Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual

14.4 When Plug and Play Doesn't Work

If, when you connect a new component, Windows XP doesn't display a message like the one at top in Figure 14-2, it probably can't "see" your new device.

  • If you've installed an internal card, make sure that it's seated in the slot firmly (after shutting down your computer, of course).

  • If you attached something external, make sure that it has power and is correctly connected to the PC.

Figure 14-2. Top: You're halfway home. Windows XP has at least acknowledged that you've plugged something in. Click the balloon to proceed with the software installation (if you didn't install the software first, as you should have). Bottom: The Found New Hardware Wizard. You'll rarely use the bottom option, "Don't search. I will choose the driver to install." It's primarily used to override Windows XP's own, preinstalled driver in favor of another one ”for example, one that came from the original manufacturer that you've been told offers more features than the official Microsoft driver.

In either case, before panicking, try restarting the PC. If you still have no luck, try the Add New Hardware Wizard described in the next section. (And if even that doesn't work, call the manufacturer.)

If your new gadget didn't come with a disk (or maybe just a disk with drivers, but no installer), then hooking it up may produce the "Found New Hardware" balloon shown at top in Figure 14-2. Click the balloon to make the New Hardware Wizard appear (Figure 14-2, bottom). In that case, proceed like this:

  • If you have the drivers on a disk from the manufacturer . Select the first option, "Install the software automatically," insert the driver disk if it's not already in the machine, and then click Next. Windows either finds the compatible driver and installs it automatically, or offers you a choice of several.

    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

    Using Manufacturer's Drivers for Plug and Play Devices

    Windows XP finds my new Plug and Play device and installs it, but I don't want to use the Windows XP drivers. I have newer , better, drivers from the manufacturer. How can I stop the automated installation so I can use the better drivers?

    You can't stop Plug and Play detection, but you can update the drivers after Windows XP has installed your new hardware. You do that in the Device Manager, described in Section 14.6.

    NOTE

    If you have drivers on a floppy, and this technique fails to find them, try the next option. The "Install from a list or specific location" option often works when the "Install the software automatically" choice doesn't.

  • If you've downloaded the driver from the Web . Select the second option, "Install from a list or specific location," and click Next. You should now turn on both of the checkboxes shown in Figure 14-2, and then click the Browse button to navigate to, and select, the driver you downloaded.

NOTE

If you run the Found Hardware Wizard but don't, in fact, have drivers of any kind to feed it, Windows offers you the opportunity to register a kind of electronic complaint ”something like an emailed record of your unsuccessful driver search.

As the first screen of the Get Help with Your Hardware Device Wizard makes clear, receiving help entails sending details of your PC and its configuration to Microsoft. If enough people agree to send in reports in this way, Microsoft will put pressure on the negligent manufacturer, in hopes of one day producing an XP-compatible driver that will be sent back to your PC automatically (via the Automatic Updates feature).

14.4.1 Using the Add Hardware Wizard

The Add Hardware Wizard fulfills some of the functions of the Found New Hardware Wizard, but comes in handy in different circumstances. You can use it whenever Windows fails to notice that you've blessed it with new components , for example, or to update the original driver when a better one becomes available.

Begin by connecting the new gear (turning off the computer first, if necessary). Turn the machine on again and then open the Add Hardware Wizard program in the Control Panel (Chapter 9). Click Next to move past the Welcome screen.

14.4.1.1 The search for Plug and Play

The first thing the wizard wants to do is search for a Plug and Play device. You already know that it won't find one ”after all, if the hardware you're trying to install were Plug and Play “compatible, Windows XP would have found it already.

Unfortunately, you can't stop the Hardware Wizard juggernaut . You have no choice but to click Next and proceed as outlined in the next section.

14.4.1.2 Add Hardware Wizard searches for non “Plug and Play devices

If the search for Plug and Play hardware fails, a new wizard window opens and asks you if the new equipment is already connected to the PC. If you answer no, the wizard closes ”its subtle way of telling you that you were supposed to have connected the gadget before even opening the wizard.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

Driver vs. Driver

Which is better: the drivers that come with Windows XP, or the drivers I've downloaded from the manufacturer's Web site?

In many cases, they're the same thing. The drivers included with Windows XP usually did come from the hardware's manufacturer, which gave them to Microsoft for inclusion with Windows. However, you should still use the drivers that came from your gadget's manufacturer whenever possible, especially if you got them from the manufacturer's Web site. They're likely to be newer versions than the ones that came with Windows XP.

If you select "Yes, I have already connected the hardware," on the other hand, you're taken to a list of every component that's already in your computer (Figure 14-3). Scroll to the very bottom of the list and select "Add a new hardware device." Click Next.

Figure 14-3. Why does the wizard display a list of components you've already successfully installed? Because you can also use the Add Hardware Wizard to troubleshoot PC components you've already installed, using this very screen. Furthermore, Windows may have detected , but not precisely identified, something you've installed. For example, If you just installed a network adapter, and the list contains a generic Network Adapter entry with a question mark and a yellow ! circle, you can select it to install the correct driver.

Now the wizard asks you to make yet another decision:

  • Search for and install the hardware automatically . If you choose this option and click Next, Windows makes yet another attempt to detect the new equipment and install its driver. If a happy little "Found New Hardware" balloon appears in your notification area, all is well; the wizard's work is done.

    If the search succeeds, you've saved a couple of keystrokes; if it fails, you move on to the second option anyway.

  • Install the hardware that I manually select from a list . If you choose this option and click Next (or if the previous option fails), the wizard displays a list of device types (top left in Figure 14-4). From that list, find and select the type of hardware you want to install ”"Imaging devices" for a digital camera or a scanner, for example, "PCMCIA adapters" for a PC card, and so on. (Click Show All Devices if you can't figure out which category to choose.)

    Figure 14-4. Top left: Specify which kind of component you're adding. Bottom: Scroll down the left pane to find the name of your hardware manufacturer (in this case, a PC card is the hardware). The right pane of the window changes to display all the models the manufacturer offers, or at least the models that Windows XP knows about. If you can't find your model number, check the hardware's documentation to see if selecting one of the listed models would work just as well.

    Then click Next. Now Windows XP opens a two-paned window like the one shown at bottom in Figure 14-4.

    To complete the installation, click Next to forge on through the wizard pages. You may be asked to select a port or configure other settings. When you click the Finish button on the last screen, Windows transfers the drivers to your hard drive. (Along the way, you may be instructed to insert the Windows XP Professional installation CD.) As a final step, you may be asked to restart the PC.

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