28. Managing Your Hardware
Windows 10 and Hardware
Man is a shrewd inventor, and is ever taking the hint of a new machine from his own structure, adapting some secret of his own anatomy in iron, wood, and leather, to some required function in the work of the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson’s concept of a “machine” was decidedly low tech (“iron, wood, and leather”), but his basic idea is still apt in these high-tech times. Man has taken yet another “secret of his own anatomy” (the brain) and used it as the “hint of a new machine” (the computer). And although even the most advanced computer is still a mere toy compared to the breathtaking complexity of the human brain, some spectacular advancements have been made in the art of hardware in recent years.
One of the hats an operating system must wear is that of an intermediary between you and your hardware. Any OS worth its salt has to translate incomprehensible “devicespeak” into something you can make sense out of, and it must ensure that devices are ready, willing, and able to carry out your commands. Given the sophistication and diversity of today’s hardware market, however, that’s no easy task.
The good news is that Windows 10 brings to the PC world support for a broad range of hardware, from everyday devices such as keyboards, mice, printers, monitors, as well as video, sound, memory, and network cards, to more exotic hardware fare such as multitouch input panels and the latest wireless standards. However, although this hardware support is broad, it’s not all that deep, meaning that Windows 10 doesn’t have built-in support for many older devices. So, even though lots of hardware vendors have taken at least some steps toward upgrading their devices and drivers, managing hardware is still one of Windows 10’s trickier areas. This chapter should help as we take you through lots of practical techniques for installing, updating, and managing devices in Windows 10.
Viewing Your Devices
The simplest device-related task you can perform with Windows 10 is to view a list of the devices installed on your PC. To see this list, click Start, click Settings to open the Settings app, click Devices, and then click Connected Devices. (Alternatively, click the taskbar’s Search box, type connected, and then click Connected Device Settings in the search results.) Figure 28.1 shows the Settings app’s Connected Devices window, which is just a simple list of the attached devices and, where applicable, a device’s current status. As you see a bit later in this chapter, about the only thing you can do with this list is uninstall a device and install network devices. The Printers & Scanners tab is similar but focuses on just the printing and scanning devices connected to your PC. You can click Add a Printer or Scanner to connect to a networked device.
Figure 28.1 In the Settings app, the Devices category presents a basic list of your attached devices.
A desktop feature called Devices and Printers provides a similar list, albeit with much more functionality. To get there, either click Connected Devices in the Settings app’s Devices window, or click the taskbar’s Search box, type devices, and then click Devices and Printers in the search results. Figure 28.2 shows the Devices and Printers window, which divides your devices into several categories, including Printers and a generic Devices category. Clicking a device displays information about it in the Details pane at the bottom of the window. In many cases (particularly printers), you also see several device-related commands in the taskbar, such as Start Scan for a scanner and Eject for an optical drive. You can also double-click a device to see its properties and functions.
Figure 28.2 Control Panel’s Devices and Printers window provides information and commands related to your installed devices.
Installing Devices
Before you install a device, it’s best to find out in advance whether the device is compatible with Windows 10. The easiest way to do this is to look for the Designed for Windows 10 logo on the box. For older devices, check the manufacturer’s website to see whether the company tells you that the device can be run under Windows 10 or if a driver upgrade is available. Alternatively, Microsoft has a web page that enables you to search on the name of a device or manufacturer to find out compatibility information:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/CompatCenter/Home
If you see your device (and, in some cases, the correct device version) in the hardware list, you can install it secure in the knowledge that it will work properly with Windows 10.
Installing Plug and Play Devices
Computing old-timers will remember (none too fondly) the days when installing devices required flipping DIP switches, fiddling with jumpers, or fussing with various IRQ, I/O port, and DMA combinations. If, on the other hand, all the abbreviations in the previous sentence are incomprehensible to you, think yourself lucky that you live in a time when all the devices manufactured in recent years support Plug and Play, which means you simply attach the device and Windows 10 automatically recognizes it and installs the necessary drivers and other software.
