Computer Devices
By nomar707
Bluetooth is a common and simple way for two nearby electronic devices to communicate with each other without wires. Many newer laptop computers come with built in bluetooth capabilities. It is very easy to use this ability to cut out some of the cord clutter around your work area.
Instructions
Step 1
Check to see if your computer is Bluetooth enabled. You can start by looking in your documentation from your original purchase. You can also go to the Device Manager and look for a bluetooth adapter.
The Device Manager can be found in Windows XP by following these steps.
1. Go to Control Panel
2. Click "System"
3. Click the "Hardware" tab
4. Select "Device Manager"
Step 2
If you do not have Bluetooth adapter already installed, then you will need to purchase one.
Step 3
Purchase a bluetooth enabled device to connect to your PC. There is a wide variety of usefull devices available including, mice, printers, hard drives and more.
Step 4
Be sure that the computer and your device are close to each other and turn on both the Bluetooth ability on your computer and on the device. They should start communicating with each other. If they do not, your device should come with some additional software. Install the software and follow the installation instructions.
When the two devices have found each other you will be now be able to enjoy a wireless device. When you reboot your computer, it will remember the connection and you will be able to continue to use your device.
Computer Devices
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Device Connection Types
Computer Devices
Devices can be connected to your computer in different ways through many different ports. Look at the back of any modern PC and you’ll find plenty of device ports. Why? Which should you use? One of the reasons there are so many ports is that most computer users have plenty of peripheral devices – everyone has a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
Most PC users have a printer and a scanner. On top of that there are card readers, connections for digital cameras, mobile phones, external hard drives, portable Mp3 devices, handheld computers…. In the early days of computing the printer went in the printer port, the mouse in the mouse port and so on.
Nowadays it’s still possible to connect your devices via these ports, known as serial and parallel ports. More common for connection to a modern, Windows enabled computer is the USB port, with most printers and so on using this connection, and lots of PCs use infrared and Bluetooth connections as well. So which is best?
Generally speaking the newer the device ports the better – USB 2.0 is better than USB 1.1, and both are faster than old fashioned serial ports. The table below shows the data transfer speeds in Megabytes per second of some of main connection types:
Speed isn’t the only important factor however, so let’s look at some of the other advantages for your device.
Infrared is very popular despite it’s slow data transfer rate This is because things like remote controls or some transfers between handhelds and PCs work really well with this protocol and it’s really convenient – it needs no wires! There are two different standards, one works from 5 meters (5 yards) and another only works for 1.5 meters but is faster.
It’s also good for lap tops where you don’t want to be plugging and plugging devices all the time. Not all devices really need fast connection speeds. Although not a fast connection, the mouse used to plug into the serial port (small rectangular port with plenty of holes for pins) which was replaced by the PS/2 port (the small, round socket with pins at the back of the computer). This is still a popular choice for keyboards and mice because there isn’t a lot data that needs to travel along these connections.
Serial ports are reliable and can deal with very long cables (15 meters or yards long). The USB (Universal Serial Bus) has the big advantage of accepting many device connections at once (apparently 127 devices can be connected in a ‘daisy chain’ of hubs, though I’ve never tested it!). It also supports the handy ‘hot plug and play’ feature. This means you can pull the devices out and reconnect them without having to reboot your PC every time.
USB 2.0 is 40 times faster than USB 1.1 Bluetooth is a newer and popular version of the infrared port idea. It doesn’t use infrared however, but radio waves, and works comfortably across distances of ten meters. Bluetooth 2 is much faster than Bluetooth 1.1 and is a good, convenient choice for cell phones, personal computers and some digital cameras.
Finally a word about firewire. The is a very fast protocol designed for devices that need to transfer a lot of data. You tend to see them used for digital video where large amounts of data need to be transferred.
So, there are lots of options for connecting to your PC – by using serial ports for devices like the mouse and keyboard you can free up USB slots. By using Bluetooth you can save yourself from the inconvenience of wires. If you have speed problems you might be using older versions of the device connector and might want to upgrade.
