Windows 8 Bible

Wrap-Up

This chapter has been about connecting, installing, and removing hardware. Some of this material is intended for more advanced users who are familiar with computer hardware. If some of the content is beyond your technical capabilities or comfort level and you need to install or remove some hardware, consider having the job done professionally. The following are the main points to take away from this chapter:

• Most modern devices are hot-pluggable, which means you just connect them to the computer as needed.
• Always read and follow the instructions that come with a device before connecting it to your computer. Winging it will likely result in frustration.
• Hot-pluggable devices that act as storage devices have icons in your Computer folder while connected. You can transfer files to and from such a device using basic techniques described in Chapter 27.
• More-advanced hardware devices generally require shutting down the computer, connecting the device, turning the device on, and then starting the computer again.
• Use the Disk Management tool to partition and format a new drive.
• To remove a hot-pluggable storage device, click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the Notification area and stop the device before physically removing it.
• To remove other devices, first uninstall them in Device Manager. Then shut down the computer and physically remove the device from the system.