Device Manager

In Windows 2000, Device Manager is located under System Tools in the Computer Management snap-in. Device Manager is a Windows-based tool for managing installed hardware. It works with both Plug and Play and devices supported by Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0. With Device Manager, you can check if a hardware device installed is improperly configured or is inoperable. From the View menu, you can sort the installed devices and system hardware resources by type or connection. You can use Device Manager to disable, uninstall, or update individual device drivers and troubleshoot problematic devices.

Important

Changing resource settings improperly can disable your hardware and cause your computer to malfunction or become inoperable. It is recommended that only users who have expert knowledge of computer hardware and hardware configurations change resource settings.

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to change resource settings. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.

For Plug and Play–compliant devices, there are no true default settings. Instead, Windows 2000 identifies devices and their resource requests, and then arbitrates requests among them. If no other device requests the same resources as another device, its resource settings do not change. If another device requests its resources, the settings might change to accommodate the request. Consequently, never change resource settings for a Plug and Play–compliant device unless absolutely necessary. Doing so makes its resource settings permanently fixed, and Windows 2000 cannot grant requests from other devices to use that resource. Fixed resource settings on Plug and Play devices can be brought back to their original state: in the Device Properties dialog box, on the Resources tab, check the Use automatic settings check box.

All devices supported by Windows NT 4.0 have fixed resource settings, which are defined either while upgrading from a previous configuration, or later by using the Add New Hardware Wizard in Control Panel.

Certain circumstances might require users to change resource settings after they have been configured. For example, Windows 2000 might not be able to configure one device without creating conflicts with another. In such a case, a message usually appears to explain what you can do about the problem —for example, turn off a device to make room for the new device, disable the new device, or reconfigure a device from Windows NT 4.0.

The best place for resolving conflicts that might occur is the Hardware troubleshooter in Windows 2000 online Help. If you manually change a device configuration, Device Manager helps you avoid errors that can result from editing registry entries directly. If you need or want to resolve device conflicts manually, you can use Device Manager and try the following strategies:

• Identify a free resource, and assign the device to use that resource.

• Disable a conflicting Plug and Play–compliant device to free its resources.

• Disable a legacy device to free its resources, by removing the legacy device card and not loading the device drivers.

• Rearrange resources used by other devices to free needed resources.

• Change jumpers on your hardware to match the new settings.