Computer Devices
Devices can be connected to your computer in different ways through many different ports. Look at the back of any modern PC and you’ll find plenty of device ports. Why? Which should you use? One of the reasons there are so many ports is that most computer users have plenty of peripheral devices – everyone has a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse.
Most PC users have a printer and a scanner. On top of that there are card readers, connections for digital cameras, mobile phones, external hard drives, portable Mp3 devices, handheld computers…. In the early days of computing the printer went in the printer port, the mouse in the mouse port and so on.
Nowadays it’s still possible to connect your devices via these ports, known as serial and parallel ports. More common for connection to a modern, Windows enabled computer is the USB port, with most printers and so on using this connection, and lots of PCs use infrared and Bluetooth connections as well. So which is best?
Generally speaking the newer the device ports the better – USB 2.0 is better than USB 1.1, and both are faster than old fashioned serial ports. The table below shows the data transfer speeds in Megabytes per second of some of main connection types:
| Device Type | MB/second |
| Serial (COM, PS/2) | 0.02 |
| Parallel (LPT) | 1.0 |
| IrDA-Control (Infrared) | 0.009 |
| Bluetooth 1.1 | 0.125 |
| Bluetooth 2 | 2 to 12 |
| USB 1.1 | 1.5 |
| USB 2.0 | 60 |
| SCSI (various types SCSI 1-ultra 160) | 5 - 160 |
| FireWire (IEEE 1394) | 50 |
| FireWire (IEEE 1394b) | 100 |
Speed isn’t the only important factor however, so let’s look at some of the other advantages for your device.
Infrared is very popular despite it’s slow data transfer rate This is because things like remote controls or some transfers between handhelds and PCs work really well with this protocol and it’s really convenient – it needs no wires! There are two different standards, one works from 5 meters (5 yards) and another only works for 1.5 meters but is faster.
It’s also good for lap tops where you don’t want to be plugging and plugging devices all the time. Not all devices really need fast connection speeds. Although not a fast connection, the mouse used to plug into the serial port (small rectangular port with plenty of holes for pins) which was replaced by the PS/2 port (the small, round socket with pins at the back of the computer). This is still a popular choice for keyboards and mice because there isn’t a lot data that needs to travel along these connections.
Serial ports are reliable and can deal with very long cables (15 meters or yards long). The USB (Universal Serial Bus) has the big advantage of accepting many device connections at once (apparently 127 devices can be connected in a ‘daisy chain’ of hubs, though I’ve never tested it!). It also supports the handy ‘hot plug and play’ feature. This means you can pull the devices out and reconnect them without having to reboot your PC every time.
USB 2.0 is 40 times faster than USB 1.1 Bluetooth is a newer and popular version of the infrared port idea. It doesn’t use infrared however, but radio waves, and works comfortably across distances of ten meters. Bluetooth 2 is much faster than Bluetooth 1.1 and is a good, convenient choice for cell phones, personal computers and some digital cameras.
Finally a word about firewire. The is a very fast protocol designed for devices that need to transfer a lot of data. You tend to see them used for digital video where large amounts of data need to be transferred.
So, there are lots of options for connecting to your PC – by using serial ports for devices like the mouse and keyboard you can free up USB slots. By using Bluetooth you can save yourself from the inconvenience of wires. If you have speed problems you might be using older versions of the device connector and might want to upgrade.
Computer Devices
What is a windows driver
Computer Devices
Drivers are needed by all computer operating systems so that they can communicate with the hardware that makes up the computer. Windows and Linux are examples of operating systems, and the hardware is anything apart from the operating system itself, including video cards, keyboards, hard drives, the mouse, DVD player and so on. Drivers, also called controllers, are simply small software programs that explain to your computer operating system how the hardware works.
Imagine you buy a new video cassette recorder (if you can still find one in the shops!). When you first set it up you’ll probably have to mess around with the controls until you figure out how it works – you may even want to look at the instruction manual. This is because it won’t work exactly like the one you had before since different manufacturers have different ideas about how things should work.
It’s the same with computer hardware, and the driver does for windows what the instruction book does for the human users – it tells the operating system what signal causes what function, and explains the capabilities of the hardware (like the screen resolution or how fast the cd-writer can burn). So let’s imagine we buy a new printer.
