Understanding hardware installation changes
Unless you’ve standardized on a particular hardware platform, most servers that you’ll work with will have different hardware components. This means different servers will probably have different motherboards, disk controllers, graphics cards, and network adapters. Fortunately, Windows Server 2012 R2 is designed to work with an extensive list of hardware devices. When you install new hardware, Windows tries to detect the device automatically and then install the correct driver software so that you can use the device. If Windows has a problem with a device, you must troubleshoot the installation, which usually means finding the correct device drivers for the hardware component and installing them.
One thing to keep in mind when working with devices is that, like other software, driver software can contain bugs. These bugs can cause a variety of problems on your servers, and not only could the hardware stop working, but the server also could freeze. Because of this, you’ll want to monitor routinely for hardware problems and take corrective actions as necessary. You’ll also find it helpful to maintain a hardware inventory for servers so that you know which devices are installed and who the manufacturers are.
Hardware installation for Windows Server 2012 R2 hasn’t changed much. What has changed significantly, however, are the available options when it comes to hardware devices. All computers can use internal and external hardware devices.
Internal hardware devices are devices you install inside your computer. Typically, you need to power down and unplug your computer and then remove the computer case before you can install an internal device.
Hard drives are the most commonly installed internal devices and, in this area, there are many options. Windows Server 2012 R2 supports both standard format and advanced format hard drives. Standard format drives have 512 bytes per physical sector and are also referred to as 512b drives. Advanced format drives have 4,096 bytes per physical sector and are also referred to as 512e drives. 512e represents a significant shift for the hard drive industry, and it allows for large, multi-terabyte drives.
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) is one of the most commonly used interfaces; there are multiple bus designs for SCSI and multiple interface types. Parallel SCSI (also called SPI), though popular, is giving way to Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). Internet SCSI (iSCSI) uses the SCSI architectural model, but it uses TCP/IP as the transport rather than the traditional physical implementation.
Although many workgroup and enterprise-class server systems continue to use Serial Attached SCSI devices, servers aren’t always built using such robust disk systems. Increasingly, for general use, desktop-class computers are being configured with server operating systems, and most of these computers use internal devices with Serial ATA (SATA). That said, for many years, enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE), also called Parallel ATA (PATA), was used with desktop-class computers.
EIDE is still in use as of the time this book was written. However, you might find that most newer computers use SATA devices instead. Because SATA cables are significantly smaller than EIDE cables, this results in less clutter inside your computer and improved airflow for better cooling.
SATA was designed to replace IDE. SATA drives are increasingly popular as a low-cost alternative to SCSI. SATA II and SATA III, the most common SATA interfaces, are designed to operate at 3 gigabits per second and 6 gigabits per second, respectively. Windows Server 2012 R2 provides improved support for SATA drives by reducing metadata inconsistencies and allowing SATA drives to cache data more efficiently. Improved disk caching helps protect cached data in the event of an unexpected power loss.
Although Windows Server 2012 R2 can be used with SCSI, EIDE, and SATA hardware devices, your computer must be configured specifically to work with these devices. For example, your computer needs a SCSI controller card to use SCSI devices. Although some older computer system motherboards don’t have SATA input ports, you can install a SATA controller card to add support for SATA drives.
External hardware devices are devices you connect to your computer. Because you don’t have to open your computer’s case to connect external devices, you typically don’t need to power down or unplug your computer before installing an external device. This makes external devices easier to install and means you can attach most external devices without having to restart your computer.
Most current computers use external devices with USB, FireWire, external SATA (eSATA), or a combination of these interfaces. An example of each interface is shown in Figure 7-1.
USB 2.0 is the industry standard while the world transitions to USB 3.0. USB 2.0 devices can be rated as either full speed (up to 12 Mbps) or high speed (up to 480 Mbps). High-speed USB 2.0 supports data transfers at a maximum rate of 480 megabits per second, with sustained data transfer rates usually from 10 to 30 megabits per second. The actual sustainable transfer rate depends on many factors, including the type of device, the data you are transferring, and the speed of your computer. Each USB controller on your computer has a fixed amount of bandwidth, which all devices attached to the controller must share. If your computer’s USB port is an earlier version, USB 1.0 or USB 1.1, you can use USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices, but the transfer rates will be significantly slower. The same is true when using a USB 2.0 device in a USB 3.0 port. Figure 7-2 compares connectors for USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.
