Windows Plug and Play technology does a good job of detecting
and automatically configuring new hardware. However, if the hardware
doesn’t support Plug and Play or it isn’t automatically detected, you
need to enter information about the new hardware into the Windows
Server 2012 system. You do this by using the Add Hardware Wizard to
install the hardware device and its related drivers on the system. You
can also use this wizard to troubleshoot problems with existing
hardware.
Adding non–Plug and Play, legacy hardware
Although Windows Server 2012 doesn’t detect or set up non–Plug
and Play devices automatically, it does maintain a
driver cache for these devices. You might also be able to use an
older driver if a Windows Server 2012 device driver isn’t available.
In either case, you install the device using the Add Hardware Wizard. Follow these steps:
-
If the device has installation media or a downloadable
Setup program, run it to copy the driver files to your hard
disk.
-
Connect the device to the computer. For internal devices,
you must shut down the computer, add the device, and then
restart the computer.
-
Open Computer Management, and then select the Device
Manager node.
-
Select the computer node in the main pane, and then choose
Add Legacy Hardware on the Action menu.
-
In the Add Hardware Wizard, read the introductory message
and then tap or click Next.
-
Determine whether the wizard should search for new
hardware or whether you want to select the hardware from a list
(as shown in Figure 13):
-
If you choose the search option, the wizard searches
for and attempts to automatically detect the new hardware.
The process can take several minutes to go through all the
device types and options. When the search is complete, any
new devices found are displayed, and you can select
one.
-
If you choose the manual option, or if no new devices
are found in the automatic search, you have to select the
hardware type yourself. Select the type of hardware, such as
Storage Controllers or Network Adapters, and then tap or
click Next. Scroll through the list of manufacturers to find
the manufacturer of the device, and then choose the
appropriate device in the right pane.
-
After you complete the selection and installation process,
tap or click Next, and then tap or click Next again to confirm
that you want to install the hardware.
-
After the wizard installs the drivers for the hardware
device, tap or click Finish. The new hardware should now be
available.
Enabling and disabling hardware
When a device isn’t working properly, sometimes you’ll want to
uninstall or disable it. Uninstalling a device removes the driver association for the device so that it
temporarily appears that the device has been removed from the
system. The next time you restart the system, Windows Server 2012
might try to reinstall the device. Typically, Windows Server 2012
reinstalls Plug and Play devices automatically, but it does not automatically
reinstall non–Plug and Play devices.
Disabling a device turns it off and prevents Windows Server
2012 from using it. Because a disabled device doesn’t use system
resources, you can be sure that it isn’t causing a conflict on the
system.
You can uninstall or disable a device by following these
steps:
-
Open Computer Management, and then select the Device
Manager node. You should now see a complete list of devices
installed on the system. By default, this list is organized by
device type.
-
Press and hold or right-click the device you want to
manage, and then select Enable, Uninstall, or Disable, depending
on what you want to do with the device.
-
If prompted to confirm the action, tap or click Yes or OK
as appropriate.
