Advanced Troubleshooting 67DriversWhat Is a Driver?A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices require adriver program.A driver acts as a translator between the device and any programs that use the device. Each device has aset of specialized commands that only driver for that device recognizes.Required drivers are already installed on your computer—no further installation or configuration isneeded.NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities CD may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your computer.Ensure that you are installing software appropriate for your operating system.Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft® Windows® operating system. Youmay need to install drivers if you:• Upgrade your operating system.• Reinstall your operating system.• Connect or install a new device.Identifying DriversIf you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problemand, if necessary, update the driver.Windows XP1 Click Start, then click Control Panel.2 Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance.3 Click System.4 In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.5 Click Device Manager.6 Scroll down the list of devices and check for an exclamation point (a circle with a [!]) next to thedevice name.If an exclamation point appears next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or installa new driver (see "Drivers" on page 67).Reinstalling DriversNOTICE: The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities CD provide approved driversfor your Dell computer. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer may not function properly.book.book Page 67 Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:10 AM