FireWire, also called IEEE 1394, is a high-performance connection standard for most Windows-based computers. This interface uses a peer-to-peer architecture in which peripherals negotiate bus conflicts to determine which device can best control a data transfer. FireWire has several configurations, including FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and FireWire 1600. FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a) has maximum sustained transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps. IEEE 1394b allows 400 Mbps (S400), 800 Mbps (S800), and 1600 Mbps (S1600). As with USB devices, if you connect an IEEE 1394b device to an IEEE 1394a port or vice versa, the device operates at the significantly reduced FireWire 400 transfer speed.
eSATA is an ultra-high-performance connection standard, primarily used with high-performance external devices. With external hard drives, eSATA provides a secure, reliable, and ultra-fast connection. eSATA has maximum sustained transfer rates of up to 3 Gbps. Note that there are several types of eSATA connectors and cables and that eSATA and internal SATA cables and connectors cannot be used interchangeably.
Every hardware component installed on a system has an associated device driver. Drivers are used to handle the low-level communications tasks between the operating system and hardware components. When you install a hardware component through the operating system, you tell the operating system about the device driver it uses. From then on, the device driver loads automatically and runs as part of the operating system.
Unlike early versions of Windows, Windows Server 2012 R2 is very good at detecting devices that were not installed after upgrading or installing the operating system. If a device wasn’t installed because Windows Server didn’t include the driver, the built-in hardware diagnostics will, in many cases, detect the hardware and then use the automatic update framework to retrieve the required driver the next time Windows Update runs, provided that Windows Update is enabled and you’ve allowed driver updating and operating system updating. Windows can also check for device software and device info. Device software, if available from the device manufacturers, typically includes a custom app for working with the device and a device driver. Device info provides additional information about the device and can include the product name, model number, and manufacturer name.
After upgrading or installing the operating system, you should check for driver updates and apply them as appropriate before trying other techniques to install device drivers. Device Installation Settings control whether Windows Server checks for drivers automatically. The settings also control whether Windows Server checks for driver updates, device software, and device info. To access these settings, open the System Properties dialog box, tap or click the Hardware tab, and then tap or click Device Installation Settings. You now have several options:
Yes, Do This Automatically (Recommended). When selected, Windows Server checks for and downloads drivers for new devices and driver updates automatically as part of the Windows Update process. Windows Server also checks for and downloads device software and device info.
Always Install The Best Driver Software From Windows Update. When selected, Windows Server checks for and downloads drivers for new devices and driver updates automatically as part of the Windows Update process. You control whether you want to check for and download device software and device info by either selecting or clearing the Automatically Get The Device App And Info check box.
Never Install Driver Software From Windows Update. When selected, Windows Server does not check for or download drivers for new devices or driver updates automatically as part of the Windows Update process. You control whether you want to check for and download device software and device info by either selecting or clearing the Automatically Get The Device App And Info check box.
Typically, device driver updates are seen as optional updates. The exceptions are for essential drivers, such as those for video, network adapters, and hard disk controllers.
When looking for driver updates, you’ll want to view all available updates on a computer, rather than only the important updates, to determine whether device driver updates are available. To install available driver updates, follow these steps:
In Control PanelSystem And Security, tap or click Windows Update. In Windows Update, tap or click View Available Updates. If the computer has installed the updates it last downloaded, the View Available Updates option isn’t available. In this case, you can tap or click Check For Updates to see whether there are new updates for the computer and then view the available updates (if any).
When Windows finishes checking for updates, you might find that both important updates and optional updates are available. If the computer is set to install updates automatically, important updates will be installed as part of automatic maintenance. You can install important updates immediately by clicking the related link and then clicking Install.
Most driver updates are listed as optional updates, and optional updates are not installed automatically. If optional updates are available, tap or click the related link and review the available optional updates. Select the check boxes for the optional updates that you want to install and then tap or click Install.
The relative priority of your servers and your organization’s IT policies determine whether you install driver updates as they become available—for example:
On mission-critical production servers, you might not want to install drivers without extensive testing beforehand. If you don’t need driver apps to configure a device, you probably don’t want to download or install driver apps.
On noncritical servers, you might want to install updated drivers as they become available. Again, if you don’t need driver apps to configure a device, you probably don’t want to download or install driver apps. If you install driver apps, you might want to analyze their resource usage to ensure that the apps work as expected and do not degrade overall system performance.
After you’ve installed the device driver, Windows Server 2012 R2 should both detect the hardware and install the device automatically. If Windows Server detects the device but cannot install the device automatically, the installation silently fails, and you might find a related solution in Action Center. You can then view the problem response and attempt to solve the problem.
