How to Troubleshoot Problems Installing New Hardware

Often, you might have difficulty installing a new hardware feature, or an existing hardware feature might suddenly fail. If you are having trouble installing a new hardware feature, follow these steps:

1. If Windows will not start.
2. Install any updates available from Windows Update.
3. Download and install updated software and drivers for your hardware. Hardware manufacturers often release updated software for hardware features after they release the hardware. You can typically download software updates from the manufacturer's Web site.
4. Remove and reinstall any newly installed hardware by strictly following the manufacturer's instructions. You often need to install the software before connecting the hardware. For more information, see the sections titled "How to Diagnose Hardware Problems" and "How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems" later in this tutorial. For detailed information about troubleshooting universal serial bus (USB) devices, see the section titled "How to Troubleshoot USB Problems" later in this tutorial. For information about troubleshooting devices that connect using Bluetooth, see the section titled "How to Troubleshoot Bluetooth Problems" later in this tutorial.
5. Use Event Viewer to find any related events that might provide useful information for diagnosing the problem. Typically, drivers will add events to the System Event Log. However, drivers could add events to any log. For information about using Event Viewer, see the section titled "How to Use Event Viewer" later in this tutorial.
6. Install updated drivers for other hardware features, including basic input/output system (BIOS) and firmware updates for all hardware accessories and your computer. Updated drivers for other hardware features can sometimes solve incompatibility problems with new hardware.
7. If possible, move hardware to different connectors on your computer. For example, move internal cards to different slots, or connect USB devices to different USB ports. If this solves the problem, the original connector on your computer has failed or the device was not connected correctly.
8. Replace any cables used to connect the new hardware to your computer. If this solves the problem, the cable was faulty.
9. Connect the new hardware to a different computer. If the hardware fails on multiple computers, you might have faulty hardware.
10. Contact the failed hardware manufacturer for support. You might have a hardware or software failure; the hardware manufacturer can assist with additional troubleshooting.