guess the machine doesn’t really care, but it’s programmed to raise a
flag if it finds two or more devices that just might ask for the same
resource at the same time or if it has found that two or more devices
have, in fact, conflicted recently (although not right at this moment).
The exclamation point can also mean that Windows has found a problem
with the device driver for this piece of hardware and suggests that you
pay attention to the matter.
Officially Bad News:If you see an X in a red circle, you’ve got a problem
right here, right now. In fact, the problem is so bad that this particular
piece of hardware has been disabled by Windows or cannot be recog-
nized at all by the operating system.No news is good news, so don’t make unnecessary changes to settings that
aren’t reporting problems. However, if you see an X in a red circle you need
to troubleshoot the problem, make changes, or disable the hardware. If dis-
abling the hardware, you can attempt to reinstall its drivers and associated
software to rehabilitate it or use an external workaround. For example, a
failed internal touch pad can be replaced by clip-on trackball that attaches to
the system using the USB port.
If you see an exclamation point in a yellow circle you may or may not have to
do anything. Sometimes Windows finds conflicts between devices that don’t
affect the ability to perform intended assignments. You can use the Device
Manager’s troubleshooting function to isolate the source of the problem or
you can uninstall and reinstall drivers; placing a fresh copy of a driver or an
updated version often resolves conflicts because the system is smart enough
to seek conflict-free locations for devices and utilities.
Donning your managerial hat ............................................................
Note that alongside each group of similar devices is a + or – sign. Click the +
to open the details contained in each class. An opened Device Manager is
shown in Figure 5-4. On a laptop, the typical devices follow.
Click the Driver Tab of the System Properties panel for any device in the
Device Manager and on most machines learn the name of the provider of the
driver, its date of creation and version number, and other details. You can
click buttons to view details of the driver files, update the driver for the
device with a new version from the Internet or CD, roll back the driver to a
previous version if the device fails after an update, or completely uninstall
the driver. (Here’s how to get there: Open the Windows Control Panel, then
choose System icon➪Hardware tab➪Device Manager tab. Finally, double-click
an individual piece of hardware and choose the Driver tab.)
Chapter 5: Surviving Basic Training 69