|
The Device Manager in Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista and Windows 7 (Win7) |
| | |
|
|
The Device Manager started in Windows 95 and has remained pretty much unchanged through the different versions of Windows - Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (the latest set of versions).
Device Manager - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_Manager
The Device Manager can produce coded error messages that can help diagnose problems with the devices that are listed in it. The following MS Knowledge Base article covers those error messages. -
Explanation of error codes generated by Device Manager in Windows XP Professional -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123/en-gb
Windows Device Manager Error Code Lists
"The Device Manager is a tool in Microsoft Windows for administrating device drivers. These drivers control how the hardware within the computer interactive with the computer's operating system. Whenever there is a problem with a device driver or physical hardware component, this manager will show a code with a little description. But due to the limited nature of this description, this is why this guide has been created. It has a list what the full code means as well as offering a solution to the problem. You can use the Device Manager to view device, change device properties, update device drives, configure driver settings and if necessary uninstall these device drivers. Also by using this guide you should be able to solve any problem with you computer drivers or hardware components." -
Device Manager Error Codes -
A complete list of error codes reported in Device Manager
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/tp/device_manager_error_codes.htm
The error codes probably stay the same from one version of Windows to the next. That said, I could not find an equivalent article covering the Device Manager error codes in Windows Vista and Windows 7, so, if you need to find out what a particular error code is all about, search for it on http://support.microsoft.com/search/.
In this article, Windows 9x stands for Windows 95/98/Me, which means that the information covers Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me.
The Windows Device Manager is the utility that (by default) displays all of the devices that are vital to the system configuration that were detected at system start-up and for which Windows has loaded the device drivers. It provides a very useful summary of these devices, and indicates where there are problems. The information is dynamic, and it is recreated every time the computer starts.
A yellow exclamation mark beside the entry for a device indicates that although there is a problem with it, it might still be functional. A red cross beside a device's entry means that the device is set as disabled, or has been disabled by Windows. Right-click on its entry to reactivate it. In Windows Me, a white question mark in a green circle means that the device drivers are allowing partial instead of full functionality.
The images of the Device Managers shown below are (top) the System Properties window in a Windows 9x system with the Device Manager tab selected, and below it the Device Managers from two different Windows XP systems.
The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager -
"The DevCon utility is a command-line utility that acts as an alternative to Device Manager. Using DevCon, you can enable, disable, restart, update, remove, and query individual devices or groups of devices. DevCon also provides information that is relevant to the driver developer and is not available in Device Manager. You can use DevCon with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. You cannot use DevCon with Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition." -
After you plug in a USB device that gets ignored, run this program. The 'rescan' option causes the system to rescan the USB ports, which usually resuls in a USB device being acknowledged and becoming usable. -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/en-uk
To open the Device Manager in a Windows 9x system, right-click My Computer on the Desktop, click Properties, and then click the Device Manager tab on the System Properties window that is displayed.
Click the + beside each category to show the devices it contains, and then left-click on each device to open its control panel.
By clicking Computer (highlighted in blue in the image) you can view other aspects of the system such as the IRQ - Interrupt Request - list, and the DMA Channels list. Under the Performance tab you will find buttons for the File System, Graphics, and the Virtual Memory swap file. If you see a note in the main window saying that Windows is using MS DOS compatibility mode, this means that the Windows IDE busmaster drivers are not functioning properly, and Windows is using its DOS drivers instead. This reduces system performance significantly. By entering the phrase "DOS compatibility mode" in the Google search box at the top of this page, or the Google Groups (Usenet newsgroups) search engine, you should be able to find out how to remedy the situation.
If you boot in Safe mode (Safe Mode in Windows XP) by pressing the F8 (also works in Windows XP) or Control key at start-up, and open the Device Manager to find that there are several instances shown for a particular device, use the Remove button to remove all of the instances so that Windows can re-detect and install just one instance of the device. If you remove just the excess instances, Windows tends to install another instance while keeping the one not removed so that two instances are shown in Device Manager in Safe mode. The multiple instances of devices are not shown in normal Windows mode. They should be removed because they can cause problems. Windows detects new hardware with a reboot and reinstalls just one instance.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP also have a Device Manager. Here is one of several ways to access the Device Manager in Windows XP. The quickest method is to enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box. Alternatively, right-click My Computer => Properties (as in Windows 95/98/Me), to bring up the System Properties applet, shown below, and then click the Hardware tab followed by the Device Manager button.
