Networking / Beginners

---

Viewing the NIC in Device Manager

Windows Vista stores all its hardware data in the Registry, but it provides Device Manager to give you a graphical view of the devices on your system. To display Device Manager, follow these steps:

1. Select Start, right-click Computer, and then click Properties in the shortcut menu. The System window appears.
2. In the Tasks list, click Device Manager. The User Account Control dialog box appears.
3. Enter your UAC credentials. Vista displays the Device Manager window.

Tip: One quick way to go directly to Device Manager is to press Windows Logo+R (or select Start, All Programs, Accessories, Run) to open the Run dialog box, type devmgmt.msc, and click OK. Alternatively, select Start, type dev in the Search box, and then click Device Manager in the search results. Note, too, that you can also press Windows Logo+Pause/Break to display the System window, and then click Device Manager.

Device Manager not only provides you with a comprehensive summary of your system's hardware data, it also doubles as a decent troubleshooting tool.

If you examine the device's properties the Device Status area tells you a bit more about what's wrong. The problem here is that the device won't start. Either try Device Manager's suggested remedy or click the Troubleshoot button to launch the hardware troubleshooter.

Device Manager uses three different icons to indicate the device's current status:

• A black exclamation mark (!) on a yellow field tells you that there's a problem with the device.
• A red X tells you that the device is disabled or missing.
• A blue i on a white field tells you that the device's Use Automatic Settings check box (on the Resources tab) is deactivated and that at least one of the device's resources was selected manually. Note that the device might be working just fine, so this icon doesn't indicate a problem. If the device isn't working properly, however, the manual setting might be the cause. (For example, the device might have a DIP switch or jumper set to a different resource.)

Note: Device Manager has several dozen error codes. See the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for a complete list of the codes as well as solutions to try in each case: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123/.

Updating the NIC Device Driver

If a device is flagged on your system but you don't notice any problems, you can usually get away with just ignoring the flag. Lots of systems that run perfectly well with flagged devices, so this falls under the "If it ain't broke..." school of troubleshooting. The danger here is that tweaking your system to try and get rid of the flag can cause other-usually more serious-problems. Otherwise, a good next step is to get an updated device driver from the manufacturer and then install it.

Note: Remember, too, that just because the Device Status message says This device is working properly, it doesn't mean that the device is working flawlessly. Device Manager can only detect certain problems.

Follow these steps to update a device driver:

1. If you have a floppy disk or CD with the updated driver, insert the disk or CD. If you downloaded the driver from the Internet, decompress the driver file, if necessary.
2. In Device Manager, click the device you want to work with.
3. Select Action, Update Driver Software. (You can also open the device's property sheet, display the Driver tab, and click Update Driver.)