Hardware Configuration and Management

Configuring hardware in Windows 2000 is in many cases much easier than the same task in Windows NT, primarily due to the new support for Plug and Play. Remember, though, that this only applies to devices that are Plug and Play compatible, and the computer's BIOS must also support PnP.

The Add/Remove Hardware Wizard, shown in Figure, provides a step-by-step guide to installing, removing, and troubleshooting hardware peripherals.

The Add/Remove Hardware Wizard simplifies the installation and configuration of Plug and Play devices.
This book, “Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers,” will go into great detail on how to configure various hardware devices and their device drivers, including:

• DVD and CD-ROM drives, hard disks, and removable media devices
• Display adapters and monitor
• Mobile/portable computer hardware, APM and PCMCIA (PC Card) devices
• Input/output devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, printers, scanners, digital cameras, smart cards, etc.
• Modems
• Infrared, wireless and Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices
• Multiprocessor systems

There are some devices that Windows 2000 cannot detect; in these cases, you will have to manually install and configure the hardware. This may require you to determine what hardware resources are available. To do this in Windows 2000 Professional, perform the following sequence: Start | Settings | Control Panel | System | Hardware and select the Device Manager tab.