After you install or connect a new hardware device, you must set up the device so that it is available for use. Most available new devices are Plug and Play compatible. Plug and Play is optimized to support USB, FireWire, eSATA, PCIe, and ExpressCard devices. When you connect a Plug and Play device for the first time, Windows Server 2012 R2 reads the Plug and Play identification tag contained in the device’s firmware and then searches its master list of identification tags (which is created from the Setup Information files in the %SystemRoot%Inf folder). If the operating system finds a signed driver with a matching identification tag, it installs the driver and makes the device available for use automatically. Notifications are displayed only if there’s a problem. Otherwise, the installation process just happens in the background.
This means you should be able to install new devices easily by using one of the following techniques:
For an internal device, just shut down the computer, insert the card into the appropriate slot or connect the device as appropriate, start the computer, and then let Windows Server 2012 R2 automatically detect the new device.
For a USB, FireWire, or eSATA device, just insert the device into the appropriate slot or connect it to the computer and then let Windows Server 2012 R2 automatically detect the new device.
Depending on the device, Windows Server 2012 R2 should automatically install a built-in driver to support the new device as discussed previously. The device should then function immediately without any problems. Well, that’s the idea, but it doesn’t always work out that way. The success of an automatic detection and installation depends on the device being Plug and Play compatible and a device driver being available.
Windows Server 2012 R2 includes many device drivers in a standard installation, and in this case, it should install the device automatically. If driver updating is allowed through Windows Update, Windows Server 2012 R2 checks for drivers automatically using Windows Update, either when you connect a new device or when it first detects the device. Because Windows Update does not automatically install device drivers, you need to check for available updates to install the driver.
You’ll know a new device installed because it will be available for you to use. You also can confirm device availability in either Devices And Printers or Device Manager:
From Control Panel, you can open Devices And Printers by tapping or clicking View Devices And Printers under the Hardware heading.
From Server Manager, you can open Device Manager by selecting Computer Management on the Tools menu and then selecting Device Manager in the left pane of Computer Management.
Not all devices have a custom driver. For example, with USB devices that do not have a custom driver, you often can use the generic Winusb.sys driver, which is the default USB driver included with Windows Server. When you connect a USB device that doesn’t have a custom driver, Windows Server might use the generic Winusb.sys driver automatically. If this driver isn’t used automatically, you can manually select the generic Winusb.sys driver when installing the device.
Keep in mind that the generic USB driver isn’t for USB devices with their own classifications. Devices with their own classifications have their own generic drivers, which you can install. Devices with their own classifications include the following:
Human interface devices are interactive input devices that are used to control computers directly, including:
Controls found on devices such as interactive displays, barcode readers, smartphones, and other consumer electronics
Front-panel controls such as knobs, switches, buttons, and sliders on devices, such as the volume controls on speakers and headsets
Keyboards and pointing devices such as standard mouse devices, trackballs, and joysticks
Sensory devices such as accelerometers and gyroscopes
Human interface devices are a device class over USB. Windows Server supports USB, Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, and Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) as transports for HID and HID clients for mouse and mapper drivers, keyboard and keypad drivers, system control drivers (such as power buttons and laptop lid open/close sensors), consumer device controls, pen devices, touch screens, sensors, and UPS batteries. Windows Server does not support older interactive input devices such as HID mini-drivers.
When a device has a custom driver, Windows Server might automatically detect the new device, but the Driver Software Installation component might run into problems installing the device. If this happens, the installation silently fails. You’ll know installation failed because the device will not be available for you to use. In Devices And Printers, you should see warning icons for both the computer and the device. In this case, if you touch or move the mouse pointer over the computer device, you should see error status messages such as the following:
Status: Driver is unavailable Status: Driver Error
When you tap or click the computer device, the details pane should show the Needs Troubleshooting status. After a failed installation, you can attempt to install the device by following these steps:
In Devices And Printers, press and hold or right-click the device and then select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, on the Hardware tab, tap or click the Properties button.
On the General tab, select Change Settings. On the Driver tab, select Update Driver. This starts the Update Driver Software Wizard.
Specify whether you want to install the drivers automatically or manually by selecting the driver from a list or specific location. (See Figure 7-3.)
If you elect to search automatically for the driver, and Device Installation Settings allow this, Windows Server checks for the device driver using either Windows Update or WSUS. Then, if a driver is available, Windows Server downloads it and installs it automatically. In this case, tap or click Close to complete the process and then skip the remaining steps.
If you chose to install the driver manually, you have the opportunity to do one of the following, as shown in Figure 7-4:
Search for the driver. If you want to search for drivers, tap or click Browse to select a search location. Use the Browse For Folder dialog box to select the start folder for the search and then tap or click OK. Because all subfolders of the selected folder are searched automatically, you can select the drive root path, such as C, to search an entire drive.