How do you know this is happening? If you’re on the desktop, you see the Device Setup icon appear on the taskbar, and the icon shows a green background moving in from the left. That background is actually a progress bar that’s showing you the state of the device installation. Click the icon to see the install details, as shown in Figure 28.3.
Figure 28.3 When you attach a new device, click the taskbar’s Device Setup icon to watch the progress of the install.
When the install is finished, the Device Setup dialog box and taskbar icon disappear, and your device is ready to go.
Completing a Device Install
Plug and Play device installations almost always go off without a hitch. Almost always. In some cases, Windows 10 might encounter a problem, or it might not have access to the necessary files to complete the install. You’ll see a notification to that effect, but just in case you miss it, the notification also appears in Control Panel’s Security and Maintenance window. In the Maintenance section, you’ll see a “Finish installing device software” message, as shown in Figure 28.4. Click Install to complete the installation. In most cases, Windows 10 scours the Web for the needed software, downloads it, and then proceeds with the installation.
Figure 28.4 Every now and then Windows 10 fumbles an install, but you can use Security and Maintenance to complete the device installation.
Installing a Bluetooth Device
You’re probably familiar with Wi-Fi, the standard that enables you to perform networking chores without the usual network cables. Bluetooth is a similar technology in that it enables you to exchange data between two devices without any kind of physical connection between them. Bluetooth uses radio frequencies to set up a communications link between the devices. Bluetooth is a short-distance networking technology with a maximum range of about 33 feet (10 meters). If your PC has a built-in Bluetooth receiver (or you insert a USB Bluetooth receiver), you can make connections with a wide variety of devices, including mice, keyboards, headsets, and printers.
In theory, connecting Bluetooth devices should be criminally easy. You turn on each device’s Bluetooth feature (in Bluetooth jargon, you make the devices discoverable), bring them within 33 feet of each other, and they connect without further ado. In practice, however, there’s usually at least a bit of further ado (and sometimes plenty of it). The reason is that, as a security precaution, many Bluetooth devices do not connect automatically to a PC. This makes sense because otherwise it means a stranger with a Bluetooth device could connect to your computer. To prevent an unauthorized user from connecting, most Bluetooth devices require you to enter a password before the connection is made. This is known as pairing the two devices.
After you’ve made your Bluetooth device discoverable, you can follow these steps to pair it with your Windows 10 PC:
1. Click Start and then click Settings. The Settings app appears.
2. Click Devices.
3. Click Bluetooth. Windows 10 begins scouring the nearby airwaves looking for discoverable Bluetooth devices, which it then displays in a list (see Figure 28.5).
4. Click your Bluetooth device, and then click Pair. If the device requires a passcode to complete the pairing, you see a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 28.6.
5. Enter the passcode. Windows 10 pairs with the device.
Running Windows 10 with Multiple Monitors
Over the past few years, many studies have shown that you can greatly improve your productivity by doing one thing: adding a second monitor to your system. This enables you to have whatever program you are currently working with displayed on one monitor and your reference materials, email program, or some other secondary program on the second monitor. This setup is more efficient because you no longer have to switch back and forth between the two programs.
To work with two monitors on a single computer, one solution is to install a second video card and attach the second monitor to it. However, most video cards come with multiple output ports, which can be any combination of VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Also, almost all notebook PCs have at least one video output port that you can use to connect to a second monitor.
After you have installed the new video card (if necessary) and attached the monitors, you then need to tell Windows 10 how you want to use the second monitor. You have three choices:
Extend the screen across both monitors.
Duplicate the screen on the second monitor.
Use only the second monitor as your display.
The next few sections provide you with the details.
Extending the Screen to a Second Monitor
For most people, the extra expense of a second monitor is justified if it increases productivity, and you can do that by extending the Windows 10 interface across a second monitor. In this case, Windows 10 displays the Start button and taskbar on both the original monitor and the second monitor.
After you’ve connected the second monitor to your Windows PC, the easiest way to extend your desktop to the second monitor is to press Windows Logo+P to open the Project pane, then click Extend, as shown in Figure 28.7.
