What can I do about device driver and hardware problems?
If a device is marked as disabled, right-click on it and select Enable, then reboot the PC and test the device to see if it now works.

If this does not fix the problem, right-click on the device’s entry in Device Manager, select Uninstall, then reboot.

The device should be rediscovered by Windows, which will either load the driver automatically or prompt you to insert the driver CD.

If uninstalling a device within Device Manager doesn’t work (or if it is listed in Other devices), then uninstall it by physically removing it. Devices not supplied on expansion cards can be uninstalled by disconnecting their data cables and power supplies. Reboot, then uninstall the device within Device Manager as described above, then close down Windows and physically re-attach the device. When Windows is booted it will either load the driver automatically or prompt you to insert the driver CD.

For a conflict signalled by a yellow exclamation mark, try reinstalling the device’s driver, but first check the manufacturer’s website to see if there is a more up-to-date driver than the one currently in use. To check the version of the current driver, right-click the device’s entry in Device Manager and select Properties, then click the Driver tab and note the driver’s date and version number for comparison with those available on the website.

Sometimes drivers are supplied as programs called Setup.exe, or similar, and can be installed by double-clicking them. In other cases they are supplied as zip files which must be extracted into a folder.

In this case, to update the driver you should open Device Manager, right-click the device name and select Properties. Then click the Driver tab followed by the Update Driver button. This starts the Hardware update wizard, in which you should select the option ‘Install from a list or specific location’, and point the wizard towards the folder where the driver is stored.

Sometimes a manufacturer advises you to remove the existing driver before installing a new one, in which case follow the step above, but instead of clicking the Update Driver button, click Uninstall.

For any Device Manager problem, right-click the device’s entry and select Properties. This will display whether the device is working or disabled, together with an error code if appropriate. The error code can be used to research the problem on the web and may be useful if you need to contact a technical support person.

If a device is reported as working but you still think it has a problem – for example, if the computer behaves oddly when the device and driver are installed, click the Troubleshooting button and work through the questions and answers that pop up so that Windows can diagnose the problem. This might involve some of the procedures described above. Wireless networking