Choose a driver to install. If you want to choose the driver to install, tap or click Let Me Pick From A List Of Device Drivers On My Computer. The wizard then displays a list of common hardware types. Select the appropriate hardware type, 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 selecting a device driver through a search or a manual selection, continue through the installation process by tapping or clicking Next. Tap or click Close when the driver installation is completed. If the wizard can’t find an appropriate driver, you need to obtain one and then repeat this procedure. Keep in mind that in some cases you’ll need to restart the system to activate the newly installed device driver.
Important
If the wizard fails to install the device, there might be a problem with the device itself or the driver or a conflict with existing hardware. For additional details on troubleshooting and resolving conflicts, see “Managing hardware” later in this chapter.
After you successfully install a device, you need to perform maintenance tasks periodically for the device and its drivers. When new drivers for a device are released, you might want to test them in a development or support environment to see whether the drivers resolve problems that users have been experiencing or include the new functionality you are looking for. If the drivers install without problems and resolve outstanding issues, you might then want to install the updated drivers on computers that use this device. On a server operating system, you can implement the driver update procedure as follows:
Check the device and driver information on each system prior to installing the new driver. Note the location, version, and file name of the existing driver.
Install the updated driver. If the computer and the device function normally, consider the update a success.
If the computer or the device malfunctions after the driver installation, roll back to the previously installed driver by using the standard Device Manager utilities. If you cannot restart the computer and restore the driver, you might need to start the computer in safe mode or use Startup Repair to restore the system.
You use Device Manager to view and configure hardware devices. You’ll spend a lot of time working with this tool, so you should get to know it before working with devices.
To open Device Manager and obtain a detailed list of all the hardware devices installed on a system, follow these steps:
In Server Manager, select Computer Management on the Tools menu.
Select the Device Manager node. As shown in Figure 7-5, you should now see a complete list of devices installed on the system. By default, this list is organized by device type.
Expand a device type to see a list of the specific instances of that device type.
After you access Device Manager, you can work with any of the installed devices. If you press and hold or right-click a device entry, a shortcut menu is displayed. The available options depend on the device type, but they include the following:
Properties. Displays the Properties dialog box for the device
Uninstall. Uninstalls the device and its drivers
Disable. Disables the device but doesn’t uninstall it
Enable. Enables a device if it’s disabled
Update Driver Software. Starts the Update Driver Software Wizard, which you can use to update the device driver
Scan For Hardware Changes. Tells Windows Server 2012 R2 to check the hardware configuration and determine whether there are any changes
Note
The device list shows warning symbols if there are problems with a device. A yellow warning symbol with an exclamation point indicates a problem with a device. A red X indicates a device that was improperly installed or disabled by the user or the administrator for some reason.
You can use the options on the View menu in Device Manager to change the defaults for which types of devices are displayed and how the devices are listed. The options are as follows:
Devices By Type. Displays devices by the type of device installed, such as disk drive or printer. The connection name is listed below the type. This is the default view.
Devices By Connection. Displays devices by the connection type, such as audio and video codecs.
Resources By Type. Displays the status of allocated resources by the type of device using the resource. Resource types are direct memory access (DMA) channels, input/output (I/O) ports, interrupt requests (IRQs), and memory addresses.
Resources By Connection. Displays the status of all allocated resources by connection type rather than device type.
Show Hidden Devices. Displays non–Plug and Play devices and devices that have been physically removed from the computer but whose drivers haven’t been uninstalled.
Each hardware component installed on a computer has an associated device driver. The job of the device driver is to describe how the operating system uses the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) to work with a hardware component. The HAL handles the low-level communication tasks between the operating system and a hardware component. By installing a hardware component through the operating system, you are telling the operating system about the device driver it uses. From then on, the device driver loads automatically and runs as part of the operating system.
Windows Server 2012 R2 includes an extensive library of device drivers. In the base installation of the operating system, these drivers are maintained in the file repository of the driver store. Some service packs you install will also include updates to the driver store. You can find drivers in the FileRepository folder under %SystemRoot%System32DriverStore. The DriverStore folder also contains subfolders for localized driver information. You’ll find a subfolder for each language component configured on the system. For example, for localized U.S. English driver information, you’ll find a subfolder called en-US.
Every device driver in the driver store is certified to be fully compatible with Windows Server 2012 R2 and is digitally signed by Microsoft to assure the operating system of its authenticity. When you install a new Plug and Play–compatible device, Windows Server 2012 R2 checks the driver store for a compatible device driver. If one is found, the operating system automatically installs the device.