When you open a device category by clicking the + sign beside it, and then open a device, under its Driver tab you'll see the Roll Back Driver option. If a device driver is the cause of a problem, you can use the Roll Back Driver feature to restore the system to the state it was in before you installed the driver.
The Device Manager now appears in the Control Panel as an item in Windows Vista and Windows 7. There are several ways to access it. For example, to access Device Manager, follow this click path: Start => Control Panel => System and Maintenance => System => Device Manager. The quickest method is to enter the devmgmt.msc in the Start => Start Search box.
In Windows 7 all you have to do is enter the word device in the Start => Search programs and files box and you are provided with a link to it. The Search facility in Windows 7 is now beautifully configured and far more user-friendly than it is in Windows Vista.
Read What's changed from Windows XP? for more information on using Search in Vista.
Windows Vista - Troubleshooting Hardware Issues with Device Manager - http://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=5183.
****
Although the information on the following page is specific to Windows XP, much of the advice is relevant to the earlier versions of Windows and it is also relevant to Windows Vista and Windows 7. Click here! to read Troubleshoot Device Driver Problems on Microsoft's site. It contains information about the Roll Back Driver feature.
****
If you can't boot into Windows in normal mode because of a problem, which might be caused by the installation of a new driver file, press the F8 key after the BIOS information shows but before Windows starts up, and choose to start Windows in Safe Mode (this works in Windows 9x and Windows XP systems). You can then open the Device Manager as usual and remove the problematic device so that Windows reinstalls the software device drivers it has in its driver library.
Downloaded drivers are not added to the library of drivers that were copied from the Windows CD, and which Windows draws from when it installs drivers. You have to install downloaded drivers by executing their files, or by pointing Windows to their files instead if Windows asks for its CD to be loaded so that it can search its driver library.
There is also a (F8 key) boot option called Enable VGA Mode that can be used to load the standard Windows VGA video card driver should a new version of the video card manufacturer's drivers cause problems.
The Device Manager can show error states for hardware devices in all of the versions of Windows from Windows 95 up to Windows 7, which will be released officially in October 2009.
It is a common experience for one reason or another to open the Device Manager to find that there are one or more categories of device already expanded because the device is in an error state. An example is: under IDE/ATAPI controllers (for IDE hard-drive controllers) the device Primary IDE Channel (the description can vary) has a red X through it, which, when opened, says "This device is not working properly because a device it depends on — Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller — has been dynamically disabled and consequently the hard-disk-drive controller has a yellow exclamation mark (!) through it.
This kind of Device Manager error is most commonly caused by corrupt or incompatible software that has misused the hard-drive controller, which was then left in an error state.
Whenever errors such as those two involving a red X or a yellow exclamation mark against a device in Device Manager, the fix is most often easily achieved by uninstalling the hardware from within the Device Manager. Physical removal of the device is not required. By uninstalling a device, Windows is made to forget what it knows about the hardware in question and consequently it has to rediscover that information. Since Windows from Windows 95 to Windows 7 is a plug-and-play operating system, it detects any unknown hardware device automatically and attempts to install its device driver.
The process is relatively quick, involving just an uninstall and a reboot, but it can resolve many problems caused by corrupt device drivers and the use of incompatible software.
To open Device Manager in Windows XP just enter the devmgmt.msc command in the Start => Run box. In Windows Vista, enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Start Search box. That action will probably also work with Windows 7. Next, right-click the item in Device Manager that is showing an error and select Uninstall from the menu that presents itself (see the first image of the Device Manager below to see an image of it in that state). Note that in older versions of Windows, such as Windows 98, there is a Remove button in the Device Manager's window. Now all you have to do is close the Device Manager and reboot/restart the system. Windows will redetect the unknown hardware that you uninstalled and reinstall a fresh copy of its drivers. If doing this doesn't work, there is something more serious wrong with the device, such as an irredeemable failure.
Installing a new driver file in Windows XP might make the unsigned driver warning pop up.
