12.5 Using System Tools and System Editors to Troubleshoot Windows 9x/2000
12.5.2 Using Windows Device Manager to troubleshoot
The Windows Device Manager provides a way to view the hardware on the system in a graphical interface while also helping to manage and troubleshoot it. Use Device Manager to disable, un-install, and update device drivers. Device Manager helps to determine whether the hardware on the computer is working properly and if the correct drivers are installed for the hardware. It lists the devices with problems. Each device that is having a problem will be labeled so the hardware that is not installed properly can be easily identified. When manually changing device configurations, Device Manager can help avoid problems. The Device Manager is used to identify free resources and assign a device to that resource, disable devices to free resources, and reallocate resources used by devices to free a required resource. In Windows 2000, users must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to change resource settings. Even if a user is logged on as Administrator, if the computer is connected to a network, policy settings on the network might prevent them from changing resources.

Learn more about the Device Manager in Chapter 5, "Windows 9x Operating Systems".