Troubleshoot Hardware Problems Using the Device Manager - Video Tip

Submitted by Rick on May 1, 2008 - 4:32pm.

Starting with Windows 95 all the way through today's Windows Vista, Microsoft supplied computer users with a great tool listing the different hardware devices attached to and residing in our computers. This tool is called the Device Manager.

Today's tip focuses on how to use the Device Manager to troubleshoot a video card, sound card or other internal hardware problem. If you suddenly lose sound or your monitor's picture lacks the quality it had before, or you can't connect your high speed modem to your computer, this tip will solve the problem a high percentage of the time.

1. RIGHT Click on My Computer from your desktop or Start menu (XP & Vista)

2. Click Properties (or use the Windows key + Pause/Break key to replace these two steps)

3. Click Device Manager (Windows 95-Me, Vista). or in WindowsVista Click the Hardware tab --> then click Device Manager (XP)

4. Click the "+" sign next to the device having the problem

5. RIGHT Click the device itself

6. Click Remove (Windows 95-Me) or Uninstall (XP & Vista)

7. Close any open screens and shut down your computer (don't just restart, shut it all the way off)

8. When Windows restarts, it should re-recognize your hardware and function properly again.

 If these steps don't work, then you get some extra computer help.

Watch the short (2 minutes) video below to see these steps in action!