If its System Restore feature is enabled, Windows XP creates a restore point whenever you install an unsigned driver, which, if you don't already know, is a software program that controls a hardware device but which hasn't been certified by the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) at Microsoft as being Windows-XP compliant, and is therefore not digitally signed as such. The restore point allows Windows to be restored to the state it was in at the moment when the restore point was created.
Most people pay no attention to this warning and make Windows install the driver. Nine times out of ten there won't be any problems with the driver, but it might not be your lucky day, so it's best to make sure that the System Restore feature is enabled so that Windows automatically creates a restore point before installing an unsigned driver. It is enabled by default, but here are several ways that the System Restore feature can be turned off without your knowledge, so don't take it for granted that a restore point will automatically be created.
Microsoft has provided several ways in which to verify if device drivers are signed or unsigned in Windows XP:
The first method is to go into the Device Manager. Click on the new device that has just been installed and check the driver details. Signed drivers will have a certificate icon with a green check mark. Unsigned drivers will not.
The second method is to go to the Start => Run box and enter sigverif. In the window that opens, click on Advanced to open the Advanced File Signature Verification Settings dialog box. Click on Look for other files that are not digitally signed.
The third method is to open the Start => Run box and enter C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and then click on OK. [C:\ is the default drive where a Windows installation is located. Use the correct letter if Windows is installed on a different drive.] A window containing driver files opens. Look for the unsigned drivers that have the modified date when you first installed the new device. Once you have been able to identify the driver files, you can then take steps to resolve the driver-related problem by downloading the latest signed drivers from Microsoft or the device manufacturer's site, removing the device in Device Manager, and then installing the new driver file.
Click here! to go to information on this website on how to recover, restore, repair, or reinstall Windows.
The image below shows the Device Manager of a Windows XP system which has the Modems category opened. As you can see, XP has installed a Generic SoftK56 #2 driver. This is probably for the K56Flex modem standard that ran parallel to the V.90 standard, but which is not much used now. If the modem is a K56Flex modem and it is flash-upgradable to the V.90 standard, you should be able to update its firmware and the device driver, or, if not, just obtain the latest driver for it. The shown options that allow this are obtained just by selecting the modem's entry. You should use the Uninstall option before you install the new driver file, because XP can get confused if the old driver's files are left installed. The confusion could prevent XP from using the modem.
The image below shows the Device Manager of a Windows XP system with the device categories expanded to show what they contain.
The IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers item refers to the FireWire interface.
Note that there is a Processors category that the Device Manager doesn't show in a Windows 95/98/Me system. The processor in this case is an AMD Athlon XP 1900+.
You can see from the IDE information that the motherboard has a SiS chipset. From looking at the Universal Serial Bus controllers category, you can see that that the motherboard has USB ports controlled by a SiS Host Controller. This means that motherboard only has USB 1.1 ports. The Via Host Controller (made by Via) has a Via USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller, so it looks as if a PCI adapter card with USB 2.0 ports has been installed. See the USB page on this site for more information on the subject.
In Windows XP, the Device Manager is set by default to hide devices that are not crucial to the configuration of the system, such as printers that are connected via the parallel port, and other non-plug-and-play devices. To see these, select the Show Hidden Devices option from the View menu that can be accessed from the Device Manager.
A situation, which seems to be related to the Windows XP Plug and Play service, can sometimes occur in which the Device Manager is completely devoid of information on the devices.
To check if the service is running, enter msconfig in the Start => Run box. Open the Services tab in the System Configuration utility's window. If the Plug and Play service isn't listed, uncheck the option in the box beside Hide All Microsoft Services.
The option for the Plug and Play service should be enabled and should be shown to be running. If it isn't running, right-click the My Computer entry on the Windows Start menu and choose Manage. On the Computer Management window, expand the entry for Services And Applications and click Services. Make the Standard tab display its contents and locate the entry for Plug and Play. Double-click this entry and set the Startup type to Manual. Next, click the Start button under the Service type in the same window. The service should start, and the window can be closed. Should any warnings appear during this process, just click OK. The Device Manager should now be displaying all of its information.
Note well that you might need the Windows CD to reinstall some device drivers if you take the following action, but most of the time Windows will restore them by using the driver files that it already has in its folder - which is usually but not always the C:\Windows folder. During the setup process, you're given the opportunity to install Windows wherever you want it to be installed. Leaving the default option always installs Windows in the C:\Windows folder.
