Computer Management: Device Manager

Computer Management tools are very important and everyone should know how to use these. Everything your computer has connected, everything it has done or is doing, all that info is there in Computer Management. One of the more important tools from this section you should know is Device Manager, this program manages your system hardware drivers.

We explain in detail what for and how it is used and may help you get back online or run that game. It may seem complicated at first but Windows Wizards help a lot and if you just read what they say, it will make sense after.

You can access this tool by right-clicking My Computer icon (not a shortcut) and selecting Manage. Select Device Manager and you will be presented with all the hardware that is connected and recognized by Windows. You can get there through Control Panel>Performance and Maintenance>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Device Manager.

Navigate using your mouse double-click or right-click on your preferred device and select properties. This will bring you a window with all of your hardware configuration and info. If there is a yellow question mark beside the device that means there is no driver installed for it, if there is a red cross that means it is disabled.

If you ever need to replace drivers for any of your devices you can do it here. Just select one of the options in the driver tab in the properties of any device. This will bring you a MS Wizard that will guide you through the whole process of updating or uninstalling your preferred device driver. You can let it search the internet for the drivers which most of the time doesn't work. You can let the Wizard scan your system or you can point it to a driver you want to install.

It is always best to install only one driver, reboot and install second, reboot install the third. Not all drivers require that you reboot your system after installation a, but if they do install them separate. Always have more than one back-up of your system drivers and keep them in separate places.

If you are replacing your drivers Be Sure You Can Rollback if it doesn't work to the previous driver. Your computer might just start to reboot every time after the Welcome screen, and you only tried to install new graphic drivers.

We hope this post helped you understand Computer Management Tools better and now you don't have to bother someone who knows a bit more about computers than you, and ask them for help with simple things like installing drivers. Come back soon for more excellent tips on Computer Management and other topics from PC Helpers On Blogspot!