Adding New Hardware

Adding New Hardware

Introduction

It is possible to add new physical components to our computer like a modem or a newmonitor. For the new component to work, our operating system needs to detect it. Usually, Windows will detect the new hardware automatically, but in the event that it does not, Windows provides us with the Printers and Other Hardware tool that lets us install the new hardware correctly.

Currently many of the components that we install incorporate Plug & Play technology. This consists of transfering all the responsibility to the operating system, thus the operating system is in charge of detecting the new hardware and installing the neccessary programs for it to work properly. It also detects if we uninstall a component and uninstalling programs to free space.

This is all possible because Plug & Play components incorporate common protocols that allow the operating system to communicate with them.

Many Plug & Play components can be connected and disconnected without having to turn the computer off, specially the ones that use the USB system.

The Plug & Play allows WindowsXP to control their power use so that you can turn them off or minimize their power consumption when not in use.

When new hardware is installed, the computer needs the files that descibe the hardware and allows the computer to communicate with it. These files are known as drivers.

Windows XP already has the drivers for the most commonly used equipment. There are thousands of hardware manufacturers, so it is impossible for Windows to have all the drivers in the install CD. Sometimes it will not be necessary to insert the disk provided by the manufacturer.

In addition, Windows XP is now capable of going online to search for driver updates through Windows Update.

When we want to add new hardware to our computer, a monitor for example, two things can happen: either the component is Plug & Play or it is not. In the first case, as we have mentioned, simply connect the hardware and Windows will recognize and install it automatically. The Plug & Play elements are conveniently labeled, but in case of a doubt, we can find out by plugging it into the computer. If the window recognizes it, this means it is Plug & Play and if it does not, it is not.

From the Start menu access the Control Panel, and as you can see above, there are various options for configuring hardware. WindowsXP has divided the hardware into various groups, and there are different ways to configure each group.

These groups are:

Network, Sounds, Printer and other hardware etc.

Adding New Hardware   Adding Hardware   To install a new element the first thing you need to do is to connect it to the computer, unless it has a USB cable, and turn it off. For many hardware elements it is not necessary to open up the computer. For example, in order to connect a mouse, screen, printer, orscanner we simply need to plug in the cables to the corresponding ports on the PC. In the majority of the cases there is no confusion because of the fact that a given cable will only fit into one designated port, and they are also color coded.   In other cases, such as installing a sound card or a hard drive, it will be necessary to open the computer and look for the corresponding slots. Warning: In these cases refer to the instructions provided by the manufacturer.   Once everything has been placed where it needs to go, turn on the computer, keeping in mind that a few different things can occur:   a) The operating system recognizes the new hardware element.   Windows will begin to install the hardware and we will not have to do anything more. In some cases it may ask for the CD with the drivers.   b) The operating system does not recognize the new hardware element.   This will be obvious because nothing will happen. In this scenario, there are two possibilities:   b.1) We have the CD with the drivers.   Insert the CD and the installation process will begin. Follow the instructions that become displayed. If this does not happen look for a file like install.exe, instalar.exe, setup.exe,setup.bat and double-click on it so that the installation will begin.   b.2) We do not have the CD with the drivers.   In this case we should follow the process that is explained in the following point. Through this process Windows can find the driver needed.   Note: If this does not produce any results, the only thing left is to personally look for the drivers on the manufacturers web page and download them to our hard drive. From there on follow the steps starting with b.1).     Adding hardware that is not Plug & Play   To add a hardware element that has not been automatically recognized by the operating system or an element that we do not have the drivers needed to install it. Window offers the following option:   From start choose Control Panel, double-click on Printers and Other Hardware, and a screen like the one below will appear.     Now click on Add hardware.   For Animated Presentation (With Voice)Click Here.         Adding New Hardware   To Install Windows XP   To install Windows XP to a new hard disk:   1. Read the End-User License Agreement, and then press F8.   Note: If your Windows XP CD-ROM is an upgrade, you are prompted to insert a CD-ROM of a previous operating system to verify upgrade compliance. Remove the Windows XP CD-ROM, and then insert the CD-ROM from your previous operating system into the CD-ROM drive.   You can use the CD-ROM to upgrade from the following versions of Windows:   Windows 98 Windows 98 Second Edition Windows Millennium Edition Windows NT 4.0 Windows 2000 Professional   2. When you are prompted for the Windows XP CD-ROM, remove your previous operating system CD-ROM, and then insert your Windows XP CD-ROM.   3. To install Windows XP by starting the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.   4. When you see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press any key to start the computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.   5. At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to start Windows XP Setup.   6. Follow the instructions on the screen to select and format a partition where you want to install Windows XP.   7. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Windows XP Setup.