It isn't necessary to enter Safe Mode in Windows XP in order to see any multiple instances of devices. The reason is provided in the next item below.
In a Windows 95/98/Me system, try booting in Safe mode by pressing the F8 or Ctrl key at start-up until the boot menu presents itself. Then open the Device Manager by using the right mouse button to click on My Computer, followed by Properties. Click the + signs beside each device category to expand it, and go through the devices and highlight and use the Remove button to *completely remove* any devices (except IRQ Holders for PCI Steering) that show more than one instance. Also remove any device that shows a yellow exclamation mark, or red cross against it, is installed in the Other devices category, or any device that is a relic from a previous installation, such as the standard Windows IDE hard disk drive references or drivers.
For example, there might be a SiS device driver installed for a previous motherboard when the current motherboard's chipset is made by VIA. Then you should download and install all of the latest device driver updates from the PC or motherboard manufacturer's website - especially the IDE busmaster driver, AGP driver, and USB Controller. You should also update the drivers for the video card and sound card - and update to the latest version of DirectX from - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp
If you aren't sure that your system supports DirectX, you can enter dxdiag in the Start => Run box to run the DirectX video and sound diagnostics programs. If you have installed a new motherboard, and you have entered Safe mode to remove the drivers used on the old board but not on the new one, you should enter Safe mode a few times to make sure all of the hardware is correctly listed. Any brand-name device that is loaded that is not used on the new motherboard should be removed.
For example, the old motherboard might have had a SiS chipset, and the new one has a VIA chipset, so you would remove anything with SiS in its name. If the new board has onboard video and sound chips, and you had separate cards installed on the old board, you would also remove the sound and video entries, etc., just as you would if you were adding new sound and graphics cards.
From initial installation problems to USB devices that suddenly don't work, cleaning up the Device Manager in Safe mode is the first step in Windows 9.x USB troubleshooting. Doing so can also be the remedy for many non-USB problems. Many hardware related problems in Windows can be traced to ghost and/or duplicate device entries. Obsolete and/or duplicate devices can only be seen and removed from the Device Manager while in Safe mode, which can be accessed by repeated pressing the F8 key (to bring up the boot menu) at start-up in both Windows 9x and XP systems.
You should be able to find many articles that deal with such a cleanup by using a search phrase in the Google search box at the top of this page, such as: clean + "device manager" + "safe mode" + "Windows 98".
Note well that you don't need to go into Safe Mode in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 to clean the Device Manager out in the way that is detailed above, because there's an option under the Device Manager's View menu to Show Hidden Devices.
The quickest method to open the Device Manager in Windows XP and Windows Vista is to enter devmgmt.msc in the Start => Run box.
In Windows 7, just enter device in the Start => Search programs and files box to be provided with a clickable link to the Device Manager.
Not all of the devices that are installed are shown. When the Show Hidden Devices option is enabled, the Device Manager (in normal mode) in Windows XP shows all of the hidden devices. To see them, just click the + sign beside each category of device.
If you want to see the devices that are installed but not in use, open the command prompt window by entering cmd in the Start => Run box.
Now enter these each of these command lines exactly as they are, pressing the Enter key after each line is typed in:
set devmgr_show_details=1
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
start devmgmt.msc
The last command line opens the Device Manager.
You must still open View and make sure that there is a check mark placed beside Show Hidden Devices. If there is no check mark beside it, place one there by clicking on the term.
Now you can see the devices that have been installed previously but which are not currently connected or in use. Their icons are greyed out (faint images compared to the icons of the installed devices). Double-click the entries for Disk drives, Other devices, and Universal Serial Bus controllers. Whenever you see a greyed-out icon that is faint compared to the other icons, right-click on it with the mouse pointer and then click on Unistall inthe menu that presents itself.
After doing that you won't have any redundant entries in the Device Manager.
In Windows XP, there are several alternative options available for showing how the devices are listed in the Device Manager. These alternative lists are also set in the Device Manager's View menu, such a a list of assigned Interrupt Request lines (IRQs). The Direct Memory Access (DMA) list can also be shown by opening its option.
|
|
PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2010. All rights reserved.