Every device driver has an associated Setup Information file. This file, which ends with the .inf extension, is a text file containing detailed configuration information about the device being installed. The information file also identifies any source files the driver uses. Source files have the .sys extension. Drivers are also associated with a component manifest (component.man) file. The manifest file is written in Extensible Markup Language (XML), includes details on the driver’s digital signature, and might include Plug and Play information the device uses to configure itself automatically.
Every driver installed on a system has a source (.sys) file in the %SystemRoot%System32Drivers folder. When you install a new device driver, the driver is written to a subfolder of %SystemRoot%System32Drivers, and configuration settings are stored in the registry. The driver’s .inf file is used to control the installation and write the registry settings. If the driver doesn’t already exist in the driver store, it does not already have an .inf file or other related files on the system. In this case, the driver’s .inf file and other related files are written to a subfolder of %SystemRoot%System32DriverStoreFileRepository when you install the device.
Speaking of new device drivers, Microsoft requires you to use signed device drivers. Every device driver in the driver cache is digitally signed, which certifies the driver as having passed extensive testing by the WHQL. A device driver with a digital signature signed by Microsoft should not cause your system to crash or become unstable. The presence of a digital signature signed by Microsoft also ensures that the device driver hasn’t been tampered with. If a device driver doesn’t have a digital signature signed by Microsoft, it hasn’t been approved for use through testing, or its files might have been modified from the original installation by another program. This means that unsigned drivers are much more likely than any other program you’ve installed to cause the operating system to freeze or the computer to crash.
The assurances you get with digitally signed drivers aren’t applicable to unsigned device drivers. With an unsigned driver, there is no guarantee that it has been tested thoroughly, and if the driver is poorly written, it is much more likely to cause the operating system to freeze or the server to crash than any other program you’ve installed. Because of this, Windows Server will not let you install unsigned drivers.
That said, an invalid or missing digital signature on a driver for an important device could prevent a server from starting. There are several ways you can work around this, allowing you to boot the server and fix the problem. The two key options require you to start the server in safe mode.
If the computer won’t start normally, the Recovery screen is displayed during startup. On the Recovery screen, tap or click Troubleshoot. On the Advanced Options screen, tap or click Startup Settings. Next, on the Windows Startup Settings screen, tap or click Restart. When the server restarts, you need to select the safe mode you want to use.
With the standard safe modes, the basic drivers loaded include the mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, and base video. If one of the basic drivers is the source of the problem, though, you won’t be able to use one of the standard safe modes. Because of this, select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement as the start mode.
To view detailed information about a device, press and hold or right-click the device and select Properties or just double-tap or double-click the related entry in Device Manager. This opens the device’s Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 7-6. Most devices have at least two tabs, either General and Properties or General and Driver.
The most important information on the General tab is the device status. If the device is working properly, this is specifically stated. Otherwise, the error status of the device is shown. If the device is disabled, you have an option to enable the device (as shown in Figure 7-7).
Figure 7-6. Use the device’s Properties dialog box to obtain essential information about a device, including whether it is functioning properly.
Figure 7-7. Disabled devices are listed with an error status because they aren’t functioning; you can enable them by tapping or clicking Enable Device.
You can temporarily disable a device by selecting Disable on the Driver tab. If you later want to enable the device, tap or click the Enable Device button on the General tab and then, when the Troubleshooting Wizard starts, tap or click Next and then tap or click Finish.
The Driver tab, shown in Figure 7-8, provides basic information about the driver provider, creation date, version, and digital signature. You should be wary of any drivers that list the provider as Unknown or that are listed as Not Digitally Signed. Drivers signed by Microsoft are listed as being signed by Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher.
Figure 7-8. Use the Driver tab to determine the driver provider, creation date, version, and digital signature.
You can view additional information about the driver by tapping or clicking Driver Details. If no driver files are required or none have been loaded for the device, you see a message stating this. Otherwise, you see the names and locations of all associated files, including an icon that indicates the signing status of each individual file. Selecting a file in this list displays details for that file in the lower section of the dialog box, as shown in Figure 7-9.
Devices often have other tabs, such as Advanced, Resources, and Power Management. Most network adapters have an Advanced tab. As shown in Figure 7-10, these options can control transmission preferences. You should change these options only if you are trying to resolve specific performance or connectivity issues as directed by the device manufacturer or a Microsoft Knowledge Base article. The setting that causes the most problems is Speed & Duplex. Most of the time, you want this set to Auto Detect or Auto Negotiation. Sometimes, however, to correct a specific problem, you must use a preset speed and duplex setting such as 100 Mbps Half Duplex or 1,000 Mbps Full Duplex. You should do this, however, only when this setting is recommended based on your network configuration or the issue you are trying to troubleshoot.
Figure 7-10. You’ll find that most network adapters have an Advanced tab for setting transmission preferences.
