You might need to view the current status of a piece of hardware in Windows XP if it's not working properly or if you were warned that there might be a problem by a yellow exclamation point in Device Manager.
The current status of each hardware device in your Windows XP computer is available from within Device Manager. If there is a problem, a detailed Device Manager error code will be listed to help you troubleshoot the hardware issue.
Follow these easy steps to view a hardware device's status from within Device Manager in Windows XP:
Here's How:
Open Device Manager from the Windows XP Computer Management utility.
Note: There are also a few other ways to access Device Manager in addition to the method above. It's the same Device Manager no matter how you get there.
With Device Manager open, locate the hardware device you want to view the status of.
Note: Navigate through the hardware categories by clicking the [+] icon. Specific pieces of hardware are listed under the major hardware categories.
Once you've found the hardware you're looking for, right click on the hardware's icon or text and choose Properties.
Locate the Device status area in the resulting Properties window for your hardware.
Note: Device status surrounds a text box and a Troubleshoot... button in the bottom half of this window.
The information located in the text box under Device status contains the current status of this particular piece of hardware.
If the hardware device is working properly, the text here will read:
This device is working properly. If you are having problems with this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter.No action should be needed if the device is working. According to Windows XP, everything is functioning properly.
If the hardware device is not working as it should, the text here will provide an error message and error code and will read:
Error Message. (Code 00) Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.You should troubleshoot this issue based on the Device Manager error code shown in the message: List of Device Manager Error Codes.
Tips:
Not a Windows XP user? See How to View a Device's Status in Device Manager in Windows for links to steps specific for your operating system.
