Installing New Devices

When a physical device such as a PCI card is inserted into a machine it may still require installing within the operating system. A logical device can be “removed” while the physical device remains connected! Plug and Play (PnP) devices are fairly easy to work with. A computer can usually deal with these without much help. Older devices like ISA cards or externally connected devices may need configuring. This may also apply to newer PnP devices if they have been disabled or removed.

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Using the Add Hardware wizard from the Control Panel is the recommended way to install hardware.  Alternatively, a device can be installed using the Add Hardware Wizard from the System Applet. (The system applet can be accessed by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties)

In either case the Add Hardware Wizard will appear. Click Next to Continue.

The wizard will attempt to search for any new hardware connected to the computer.

If the device is not found the wizard will ask you if you have connected the hardware.

Select the desired option and click Next.

Select Add a new device, and click Next. This routine is common to most hardware installation…

The wizard will ask you if you want to automatically detect the device or manually select from a list.

Selecting Manual will bring up this screen. Select the desired device category and click Next.

If the device isn’t listed then you may need to contact the manufacturer to obtain a driver.

Select the device and Click Next.

The Hardware is then installed. Click on Finish to complete the wizard.