Any device that uses system resources will have a Resources tab like the one shown in Figure 7-11.
The Resources tab options show the device resources that are currently assigned and their settings. There are four types of device resources:
DMA. The DMA channel the device uses. Values are shown as integers, such as 02.
Memory Range. The range of memory addresses the device uses. Values are shown in hexadecimal format, such as E8206000–E8206FFF.
I/O Range. The range of I/O ports the device uses. Values are shown in hexadecimal format, such as 5400–543F.
IRQ Line. The IRQ line the device uses. Values are shown as integers, such as 10.
Devices can use multiple I/O and memory ranges. For example, the Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) on one of our computers used three I/O ranges and three memory ranges. In addition, multiple PCIe devices can share the same IRQs when using Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS. This is because ACPI BIOS allows IRQ sharing. To learn more about resource sharing and configuration options, see “Resolving resource conflicts” later in this chapter.
Device drivers are essential to the proper operation of Windows Server. A faulty device driver can cause many problems on your systems—everything from unexpected restarts to application hangs to blue screens. To make it easier to detect and diagnose problems, you should maintain an inventory of all installed device drivers on systems you manage. Previously, I talked about using the Driverquery command to obtain a list of drivers for computers throughout the network. Ideally, the driver information should be stored on a centralized network share rather than on individual computers, or it could be printed out and placed in a binder where it is easily accessible. You should then periodically check manufacturer websites for known problems with related device drivers and for updated drivers. Windows Update can also help you because driver updates are made available through this service and can be installed automatically.
Although you can be fairly certain drivers obtained through Windows Update are newer than installed versions, this isn’t the case for drivers you download yourself, and you should always double-check the driver version information before installation. As discussed previously, the current driver version is displayed in the driver’s Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 7-12. Double-tap or double-click the device in Device Manager to display the driver’s Properties dialog box and then select the Driver tab, as shown in Figure 7-12. Be sure to check both the driver date and the driver version.
Next, check the driver version information for the driver you downloaded. To do this, extract the downloaded driver files to a folder. In the folder, you should find .dll or .sys files. Press and hold or right-click one of these files and choose Properties. Then, in the Properties dialog box, tap or click the Version tab to find the version information.
To continue with the installation of downloaded drivers, check to see whether the driver download includes a Setup program. If it does, run this program so that the proper files are copied to your system. If the drivers aren’t installed as part of setup, you can install and update the drivers by using the Update Driver Software Wizard. The wizard can search for updated device drivers in the following locations:
On the local computer
On a hardware installation disc
On the Windows Update site or your organization’s Windows Update server
In Group Policy, the main policy that controls access to Windows Update is Turn Off Access To All Windows Update Features. This policy is under Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemInternet Communication ManagementInternet Communication Settings. If you enable this policy setting, all Windows Update features are blocked and unavailable to users. Users will also be unable to access the Windows Update website. In early releases of the Windows operating system, other policies could be used to control driver search locations and driver search prompts. However, these policies do not apply to current Windows operating systems.
You can install and update device drivers by following these steps:
In Computer Management, 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 Update Driver Software. This starts the Update Driver Software Wizard.
You can specify whether you want to install the drivers automatically or manually by selecting the driver from a list or specific location.
If you elect to install the driver automatically, Windows Server 2012 R2 looks for a more recent version of the device driver and installs the driver if found. If a more recent version of the driver is not found, Windows Server 2012 R2 keeps the current driver. In either case, tap or click Close to complete the process and then skip the remaining steps.
If you chose to install the driver manually, you next have the opportunity to do one of the following:
Search for the driver. If you want to search for drivers, tap or click Browse to select a search location. Use the Browse For Folder dialog box to select the start folder for the search and then tap or click OK. Because all subfolders of the selected folder are searched automatically, you can select the drive root path, such as C, to search an entire drive.
Choose the driver to install. If you want to choose the driver to install, tap or click Let Me Pick From A List Of Device Drivers On My Computer. The wizard then displays a list of common hardware types. Select the appropriate hardware type, such as Modems 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 selecting a device driver through a search or a manual selection, continue through the installation process by tapping or clicking Next. Tap or click Close when the driver installation is completed. If the wizard can’t find an appropriate driver, you need to obtain one and then repeat this procedure. Keep in mind that in some cases you’ll need to restart the computer to activate the newly installed or updated device driver.
