The status of each hardware device recognized by Windows is available at any time within Device Manager. This status contains the current state of the hardware as seen by Windows.
Checking a device's status should be the first course of action if you suspect that a specific device is causing a problem or if any device in Device Manager is tagged with a yellow exclamation point.
The detailed steps involved in viewing a device's status in Device Manager vary somewhat depending on which Windows operating system you have installed:
- How to View a Device's Status in Device Manager in Windows 7
- How to View a Device's Status in Device Manager in Windows Vista
- How to View a Device's Status in Device Manager in Windows XP
Any status other than one that explicitly says that a device is working properly should be accompanied by a device manager error code. You can troubleshoot the issue that Windows sees with this device based on that code: Complete List of Device Manager Error Codes.
Note: There may still be an issue with a piece of hardware even though Windows might not report it via the device's status. If you have a strong suspicion that a device is causing a problem but Device Manager doesn't report an issue, you should still troubleshoot the device.
