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If Something Goes Wrong
Resolving a hardware conflict
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theory, if every device connected to the computer is Plug and
Play-compliant, no two devices will compete for the same
system resources. Simply plug in the device and turn on your
computer. The operating system automatically sets up your
system to accommodate the new device.
If you install an older (legacy) device that the operating
system cannot recognize, the operating system may have
difficulty assigning resources to it. As a result, a hardware
conflict can occur. To see what resources the operating
system has assigned to the device, see
Resolving conflicts
There are three things you can do to resolve hardware
conflicts:
❖
Disable the device.
For an older device, remove it from the computer. For a
Plug and Play device.
❖
Disable another system component and use its resources
for the new device.
❖
Reconfigure the device so that its requirements do not
conflict. Refer to the device’s documentation for
instructions about changing settings on the device.
Fixing a problem with Device Manager
Device Manager provides a way to check and change the
configuration of a device.
Changing the default settings using Device Manager can
cause other conflicts that make one or more devices unusable.
Device Manager is a configuration tool for advanced users
who understand configuration parameters and the
ramifications of changing them.