Windows detects most hardware you install, but if Windows doesn’t detect a device, you can run the Add Hardware Wizard to add the hardware manually. To run the Add Hardware Wizard, take the following steps:

1. Press Windows Key+Break. Windows displays a System window.

2. In the Tasks panel on the left, click the Device Manager link, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows displays a Device Manager window. For more detail on Device Manager, see the section “Opening Device Manager,” later in this article.

3. Click your PC’s name at the top of the tree, and then choose Action Add Legacy Hardware. You can also right-click your PC’s name and choose Add Legacy Hardware from the context menu. Device Manager launches the Add Hardware Wizard, which displays its Welcome to the Add Hardware Wizard screen, as shown here.

4. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the The Wizard Can assist You Install Other Hardware screen, as shown here, offering to search for the hardware.

5.Select the Install the Hardware that I Manually Select from a List option button.

6. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the From the List Below, Select the Type of Hardware You Are Installing page, as shown here.

7. In the Common Hardware Types list box, select the type of hardware you’re installing. If the device doesn’t fit any of the descriptions, select the Show All Devices item.

8. Click the Next button:

• If you chose the Show All Devices item, the wizard displays the Select the Device Driver You Want to Install for this Hardware page, as shown here.

• If you chose a specific type of hardware, the wizard displays a list of that type of device. The following illustration shows a list of infrared devices.

9. If Windows has a driver for the device, select it by clicking the manufacturer in the Manufacturer list box and the device in the Model list box. If you have a new driver, click the Have Disk button and use the resulting Install from Disk dialog box to specify the location of the driver.

10. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the The Wizard Is Ready to Install Your Hardware page, listing the hardware that’s lined up for installation, as shown here.

11. Click the Next button. The wizard installs the hardware and displays the Completing the Add Hardware Wizard page.

12. Click the Finish button. The Add Hardware Wizard closes itself. The hardware should be ready for use.

Working with Hardware Drivers

Without a functional driver, Windows can’t use any piece of hardware. And using the wrong driver or a badly written driver can make Windows unstable or even make it crash. Hardware manufacturers frequently release new versions of drivers for their hardware to improve performance, to banish bugs, or both. If you want to keep your hardware running to the best of its capacity, check the manufacturers’ sites and the Windows Update site for updated drivers. In theory, Windows Update should be able to supply you with the latest drivers for most of your hardware. In practice, you can probably get the latest drivers more quickly by haunting the hardware manufacturers’ websites and newsgroups. To view, change, or uninstall the driver for a device, display the Driver page of the Properties dialog box for the device. The easiest way to display the Properties dialog box for the device is to go through Device Manager, which you will have met before in this article if you’ve been following along.

Opening Device Manager

To display the Device Manager window, take the following steps:

1. Press Windows Key+Break. Windows displays a System window.

2. In the Tasks panel on the left, click the Device Manager link, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows displays a Device Manager window .

Device Manager presents a categorized tree of the devices on the PC in its default view. Any device that isn’t working or has a problem is marked with an exclamation mark icon, like the RAID Controller and the Unknown Device that appear in the Other Devices category. When all is well with a category of device, Device Manager presents the category collapsed. You can change the view by displaying the View menu and choosing Devices by Type the default view, Devices by Connection, Resources by Type, or Resources by Connection from the menu. You can display hidden devices by choosing View Show Hidden Devices. If you leave Device Manager open while you plug in a hot-pluggable device, you may need to refresh the listing in Device Manager to make it list the device. To do so, click the PC’s entry at the top of the tree, and then choose Action Scan for Hardware Changes. To check or set properties for a device, double-click its entry in Device Manager or right-click the entry and choose Properties from the context menu. Windows displays the Properties dialog box for the device.

Checking the Details of a Driver

The Driver page of the Properties dialog box for a device shows some details of the driver: the provider of the driver the company that supplied the driver to your PC, the date, the version, and the digital signer - the owner of the digital certificate applied to the driver. To display further information, click the Driver Details button. Windows displays the Driver File Details dialog box, which displays further information: the filenames and paths of the driver files, the provider the company that originally provided the driver, the file version, the copyright information, and the digital signer again.

Updating a Driver

To update a driver, click the Update Driver Software Wizard on the Driver page of the Properties dialog box for the device. If you have a specific driver to install, follow the process explained in the section “Specifying a Driver Manually,” before in this article. If you’re just checking for a new driver on Windows Update, click the Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software button.

Rolling Back a Driver

If a new driver you’ve installed doesn’t work, or doesn’t improve things, revert to the previous driver by using the driver rollback feature. To use the rollback feature, click the Roll Back Driver button on the Driver page of the Properties dialog box for the device.

Disabling a Device

If you want to stop using a device temporarily, you can disable it. For example, you might want to disable a device that you think is making Windows unstable. To disable a device, right-click it in Device Manager, and then choose Disable from the context menu. Windows displays a confirmation message box, such as that shown here. Click the Yes button. Windows closes the message box and disables the device.

Uninstalling a Device

If you want to stop using a device permanently and remove it from your PC, uninstall it first. To do so, follow these steps:

1. In Device Manager, right-click the device, and then choose Uninstall from the context menu. Alternatively, display the Properties dialog box for the device, and then click the Uninstall button on the Driver page. Windows displays the Confirm Device Uninstall dialog box, as shown here.

2. If you want to remove the device’s driver as well as the device, select the Delete the Driver Software for This Device check box. Normally, it’s best to leave the driver on your PC in case you install the device again, but if you’re sure you won’t reinstall it, you may want to reclaim the small amount of disk space the driver occupies.

3. Click the OK button. Windows closes the dialog box and uninstalls the device.

Adding Specific Hardware Items

The following sections discuss considerations for adding particular hardware items that need configuration beyond the driver. plenty hardware items do not. The easiest place to start configuring most hardware items is Device Manager.