Introduction to Computers Device Management

Device Basics Most modern devices will not need extensive configuration after installation. Most of the time, devices will automatically be assigned the proper communication channels and resources they need, and assign themselves an appropriate device driver There are times however, when the default will not work correctly, so we’ll need to know how it works in order to fix it

System Resources There are three different system resources that hardware gets allocated IO Address (Also called Port Address) This is a hexadecimal address that allows different components to talk to each other Each address must be unique IRQ (Interrupt Request Line) This is used to send interrupt messages to the CPU to request processing resources In modern computers, this resource can be shared DMA (Direct Memory Access Channel) This bypasses the CPU entirely and allows the device to communicate directly with system memory. This is mostly seen in FireWire devices This address must be unique

Plug-And-Play Devices that don’t need to be manually assigned these resources are called plug-and-play Older devices that do not support this technology are considered legacy devices Almost all modern devices support plug-and-play Operating systems reserve IRQ 0-15 for legacy devices that are not plug-and play

Device Driver Review Device Drivers are programs that facilitate communication between the operating system and hardware They are used when BIOS and CMOS aren’t enough to support the device. Usually because it is removable or highly customizable We can get drivers from 3 main locations: CD included with the hardware the manufacturer’s website Windows Update The CD will usually be an appropriate but outdated driver, Windows Update will usually be an outdated or default driver, and the manufacturer’s website will have the updated specific driver

Device Driver Additional Information Device Drivers require administrator access to be installed. This is done to prevent malicious actions as well as to prevent uninformed users from assigning the wrong driver to a device Device drivers are both hardware AND operating system specific, so we have to make sure we are using the right driver when we install it Device drivers use a digital signature to verify they are from the correct manufacturer and that the driver is compatible with the installed OS. You can install a driver with a missing or incorrect signature, but your OS will warn you against it, since it cannot verify its stability, compatibility or security Device drivers must be updated occasionally to fix bugs, patch vulnerabilities and increase compatibility and software support

Installing Device Drivers Using Windows Update will usually result in us getting a basic driver that will support a minimal level of functionality This works well for devices with minimal requirements and functionality, like a USB drive but wouldn’t work well for a device like a video card which provides an intricate service Installing from a CD is usually used when an internet connection isn’t available, when using outdated hardware or when needing to keep a lot of hardware consistent It is usually a better practice however to replace the CD driver with an updated driver from the manufacturer’s website

Safely Remove Hot-Swappable Hardware If a device can be attached and removed when the computer is running, it is called hot-swappable USB devices, display devices and some SATA hardware can all be hot- Just because a device is hot-swappable though doesn’t mean it’s safe to remove while the computer is running If you remove a storage device while it is being written to your data could become corrupt It is always best to stop the device by choosing “Safely remove hardware” first

Windows There are three great tools for diagnosing hardware in Windows Device Manager is used when we want to be able to manipulate the hardware, such as change drivers MSINFO32 is used when we want information, but we are unable to make changes through it Device and Printers is used for external devices

Device Manager Shows us a list of devices in the system Allows us to see any device status errors Events tab shows a list of events relate to the device Driver tab shows driver info and allows us to update, roll back or even remove the relevant driver

MSinfo32 Also called system information in newer versions of Windows Shows basic system information as well as hardware details This is a useful tool for diagnostics and system research, but we are unable to change any details here

Device and Printers Useful for researching and managing external devices such as printers, scanners, external storage, game controllers, etc Right click will open a context sensitive menu for the device