Device Drivers-2
Obtaining Device Drivers
Computer technicians often spend a great deal of time searching for drivers. Many times, the driver disks are lost, and other times, upgrading the OS requires new drivers. Additionally, new drivers can often improve the functionality of existing devices (but sometimes, new drivers can cause problems too).
On the CD There are some standard locations to find drivers. The first place to look is the Web site of the device manufacturer. See the Industry Contacts document on the accompanying CD-ROM for a list of manufacturer contact information. Some Web sites make it easier to find driver downloads than others do. Note that a high-speed Internet connection is extremely valuable when downloading large files. If you don’t have access to such a connection, and you need a large file, you might be better off attempting to order a disk from the manufacturer, if available. The cost usually isn’t prohibitive, but you’ll have to wait for delivery.
Another good source for drivers is Windows itself. For example, an old printer might come with drivers only for 9x and previous versions. If you need that printer to work with 2000 or XP, run the Add Printer Wizard in the Printers folder (see Tutorial 2.2 for instructions on accessing the Printers folder). If Windows doesn’t install the device automatically, you will eventually be able to reach a page allow- ing you to select the device manufacturer and model name/number. Sometimes, you’ll need to insert the Windows disc in the drive for Windows to use this driver, unless you browse for the appropriate files. In Windows 9x, these are often in C:WindowsOptionsCabs. A driver for a close model number might or might not work with your hardware. For example, an HP DeskJet 660 driver will work with an HP DeskJet 672C printer.
This procedure isn’t limited to printers. Run the Add Hardware Wizard (or equivalent) from Control Panel to install other types of devices in the same way.
Microsoft also keeps a huge selection of drivers. If you search Microsoft.com for “drivers,” you’ll get a wealth of pages where you can find drivers, including third-party companies that sell drivers.
When you download drivers, there are different types of files you can download. Some downloads are compressed files in .zip form, requiring you to have a program such as WinZip (winzip.com) or Stuffit Expander? (free from aladdinsys.com) to expand. More common is the executable file. These files have the .exe extension and must be run, usually by double-clicking the icon. These come in two types: the setup program and the self-extracting zip file. If the file is a setup program, once executed, usually by double-clicking the icon, it will immediately start the process of installing the device driver and perhaps the operating program. If it is a self-extracting zip file using WinZip, you’ll see a text box displaying the destination path of the extracted files. Figur 2.11 shows this process. Change the path to a folder that you can easily locate, such as the desktop. Note that you do not need to have WinZip to extract the files from this type of filea dedicated WinZip program is part of the file.
Occasionally, you’ll run a self-extracting file and see a command prompt or MS-DOS prompt window. To be able to locate the extracted files after extraction, create a new folder and put the self-extracting file in this folder before running it. The extracted folders and files will be placed in the new folder as well.
Often when you download files from a self-extracting file, you’ll see folders bearing the names of various OSs and versions. You can delete any folders for OSs that you won’t be using, such as Windows 3.1, OS/2, Solaris, and so forth. One title you might see is Win32. This refers to 32-bit Windows OSs, which include all of the versions covered in this book. You install these drivers using the Windows Add/ Remove Programs applet in Control Panel, or by navigating to the drivers when Windows has detected the new hardware on boot.
Chipset Manufacturers
If you searched everywhere else for a driver but had no luck, there is one more place to try: the chipset manufacturer. A chipset is the set of integrated circuits used on a particular device, and is often made by a manufacturer other than the device manufacturer. Look at the device and try to read the name and numbers on the larger chips. If the item is identified in Device Manager, it sometimes is identified by chipset rather than by device manufacturer. If that fails, search on the Internet (we recommend google.com) for information about the device; you can often find the chipset manufacturer and model number from the device manufacturer’s Web site. You can also run a diagnostic program such as Micro-Scope (micro2000.com) or PC Certify (pccertify.com) to identify the hardware. This is especially helpful on a laptop, which you will be unlikely to open.
Locating the chipset manufacturer and model number is no guarantee that the manufacturer’s Web site will have a driver, and if it does, that the driver will work with your devicebut it’s certainly worth a try.
Device Status
When you look in Device Manager, you might sometimes see a yellow question mark or exclamation point, or a red “x” next to a device listing (see Figure 2.12). The red “x” or yellow exclamation point indicates a resource conflict (discussed later in this section), a problem with the device and/or its driver, or that the device has been disabled in Device Manager. The yellow question mark indicates that Windows has detected a newly installed device but cannot determine the nature of that device. Use the procedures described earlier in this section to diagnose and remedy the problem.
| Tip | If you see the “This device is working properly” comment on a device’s property page, don’t count on it. The device might or might not be working properly. However, a comment stating that there is a problem with the device will always be correct. |