In addition to specifying driver installation and search restrictions, you can use Group Policy settings to allow or prevent installation of devices based on the device type. The related policy settings are found under Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemDevice InstallationDevice Installation Restrictions and include the following:
Allow Administrators To Override Device Installation Restriction Policies
Allow Installation Of Devices Using Drivers That Match These Device Setup Classes
Prevent Installation Of Drivers That Match These Device Setup Classes
Allow Installation Of Devices That Match Any Of These Device IDs
Prevent Installation Of Devices That Match Any Of These Device IDs
Prevent Installation Of Removable Devices
Prevent Installation Of Devices Not Described By Other Policy Settings
Time (In Seconds) To Force Reboot When Required
You can configure these policies by following these steps:
Access the policy for the appropriate site, domain, or organizational unit (OU).
Expand Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Device Installation, and Device Installation Restrictions.
Double-tap or double-click the appropriate policy to view its Properties dialog box.
Set the state of the policy as Not Configured if you don’t want the policy to be applied, Enabled if you want the policy to be applied, or Disabled if you want to block the policy from being used (all as permitted by the Group Policy configuration).
If you are enabling the policy and it has a Show option, tap or click Show to use the Show Contents dialog box to specify which device IDs should be matched to this policy. Tap or click OK twice.
Device installation restrictions will not take effect until computers are restarted. To force computers to restart when device installation restrictions are changed, you can enable and configure the Time (In Seconds) To Force Reboot When Required policy. For example, you might want to force computers to restart within 60 minutes of the policy change. If so, you’d enter 3600 in the Reboot Timeout (In Seconds) box.
Occasionally, you’ll find that an updated driver doesn’t work as expected. It could cause problems such as device failure or system instability. Generally, this shouldn’t occur when you’ve installed signed device drivers. However, it can sometimes occur with any device driver—even those published through Windows Update.
If you suspect that an updated driver is causing the system or device problems you are experiencing, you can attempt to recover the system to the previously installed device driver. To do this, follow these steps:
If you are having problems starting the system, you need to start the system in safe mode.
In Computer Management, 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 Properties. This opens the Properties dialog box for the device.
Tap or click the Driver tab and then tap or click Roll Back Driver. When prompted to confirm the action, tap or click Yes.
Tap or click Close to close the driver’s Properties dialog box.
Windows device drivers for Plug and Play devices are loaded and unloaded dynamically. You can remove the driver for a device only when the device is plugged in. This means the proper way to remove a device from a system is first to uninstall its related device driver and then to remove the device from the system.
One reason for uninstalling a device is to remove a device that you no longer use or need. Start by uninstalling the related device driver. Open Computer Management and then select the Device Manager node. Press and hold or right-click the device you want to remove and then select Uninstall. When prompted, tap or click OK to confirm that you want to remove the driver. Windows Server 2012 R2 then removes the related files and registry settings.
At this point, you can shut down the system and remove the related hardware component if you want to. However, you might first want to check to see how the computer operates without the device in case some unforeseen problem or error occurs. So, rather than removing the device, you want to disable it. Disabling the device prevents Windows from reinstalling the device automatically the next time you restart the system. You disable a device by pressing and holding or right-clicking it in Device Manager and then selecting Disable.
Sometimes when you are troubleshooting and trying to get a device to work properly, you might want to uninstall or unplug the device temporarily. Here, you could disable the device and then monitor the system to see whether problems previously experienced recur, or you could reinstall the device to see whether normal operations are restored. Uninstalling and then reinstalling the device forces Windows to go back to the device’s original device and registry settings, which can sometimes recover the device.
After you uninstall a device driver, one way to get Windows Server 2012 R2 to reinstall the device is to restart the computer. You can also try to rescan for devices using Device Manager by selecting the computer node in the main pane and then selecting Scan For Hardware Changes on the Action menu. Either way, the operating system should detect the uninstalled device as new hardware and then automatically reinstall the necessary device driver. If this doesn’t happen, you must reinstall the device manually by using the Add Hardware Wizard as discussed in “Adding non–Plug and Play, older hardware” later in this chapter.
Uninstalling a device driver uninstalls the related device. When a device isn’t working properly, sometimes you can completely uninstall the device, restart the system, and then reinstall the device driver to restore normal operations. You can uninstall and then reinstall 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 Uninstall. When prompted to confirm the action, tap or click OK.
Restart the system. Windows Server 2012 R2 should detect the presence of the device and automatically reinstall the necessary device driver. If the device isn’t automatically reinstalled, reinstall it manually as discussed in the Installing and updating device drivers section.
To prevent a device from being reinstalled automatically, disable the device instead of uninstalling it. You disable a device by pressing and holding or right-clicking it in Device Manager and then selecting Disable.
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 R2 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.
Although Windows Server 2012 R2 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 R2 device driver isn’t available. In either case, you install the device by 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 you want the wizard to search for new hardware or you want to locate and install the driver manually (as shown in Figure 7-13):
If you choose the search option, the wizard searches for and attempts to detect the new hardware automatically. 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.
