Read the manual for the PC/for the device you are trying to install. It’s amazing how much of time is saved by going through the notes carefully. 

If you don’t have a printed guide you may still have a “pdf” or text (txt or doc or readme) file on the driver CD/floppy disk. Note: This file may not always be in the root directory. You can read files with the pdf extension using Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free on the net) or the others in Notepad/Wordpad which comes with Windows. You can also read txt files in DOS mode if your PC is not booting into Windows. You can even type in notes to yourself/comments in this file before saving it back to the disk. (You will need to use the EDIT command in DOS if you wish to do this)

Unlike with Windows 3.1 installing drivers in Windows 95, 98 and NT does not usually work by clicking on a “setup” or “install” file. You may not even have one of those and may need to install from an “inf” (information) file. These files are not executables and you cannot double click on an inf file to “run” it. You need to use Windows’ automatic (or manual) device installation and when presented with the “browse” button guide Windows to the folder where the inf file resides.

Check for the device in the Device Manager (Control Panel>System>Device Manager). If it has a red cross next to it there may be some other problem with the device. It may be disabled (which is easily solved by removing the checkmark in the “Disabled” box). Or it may have another fault with it. Read what Windows has to say about the problem by click on the “More info” or “Help” buttons.

When checking the Device Manager make sure to also check for yellow exclamation marks. Windows sometimes mis-reads devices like modems and soundcards and lists them with an exclamation mark under “Other Devices” instead of under modems/soundcards. If this is the case delete the device under other devices, restart the computer and re-attempt installation. Use manual select (instead of automatic detect). You can then choose the modem/soundcard option. 

When installing a driver Windows sometimes can’t find a file it needs to complete the installation and it prompts you to insert the Windows CD (or it lists a filename and asks for the location of the file). Understand that Windows is a confused Operating System. It may ask for the Windows CD when it needs the driver CD and vice versa.

If you don’t know the exact location of the file it can be easily found. Make a note of the file name (including the extension) and cancel the installation process. Use the find feature in Windows Explorer (right click on the start button) and look for the file on your driver disk, your Windows CD AND your hard disk. Once you have located it you can reattempt the installation.

When troubleshooting for IRQ conflicts Windows may not always allow you to change the IRQ that a particular device uses. Double click the device in the Device Manager, click on the Resources button, and play around with the “Basic Configurations” options that you may have listed. If one configuration doesn’t offer you the choice of changing IRQs another may. (You will need to uncheck the “Use automatic settings” box).

Note that some devices require you to have the device unplugged when installing the driver but most require the device to be connected before you can install the driver.

Use Search Engines and newsgroups to find fellow sufferers. They may have had exactly the same problem and found a solution.

We wish you good mental health :-)