To see if you have an available IRQ you will need to access the device manager.

Accessing the Device Manager on:

• Windows XP
  • From the Start menu select the My Computer icon
  • Under System Tasks click View System Information
  • In the System Properties window click the Hardware tab and then click the Device Manager
• Windows 2000
  • From the Start menu select the Settings then Control Panel
  • Double Click the System icon
  • Select the Hardware tab then click the Device Manager button
• Windows 95/98/ME
  • From the Start menu select the Settings then Control Panel
  • Double Click the System icon, then click the Device Manager button
  • You can also right click on the My Computer icon and select Properties
  • Then click the Device Manager tab

Once you have accessed the Device Manger you will be able to check the status of the installed hardware.

Select your device (either Ethernet/NIC or USB) from the list of devices.

If the device is not working properly, there will be a yellow circle with an exclamation point in the center of it. You will need to proceed with the following instructions to find out which device(s) are conflicting with your chosen device.

Once you have selected your device, click the Properties button at the bottom of the window. This will bring up a Device Properties window and it will tell you if the device is working properly. This window also allows you to enable or disable the selected device from all hardware profiles.

Click the Resources tab to see if there are any conflicts with the device. If the device was flagged with a yellow circle and an exclamation point, check the Conflicting Devices Box to find out which devices are in conflict.

The Resources tab tells you which IRQ the device is using. If another device is using the same IRQ there could be a conflict with your selected device. This could be once reason that the device is not working properly: you will need to reinstall it with a different IRQ. You can also change the IRQ of the selected device. Please note that only advanced users should attempt to change IRQ settings.

Windows 95/98/ME

• Once you have accessed the Device Manager make sure that the Computer Icon at the very top of the device list is highlighted
• Click the Properties button and this will display the list of IRQ settings of each device
• Select the Direct Memory Access (DMA) to view the devices using the DMA channels
• Select the Input/Output (I/O) to see the I/O ports for each device on the computer.
• Select the Memory to view the memory address each device is using.
• If you are still experiencing problems please contact the computer manufacturer.

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