PC Hardware Annoyances

CARD AND PORT ANNOYANCES

RECOGNIZING UNKNOWN SYSTEM DEVICES

The Annoyance:

I see an “unknown” item in my Device Manager marked with a black exclamation mark in a little yellow circle. How do I get rid of it?

The Fix:

Windows simply lists devices it can’t recognize as “unknown.” To resolve this annoyance, you need to identify the problem device, and then get Windows to see it.

Here’s a quick tip. If you just installed a device and Windows doesn’t see it, then you already identified the problem device. Otherwise, right-click the unknown device and select Remove, then reboot the system and let Windows redetect the device. Windows will probably only identify the device type (such as Wave Audio Device or USB drive).

Next, Windows should launch the Install New Hardware Wizard and ask you for a driver. If not, right-click the unknown device, select Update Driver (see Figure 1-19), and follow the instructions. Check the Device Manager again to make sure Windows properly identified the device.

Figure 1-19. The Device Manager helps identify and troubleshoot a system’s diverse devices.

UNDERSTANDING AGP VOLTAGES

The Annoyance:

I can’t cram this new AGP card into my system no matter how hard I try. I thought all AGP cards were the same.

The Fix:

Nope. We usually think of AGP as a single technology, but there are actually three AGP standards: AGP 1.0, AGP 2.0, and AGP 3.0. Each standard uses the same operating ...