Chapter 8: Installing and Upgrading PC Components

Labs you will perform in this chapter:

• Lab 8.1: Changing Display Properties and Upgrading Display Drivers

• Lab 8.2: Installing a Mouse in a DOS System

• Lab 8.3: Installing and Customizing a Mouse in Windows 98

• Lab 8.4: Installing a Sound Card in a DOS System

• Lab 8.5: Installing a Sound Card in Windows 9x

The modular construction of the PC and its ability to accept a wide variety of peripheral devices greatly increase its usefulness. The keyboard is the most important input device, and the monitor is the most important output device.

Input and output devices are software driven by device drivers that must be loaded in order for the devices to function. Device drivers are loaded from the operating system installation software during the installation of the OS or from software supplied by the peripheral manufacturer. If you add any new peripherals after the OS is installed, you must install their device drivers.

Windows provides a Hardware Wizard to assist you with device driver installation. The Hardware Wizard usually gives you an option for using a driver from the OS installation CD or from the peripheral manufacturer. Most of the time, if the manufacturer supplies a driver for a particular peripheral, and the driver is compatible with the OS in use, then that driver is the best choice.

Peripheral devices use system resources, and sometimes a new device creates a conflict with currently installed devices. A device conflict may cause the computer to malfunction until the conflict is removed. Windows provides the Device Manager to manage the computer’s devices.

Note

For more information, see Chapter 8 of David Groth’s A+ Complete Study Guide (Sybex, 2003).