"This Blasted Thing Doesn't Work!"
by 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:

[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."

--------------------
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:

[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.

--------------------
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:

   [+] 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.

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.

--------------------
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:

   [+] 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.

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:

   [+] 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.

Repeat those steps for each device that has a yellow exclamation
point (!) next to it.  That should remove any problems with
conflicts.

-------
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:

[+] 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.)?

       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.

----------------
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:
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