Chapter 5
Surviving Basic Training
In This Chapter
Laying hands on the Control Panel
Using the Windows Device Manager
Reestablishing sanity with System Restore
I
t’s not possible to write a book about troubleshooting hardware without
dealing with software and settings, nor the other way around. Things hard
and soft are tightly interlinked; each requires the other to work properly.The design of Microsoft Windows and other modern operating systems
places a set of more-or-less interchangeable, compatible pieces of hardware
on one side of the equation; on the other are the management and control of
the hardware through applications and utilities. In between lie two critical,
changeable elements that bring the two together: a set of device drivers that
interpret generic commands from the operating system (so that they meet
the needs of the particular pieces of hardware in your system) and a System
Registry (which holds settings, configurations, and customizations).Unbuttoning the Essential Windows Control Panel...................................
The Windows Control Panel is the relatively user-friendly place where the
hardware meets the operating system. Here you can confirm that Windows
can communicate with pieces of hardware; look at the device driver and
repair, replace, or remove it; and search for pesky conflicts between machine
resources.The contents of your Control Panel vary depending on the hardware com-
ponents of your laptop, plus special software and utilities installed by the
maker. Think of the panel as if it were a wall full of dials and sliders that
establish and tweak your machine’s personality.