The operating system, say windows XP, isn’t going to know how that printer works because it doesn’t have the instructions. The instruction book, the driver, is usually contained on a floppy or cd-rom that comes in the box with a new printer. Often it will be bundled with all sorts of other software (probably image manipulation programs in the case of a printer), but the thing that windows can’t manage without is the printer driver that is contained on the disc. Of course Microsoft could load up every possible printer option in the world…
In fact this is sort of what happens with advanced operating systems like Windows XP – when you try and add new hardware a list of possible supported manufacturers comes up for you to choose from. It’s doesn’t have drivers for every hardware manufacturer in the world, and it’s unlikely to be completely up to date. For this reason, if you have the manufacturer’s disc containing the official driver you should always use it.
What if you don’t have the disc, or you’re having problems with the piece of hardware? Well, most of the decent manufacturers have a download section on their website that contains the drivers for their hardware. Many manufacturers update their drivers on a regular basis or to deal with specific faults they hadn’t foreseen, and it’s sometimes worthwhile to update your drivers for better performance.
Of course, this means a lot of searching, which is where sites that makes searching easier (like this one), come in very handy, having set out the files by device type and by manufacturer. Drivers in XP are sometimes recognizable by a DRV extension (for example a file called mouse.drv is the generic windows mouse driver). New drivers can be added and old drivers removed reasonably easily through the Windows control panel.
Driver problems are often responsible for system problems, and if the hardware isn’t working as it should, more often than not it’s a driver issue. It’s important however to use the right driver. This means knowing the brand, model, and sometimes even the serial number, for your hardware. It also means installing the correct driver for the operating system you are using – don’t try to shove a windows 2000 designed driver onto an XP system because it won’t work properly and probably will do some damage to your system.
Take the time to look for the right driver, and make use of listings like this one to make the job easier. In our next articles we’ll talk about how to install drivers once you’ve found them.
Regular page address: http://www.nodevice.com/help/2/What_is_a_windows_driver.html
Computer Devices
Drivers are needed by all computer operating systems so that they can communicate with the hardware that makes up the computer. Windows and Linux are examples of operating systems, and the hardware is anything apart from the operating system itself, including video cards, keyboards, hard drives, the mouse, DVD player and so on. Drivers, also called controllers, are simply small software programs that explain to your computer operating system how the hardware works.
Imagine you buy a new video cassette recorder (if you can still find one in the shops!). When you first set it up you’ll probably have to mess around with the controls until you figure out how it works – you may even want to look at the instruction manual. This is because it won’t work exactly like the one you had before since different manufacturers have different ideas about how things should work.
It’s the same with computer hardware, and the driver does for windows what the instruction book does for the human users – it tells the operating system what signal causes what function, and explains the capabilities of the hardware (like the screen resolution or how fast the cd-writer can burn). So let’s imagine we buy a new printer.
The operating system, say windows XP, isn’t going to know how that printer works because it doesn’t have the instructions. The instruction book, the driver, is usually contained on a floppy or cd-rom that comes in the box with a new printer. Often it will be bundled with all sorts of other software (probably image manipulation programs in the case of a printer), but the thing that windows can’t manage without is the printer driver that is contained on the disc. Of course Microsoft could load up every possible printer option in the world…
In fact this is sort of what happens with advanced operating systems like Windows XP – when you try and add new hardware a list of possible supported manufacturers comes up for you to choose from. It’s doesn’t have drivers for every hardware manufacturer in the world, and it’s unlikely to be completely up to date. For this reason, if you have the manufacturer’s disc containing the official driver you should always use it.
What if you don’t have the disc, or you’re having problems with the piece of hardware? Well, most of the decent manufacturers have a download section on their website that contains the drivers for their hardware. Many manufacturers update their drivers on a regular basis or to deal with specific faults they hadn’t foreseen, and it’s sometimes worthwhile to update your drivers for better performance.
Of course, this means a lot of searching, which is where sites that makes searching easier (like this one), come in very handy, having set out the files by device type and by manufacturer. Drivers in XP are sometimes recognizable by a DRV extension (for example a file called mouse.drv is the generic windows mouse driver). New drivers can be added and old drivers removed reasonably easily through the Windows control panel.
