Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Devices

There are two ways to install hardware: the easy way and the hard way. The easy way to install a device is to simply attach the device or plug it into the computer and voilà, it installs Automatically. Plug-and-play technology is definitely the easy way. The hard way? Well, you probably know all about the hard way. The hard way usually involves alternating fits of cursing the machine and supplicating to a higher power to perform a miracle. The good news is that Server 2003 includes plug-and-play support for most hardware devices, and it actually works. The bad news: you won’t get that easy of a test question, sorry! There are no questions like, “Phil has inserted the device and it automatically installs itself. What do you do next? A. Start working. B. Start working. C. Start working.” Installing Devices Using Plug-and-Play The premise behind plug-and-play is the computer should detect a device after it is physically inserted or installed and should automatically install the appropriate software Drivers and configure the device so that it is available and ready to use by the operating System. When plug-and-play works as it was intended, it’s a wonderful tool, and it makes the job of installing new devices a snap. When it doesn’t work…well, we’ll get to that in the next section. For plug-and-play to work properly, you need three things: • A plug-and-play compatible BIOS • An operating system that supports plug-and-play (Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, XP) • A plug-and-play compatible device Most BIOS support plug-and-play functionality, and Windows Server 2003 supports plug-and-play functionality, so usually if the device you are installing is plug-and-play compatible, you’re in business. When you install a plug-and-play compatible device, Windows detects the device and installs the appropriate driver. You will see a notification bubble in the lower-right corner of your screen notifying you that new hardware has been added and is now ready to use. You can also verify the status of the new device (as well as all devices on the computer) by using Device Manager. Device Manager has been implemented into the Computer Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC). To access Device Manager in Computer Management: 1. Click Start Programs Administrative Tools Computer Management. 2. Expand the System Tools node and click Device Manager. NOTE You can also access Device Manager through the Control Panel. Double-click the System applet to open the System Properties. Device Manager is accessible on the Hardware tab. The System Properties are also accessible by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties. The default view of Device Manager shows you connections by type. All devices that are attached to the computer are shown in Device Manager, including CPU, physical disks, network adapters, ports, and system devices. Device Manager can be used to install devices, verify devices are working, update drivers, roll back drivers, enable and disable devices, and change device resource settings. After Windows installs a device using plug-and-play, you can verify that it is installed and working properly by using Device Manager. If the device is installed properly, you will be able to see the device listed under its appropriate type—for example, a new modem will be listed under modems. By clicking the device and viewing the properties, you will also be able to verify the device is working correctly. If the device was not installed by plug-and-play or is not working correctly, the device will be displayed with a yellow question mark show as an unknown device. If this occurs, you need to either install the device manually or troubleshoot the device further