Manually Installing Hardware in Windows XP Home

   To manually install hardware, first determine which hardware resource is required by the hardware device. Next, you must determine the available hardware resources. In some cases, you will have to change hardware resources. Finally, you might have to troubleshoot any problems you encounter.

  • Determining Which Hardware Resources Are Required

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       When installing new hardware, you need to know what resources the hardware can use. You can reference the product documentation to determine the resources that a hardware device requires. The table below describes the resources that hardware devices use to communicate with an operating system.

    Resource Description
    Interrupts Hardware devices use interrupts to send messages. The microprocessor knows this as an interrupt request (IRQ). The microprocessor uses this information to determine which device needs its attention andthe type of attention that it needs. Windows XP Home provides 16 IRQs, numbered 0 to 15, that are assigned to devices. For example, Windows XP Home assigns IRQ 1 to the keyboard.
    Input/output(I/O) ports I/O ports are a section of memory that a hardware device uses to communicate with the operating system. When a microprocessor receives an IRQ, the operating system checks the I/O port address to retrieve additional information about what the hardware device wants it to do. An I/O port is represented as a hexadecimal number.
    Direct memory access (DMA) DMAs are channels that allow a hardware device, such as a floppy disk drive, to access memory directly, without interrupting the microprocessor. DMA channels speed up access to memory. Windows XP Home has eight DMA channels, numbered 0 through 7.
    Memory Many hardware devices, such as a network interface card (NIC), use onboard memory or reserve system memory. This reserved memory is unavailable for use by other devices or Windows XP Home.

  • Determining Available Hardware Resources

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       After you determine which resources a hardware device requires, you can look for an available resource. Device Manager provides a list of all hardware resources and their availability

       You can do the following to view the hardware resource lists:
  • In the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
  • On the View menu, click Resources By Connection. The Device Manager displays the resources that are currently in use (for example, IRQs).
  • To view a list of resources for another type of hardware resource, click the type of hardware resource you want to see on the View menu. When you know which hardware resources are available, you can install the hardware manually with the Add Hardware Wizard.
    • Note

       If you select a hardware resource during manual installation, you might need to configure the hardware device so that it can use the resource. For example, for a network adapter to use IRQ 5, you might have to set a jumper on the adapter and configure Windows XP Home so that it recognizes that the adapter now uses IRQ 5.

  • Changing Hardware Resource Assignments

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       You might need to change hardware resource assignments. For example, a hardware device might require a specific resource presently in use by another device. You might also encounter two hardware devices requesting the same hardware resource, resulting in a conflict.

       To change a resource setting, use the Resources tab in the device's Properties dialog box. You can use the following procedure to access the Resources tab:
  • In the Hardware tab of the System Properties dialog box, click Device Manager.
  • Expand the device list, right-click the specific device, and then click Properties.
  • In the Properties dialog box for the device, click the Resources tab.
    • Note

       When you change a hardware resource, print the content of Device Manager. This provides you with a record of the hardware configuration. If you encounter problems, you can use the printout to verify the hardware resource assignments. From this point, follow the same procedures that you used to choose a hardware resource during a manual installation.
    Note

       Changing the resource assignments for non-Plug and Play devices in Device Manager does not change the resources used by that device. You only use Device Manager to instruct the operating system on device configuration. To change the resources used by a non-Plug and Play device, consult the device documentation to see whether switches or jumpers must be configured on the device.
     
     
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