Driver problems are often responsible for system problems, and if the hardware isn’t working as it should, more often than not it’s a driver issue. It’s important however to use the right driver. This means knowing the brand, model, and sometimes even the serial number, for your hardware. It also means installing the correct driver for the operating system you are using – don’t try to shove a windows 2000 designed driver onto an XP system because it won’t work properly and probably will do some damage to your system.
Take the time to look for the right driver, and make use of listings like this one to make the job easier. In our next articles we’ll talk about how to install drivers once you’ve found them.
Regular page address: http://www.nodevice.com/help/2/What_is_a_windows_driver.html
Computer Devices
What is Device?
Computer Devices
Any machine or component that attaches to a computer. Examples of devices include disk drives, printers, mice, and modems. These particular devices fall into the category of peripheral devices because they are separate from the main computer.
Most devices, whether peripheral or not, require a program called a device driver that acts as a translator, converting general commands from an application into specific commands that the device understands.
Regular page address: http://www.nodevice.com/help/14/What_is_Device.html
Computer Devices
Any machine or component that attaches to a computer. Examples of devices include disk drives, printers, mice, and modems. These particular devices fall into the category of peripheral devices because they are separate from the main computer.
Most devices, whether peripheral or not, require a program called a device driver that acts as a translator, converting general commands from an application into specific commands that the device understands.
Regular page address: http://www.nodevice.com/help/14/What_is_Device.html
Computer Devices
Install Windows Driver
Computer Devices
Drivers, once found need to be installed. Updating the drivers is a straightforward process, once you’ve been shown how to do it. Here we’re going to look at installing drivers on Windows XP, though despite the differences, all the Windows versions have some common features so you should have no trouble figuring it out if you don’t run XP.
Before we start there is one key thing we need check for the driver installation to go smoothly. Have you got the right driver? Don’t be tempted to use the NT driver for an XP computer, nor is it worth using a driver that is designed for a model that is ‘close but not quite the same’ as your piece of hardware. If it’s an external piece of hardware the model number etc are usually on there somewhere, either on top or maybe under the unit (where you’ll often find the serial number), so check them. Also think about if you really need to change over your driver, particularly if you’re considering something with a BETA in the title. Take this to mean unstable (beta means ‘in testing’ or unstable in computer jargon, sometimes the bugs aren’t ironed out). I personally wouldn’t consider a beta version driver if the driver I’m already using is doing the job.
Okay, let’s assume that you’ve found the driver on the internet. The first thing you need to do is download it. As with all downloads you need to be able to find it again once you’ve downloaded it. It might be worth saving it to the desktop or even to a new folder you made called ‘drivers’. Whatever works for you. The other option is that you have the driver on a floppy or CD Rom that came with the device – this is even easier: usually you just put it in the drive and follow the instructions. Drivers these days come in two distinct types. The easiest for the general user are those drivers that come as part of an executable file (one that ends with .exe). It’s a good idea to scan the file with your virus scanner before doing anything, particularly if you’ve downloaded it. Once you’ve done that, just double click on the file name. It should do the rest – as always read any questions that it asks you. When it stops doing things, it’s done. Often it will ask you to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
The other type isn’t self-running like this and you’ll need to install them manually. This isn’t that hard however, and we’ll go through it step by step. First you need to find the ‘Device Manager’. If you don’t know where this is then click on ‘Start’ (bottom left hand corner of the XP screen), then click ‘Control Panel’, click ‘Performance and Maintenance’ and then click on ‘System’. You’ll get a new window that has multiple tabs. Click on the tab called ‘Hardware’ and you’ll see the device manager – click on the name to bring it up. This method is similar in all windows set ups, and all work from a command line instead – to do this go to ‘Start’, choose ‘Run’ and type devmgmt.msc in the box. This will also bring up the device manager.
