] Did I remove the old
device driver before installing the new one?
Even if you took the old device out of the computer, or unplugged
it from the computer, you may still need to remove the drive for the old device to avoid
hidden conflicts. Do the following:
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[+] Right-click on 'My
Computer' on your desktop and choose 'Properties'.
[+] A window will
appear that says 'System Properties.' Click on the tab at the top of the window that says
'Device Manager.'
[+] Double-click on
the type of device that is giving you problems (i.e., if you installed a new modem,
double-click on the 'Modem' icon, if it's a sound card, double-click on the 'Sound, video
and game controllers' icon.)
[+] Single-click on the driver for the OLD device, and then click the button
that says 'Remove'.
[+] Restart your
computer. |
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If that does not solve your
problem, follow the two steps outlined under 'Scenario [1]' above, downloading and
installing the latest driver from the manufacturer and trying the device in another
computer.
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Scenario [3]:
I haven't changed anything: the device just stopped working.
=====================
After having installed the driver and checked for conflicts with
other devices, if your device still is not working properly, you will want to remove the
driver (see 'Scenario [2]' above for detailed instructions on how to remove the driver),
and then reinstall the driver from off of the diskette or CD that came with the device.
DO NOT LET WINDOWS JUST FIND AND INSTALL ITS OWN COPY OF THE DRIVER.
If, after rebooting the computer, Windows "finds" your
new hardware and installs the driver for it (which you don't want it to do in case there
is something wrong with the driver), do the following:
If your device came with a CD-ROM, put the CD-ROM in the CD-ROM
drive and wait for a few seconds to see if a menu will pop-up. A menu should pop up
because Windows has what is called an 'Autorun' feature that will automatically run the
program on the CD (or play a music
CD) once you put it in the drive. When the menu appears, see if there is an option to
install the driver. If you cannot find one, or if the device came with a floppy diskette,
do the following:
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[+] Right-click on 'My Computer' on your desktop and choose 'Properties'.
[+] A window will
appear that says 'System Properties.' Click on the tab at the top of the window that says
'Device Manager.'
[+] Double-click on
the type of device that is giving you problems (i.e., if you installed a new modem,
double-click on the 'Modem' icon, if it's a sound card, double-click on the 'Sound, video
and game controllers' icon.)
[+] Single-click on
the driver for the OLD device, and then click the button that says 'Properties'.
[+] A window will
appear that has the name of the device on it. Click on the 'Driver' tab at the top
of the window, and then click on the 'Update Driver' button.
[+] The 'Update Device
Driver' wizard will appear. Click 'Next'.
[+] Make sure 'Search
for a better driver' is selected, and then click 'Next' again.
[+] If your device
came with a floppy diskette, click the box next to 'Floppy Disk drives' so that there is a
check-mark in it. If your device came on a CD-ROM, click the box next to
'CD-ROM drives' so that there is a check-mark in it. If it is located somewhere else,
click the box next to 'Specify a Location' and type in the path to the driver.
[+] Be sure that you
have the diskette or CD-ROM in the drive before clicking 'Next' again.
[+] If there is more
than one driver on the diskette or CD-ROM, Windows will ask you to choose which one you
want to install. Select the one that you need (it will usually match the name on the
box for the device) and then click 'Next'. If you are not given a list, but Windows tells
you that it is ready to install the device, then click 'Next'.
[+] Windows will now
install your device. You will probably have to restart the computer after it is done.
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Check the now reinstalled
device for conflicts. If you don't know how, see the section below entitled
"Resolving Device Conflicts".
--------------------------
Resolving Device Conflicts
==========================
Plug-N-Play was supposed to solve the problem of driver
conflicts. Windows is supposed to look at everything in your computer, see where
there is room to put the new device, and put it there. This works pretty good most of the
time, but sometimes Windows gets confused and doesn't put the device where it's supposed
to go.
Imagine that you had a lamp plugged into a socket in the wall,
and you then wanted to plug another lamp into that same socket. You can't do it, can you?
You have to unplug one of them to get the other one in. It works the same way with a
computer. You can't have to devices using the same space, but sometimes Windows tries to
do that anyway, and it causes what you call a "conflict". Sometimes
this causes one device to stop working while the other one keeps working fine, but
sometimes it stops them both from working.
To resolve a device conflict, do the following:
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[+] Right-click on 'My Computer' on your desktop and choose 'Properties'.
[+] A window will
appear that says 'System Properties.' Click on the tab at the top of the window that says
'Device Manager.'
[+] If there is a
conflict, a yellow exclamation point (!) will appear next to the device name.
[+] Single-click on
the driver that has the conflict (if there is more than one, click on the first one), and
then click on the button that says 'Properties'.
[+] A window will
appear that has the name of the device on it. Click on the 'Resources' tab at the
top of the window.
[+] Towards the bottom
of the window you will see a box that is labeled 'Conflicting device list'. This will tell
you which device is conflicting with the one you are looking at.
[+] To solve the
problem, click on the box next to 'Use automatic settings' so that there is not a check in
the box.
[+] Click on the box
next to 'Setting based on' and select each of the configurations in the list until the
'Conflicting device list' box says 'No conflicts'. Once it says that, click 'OK'.
[+] Once you're back
at the 'System Properties' window, click 'OK'. You will probably be asked to restart
your computer. Do so.
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Repeat those steps for each
device that has a yellow exclamation point (!) next to it.
That should remove any problems with conflicts.
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Summary
=======
So there you have it, the basic steps for troubleshooting your
hardware woes. If, after having followed all of the steps above, you still are having
troubles, ask yourself this question:
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[+] Do I have a whole lot of neat stuff in my computer (i.e., a scanner, a
modem, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD drive, a video card, a sound card, a DVD decoder card, etc.)?
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Just as your house only has so
many outlets on the wall,
your computer can only support so many different devices
at a time. If you have a whole bunch of devices, you may
simply be out of room, in which case you will have to
sacrifice one device for the sake of the one you're trying
to get working.
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About the Author
================
Jonathan
Leger is the publisher of a newsletter dedicated to
helping you with your computer problems, free of charge. Think you're a computer
dummy? Need some free help and advice with your computer problems? Then his newsletter, PC
Helpmate, is for you! Weekly (Friday) mailings of the answers to a few of your
perplexing PC problems.
To subscribe free of charge, send a blank e-mail to:
PCHelpmate-subscribe@egroups.com
Or visit our web site:
www.egroups.com/group/pchelpmate
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