5.6 Troubleshooting the Installation Process
5.6.3 System properties, identifying icon symbols
System Properties
System Properties has four categories of information that can be accessed by clicking on the tabs:
  • General – General information about the system such as version of Windows 98 installed, total RAM, type of CPU, percentage of used system resources (useful but not very accurate), and so on. The type of information may vary, depending on computer manufacturer (such as HP or Dell).
  • Device Manager – Hardware devices installed and their status.
  • Hardware Profiles – Most PCs have no need for different hardware profiles. However, a laptop used at different locations, such as at home and at work, may need different profiles. The Hardware Profiles option allows for the creation of various profiles to select different hardware configurations when the system boots up. 
  • Performance – Shows how the system is configured to work (usually for maximum performance), percentage of resources being used, and so on.

Identifying Special Icon Symbols Using Device Manager
The Device Manager is included with Windows 98, and allows the user to manage, view, and change computer resources. The Device Manager in Windows provides a graphical interface representation of the devices configured in the system. This utility is used to identify installed ports, update device drivers, and change I/O settings on the computer. It can also be used to manually isolate hardware and configuration conflicts. The Device Manager allows examination of any problem device to see where the conflict is occurring. To view the icons in the Device Manager right-click on My Computer and select Properties.

From the Device Manager menu, it can be determined whether there are any problems with installed devices on the system. Within the device, problem conditions are indicated by either an exclamation mark, a red X, or an "Other device" notation:

  • An exclamation point (!) inside a yellow circle – A device is experiencing a direct hardware conflict with another device.
  • A red "X" appearing at the device's icon – The device has been disabled, removed, or Windows is unable to locate the device.
  • "Other Devices" appears in place of icon – Windows cannot recognize the device being installed. This means that the drivers have not been installed properly, they have been uninstalled, or the device is not working correctly and the driver needs an upgrade.

The Device Manager Properties page provides tabs to access general information, device settings, device drivers information, and device resources requirements and usage. The system resources can also be viewed in the Device Manager. Typically, if there are hardware conflicts (for example, if two devices assigned the same IRQ), click on the offending device in the listing. Make sure the selected device is the current device in the computer. Also examine the other conflicting device to make sure that the same device has not been installed twice.