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 R2 might try to reinstall the device. Typically, Windows Server 2012 R2 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 R2 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.
Windows Server 2012 R2 built-in hardware diagnostics can detect many types of problems with hardware devices. If a problem is detected, you might see a Problem Reporting balloon telling you there is a problem. Tapping or clicking this balloon opens Action Center. Action Center can also be accessed in Control Panel by tapping or clicking the System And Security link and then selecting Action Center. To open Action Center, tap or click the Action Center icon in the notification area of the taskbar and then select Open Action Center.
Events related to malfunctioning hardware often will be written to the system logs. You can quickly find events related to a specific device by following these steps:
Open Computer Management and then select the Device Manager node.
Press and hold or right-click the device that you want to troubleshoot and then select Properties.
If there’s a problem with a device, there will be an error status and a related error code on the General tab.
On the Events tab, you see the most recent events related to the device, as shown in Figure 7-14. Select an event to view its details in the Information panel. Tap or click View All Events to open a custom view for the device in Event Viewer. The custom view will show all available events for the device so you can review them for troubleshooting.
Whenever a device is installed incorrectly or has another problem, Device Manager displays a warning icon indicating that the device has a problem. If you double-tap or double-click the device, an error code displays on the General tab of the device’s Properties dialog box. As Table 7-1 shows, this error code can also be helpful when trying to solve device problems. Most of the correction actions assume that you selected the General tab from the device’s Properties dialog box.
Table 7-1. Common device errors and techniques to resolve them
Anyone who remembers IRQ conflicts will be thankful that current computers support ACPI BIOS. With ACPI BIOS, resources are allocated automatically by the operating system at startup, and multiple devices can share the same IRQ settings. These changes mean IRQ conflicts are largely a thing of the past. However, ACPI depends on Plug and Play, and devices that are not fully compatible can sometimes cause problems, particularly previous ISA devices.
If you suspect a device conflict is causing a problem with the current device, check the Conflicting Device list in the lower portion of the Resources tab. It will either list No Conflicts or the specific source of a known conflict. In Device Manager, you can quickly check resource allocations by choosing Resources By Type or Resources By Connection on the View menu.
In Figure 7-15, both ISA and PCI devices are using IRQ settings. Note that each ISA device has a separate IRQ setting, whereas multiple PCI devices share the same IRQ settings. This is very typical. Note also that the PCI Modem device has a question mark as an icon. This is because the device isn’t configured properly, not because there’s a conflict. In this example, there are no conflicts.
Figure 7-15. View resources by type or resources by connection to check resource settings in Device Manager.
Another way to check for conflicts is to use the System Information utility (Msinfo32.exe). In Server Manager, select System Information on the Tools menu. In System Information, expand Hardware Resources and then select Conflicts/Sharing.
As shown in Figure 7-16, a list of all resources that are in use is displayed. Again, keep in mind that devices can share IRQ settings thanks to ACPI, so what you are looking for are two unrelated devices sharing the same memory addresses or I/O ports, which would cause a conflict. Remember that related devices can share memory addresses and I/O ports. In the example, the PCI Express Root Complex shares the same I/O port as the Direct Memory Access Controller, and the Mobile Express Root Port shares the same memory addresses as the Basic Display Adapter resources. That’s okay because this is typical and not causing an issue.
You can try to resolve resource conflicts in several ways. Some devices use jumpers to manage resource settings, and in this case, the operating system cannot control the resource settings. To make changes, you must shut down the computer, remove the device, change the jumper settings, and then replace the device. In some cases, the jumpers are managed through software rather than a physical jumper switch. Here, you would use the device setup or configuration utility to change the resource settings.
For PCI devices, you can try swapping the cards between PCI slots. This will help if the IRQ or other resource settings are assigned on a per-slot basis, as is the case with some motherboards. You might be able to check the motherboard documentation to see which IRQ interrupts are assigned to which slots. In any case, you need to experiment to see which card configuration works.
For PCI devices, a conflict could also be caused by the device driver and the way it works with ACPI BIOS. You should check to see whether an updated device driver and a BIOS update are available. Installing one or both should resolve the conflict.
As a last resort, you can change the resource settings manually for some devices in Device Manager. On the Resources tab, select the resource type that you want to work with. If you can make a change, you should be able to clear the Use Automatic Settings check box and then see whether any of the alternate configurations in the Setting Based On box resolve the conflict. Keep in mind that you are now manually managing the resource settings. To enable the Windows operating system again to manage the settings automatically, you must select the Use Automatic Settings check box.