From here it’s pretty much following instructions. The device manager lists all the devices you have and you can double click on them to bring up a further window that lists the device properties. Click the tab for driver and you get all the details you need. You’re looking at ‘Update Driver’, and normally you want to say no to the suggestion that Windows initiates a search via the Microsoft website because you already have the disc or file. Select no thanks, and click next. If you have the disc you choose it on the next screen, if you are looking for the file you’ve downloaded choose the option to select from a list (don’t be put off by the word ‘advanced’). The next screen again offers to search for you, again you decline the offer. Having chosen ‘don’t search’ you can use the button on the right below the list (called ‘have disc’). This opens a familiar dialogue just like all the windows file open boxes. Find the driver files where you stored them - you’re looking for the file that ends .inf. Double click on it and wait for the installation to finish -don’t interrupt the installation. You’ll probably have noticed that in the device manager window there was an option to return to the previous driver. This is what you need to use if updating the driver seems to have made things worse. And that’s it, you’ve installed the new driver.
Computer Devices
Drivers, once found need to be installed. Updating the drivers is a straightforward process, once you’ve been shown how to do it. Here we’re going to look at installing drivers on Windows XP, though despite the differences, all the Windows versions have some common features so you should have no trouble figuring it out if you don’t run XP.
Before we start there is one key thing we need check for the driver installation to go smoothly. Have you got the right driver? Don’t be tempted to use the NT driver for an XP computer, nor is it worth using a driver that is designed for a model that is ‘close but not quite the same’ as your piece of hardware. If it’s an external piece of hardware the model number etc are usually on there somewhere, either on top or maybe under the unit (where you’ll often find the serial number), so check them. Also think about if you really need to change over your driver, particularly if you’re considering something with a BETA in the title. Take this to mean unstable (beta means ‘in testing’ or unstable in computer jargon, sometimes the bugs aren’t ironed out). I personally wouldn’t consider a beta version driver if the driver I’m already using is doing the job.
Okay, let’s assume that you’ve found the driver on the internet. The first thing you need to do is download it. As with all downloads you need to be able to find it again once you’ve downloaded it. It might be worth saving it to the desktop or even to a new folder you made called ‘drivers’. Whatever works for you. The other option is that you have the driver on a floppy or CD Rom that came with the device – this is even easier: usually you just put it in the drive and follow the instructions. Drivers these days come in two distinct types. The easiest for the general user are those drivers that come as part of an executable file (one that ends with .exe). It’s a good idea to scan the file with your virus scanner before doing anything, particularly if you’ve downloaded it. Once you’ve done that, just double click on the file name. It should do the rest – as always read any questions that it asks you. When it stops doing things, it’s done. Often it will ask you to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
The other type isn’t self-running like this and you’ll need to install them manually. This isn’t that hard however, and we’ll go through it step by step. First you need to find the ‘Device Manager’. If you don’t know where this is then click on ‘Start’ (bottom left hand corner of the XP screen), then click ‘Control Panel’, click ‘Performance and Maintenance’ and then click on ‘System’. You’ll get a new window that has multiple tabs. Click on the tab called ‘Hardware’ and you’ll see the device manager – click on the name to bring it up. This method is similar in all windows set ups, and all work from a command line instead – to do this go to ‘Start’, choose ‘Run’ and type devmgmt.msc in the box. This will also bring up the device manager.
From here it’s pretty much following instructions. The device manager lists all the devices you have and you can double click on them to bring up a further window that lists the device properties. Click the tab for driver and you get all the details you need. You’re looking at ‘Update Driver’, and normally you want to say no to the suggestion that Windows initiates a search via the Microsoft website because you already have the disc or file. Select no thanks, and click next. If you have the disc you choose it on the next screen, if you are looking for the file you’ve downloaded choose the option to select from a list (don’t be put off by the word ‘advanced’). The next screen again offers to search for you, again you decline the offer. Having chosen ‘don’t search’ you can use the button on the right below the list (called ‘have disc’). This opens a familiar dialogue just like all the windows file open boxes. Find the driver files where you stored them - you’re looking for the file that ends .inf. Double click on it and wait for the installation to finish -don’t interrupt the installation. You’ll probably have noticed that in the device manager window there was an option to return to the previous driver. This is what you need to use if updating the driver seems to have made things worse. And that’s it, you’ve installed the new driver.
Regular page address: http://www.nodevice.com/help/1/Install_Windows_Driver.html
Computer Devices
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