Now you need to choose which monitor is the main display, which is the monitor the system uses to show program windows when you first launch them. Follow these steps:
1. Select Start, Settings to run the Settings app, then click System to open the System window with the Display tab selected, as shown in Figure 28.8.
Note
Ideally, you should be able to move your mouse pointer continuously from the left monitor to the right monitor. If you find that the mouse pointer stops at the right edge of your left monitor, it means you need to exchange the icons of the left and right monitors. To do that, click and drag the left monitor icon to the right of the other monitor icon (or vice versa).
2. Click the monitor you want to set as the main display.
3. Check the Make This My Main Display box.
4. Click Apply.
Duplicating the Screen on a Second Monitor
If you’re making a presentation, the ideal setup is to be able to see what’s on your main monitor (particularly if you’re using a notebook PC) and then duplicate that same screen on the second monitor or projector. Duplicating the screen is also useful if you’ve connected your PC to a TV and want to control the screen from your PC but see the content on the larger screen.
After you’ve connected the second monitor to your Windows PC, the easiest way to duplicate the desktop on the second monitor is to press Windows Logo+P to open the Project pane, then click Duplicate. (Alternatively, you can do this via Settings: Click Start, Settings, System, use the Multiple Displays list to select Duplicate These Displays, then click Apply.) Windows 10 connects to the second monitor and uses it to display the same content as the main monitor.
Using Only the Second Monitor
If your second monitor is larger than your main monitor (such as a notebook PC screen) or has a higher quality image, you might prefer to use only the second monitor as your output screen. This is also a useful scenario if your main monitor is damaged or distorted, so rather than having to dispose of a notebook PC whose monitor is broken or simply not to your liking, use this second monitor option.
After you’ve connected the second monitor to your Windows PC, the easiest way to switch to using the second monitor is to press Windows Logo+P to open the Project pane, then click Second Screen Only. (Alternatively, you can do this via Settings: Click Start, Settings, System, use the Multiple Displays list to select Show Only On 2, then click Apply.) Windows 10 connects to the second monitor and uses it to display the screen output.
Configuring the Taskbar for Multiple Monitors
By default, Windows 10 displays the taskbar on both monitors, and both taskbars display icons for all the running desktop apps, regardless of which monitor the apps appear on. You might want to change these defaults. For example, if you want to maximize the available screen real estate on the secondary display, you can configure Windows 10 to show the taskbar only on the main display. Similarly, you can configure the taskbars to show an icon for a running program only on the display where that program appears.
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Right-click the taskbar and then click Properties. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box appears.
2. If you want the taskbar to appear only on the main display, uncheck the Show Taskbar on All Displays box and skip to step 4.
3. Use the Show Taskbar Buttons On list to select how you want the buttons displayed:
All Taskbars—This is the default, and it means that a button for every running desktop program appears on each taskbar.
Main Taskbar and Taskbar Where Window Is Open—Select this option to display a button for every running desktop program on the main taskbar. If the program’s window appears on another display, that display’s taskbar also includes a button for the program.
Taskbar Where Window Is Open—Select this option to display a button for a running program only on the taskbar in the same window.
4. Click OK to put the settings into effect.
Moving Up to Three Monitors
Rocking with two monitors is great, but let’s crank things up a notch and go for not two, but three monitors! You could have Word on one monitor, reference materials or whatever on a second monitor, and Outlook on the third or use all three monitors together for super wide-screen gaming (on games that support this option). It’s almost scary how productive this setup will make you or what fun you can have playing some of your favorite games.
Note
Both AMD and NVIDIA offer both triple-GPU and quadruple-GPU video cards, just in case you feel like running Windows 10 with six or even eight monitors!
How does this setup work? The secret is that you need three output ports on your PC. Many new PCs ship with three or even four output ports—VGA, DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort—so you just need to match these with your monitor input ports. If your PC has only two output ports, you must install a second video card on your system. However, you can’t just plop any old video card in there and hope things will work. Instead, you must use video cards that come with dual-GPU (graphics processing unit) support. Both AMD and NVIDIA offer dual-GPU technologies:
AMD CrossFireX—AMD’s dual-GPU technology is called CrossFireX (or CFX). To use it, you need a motherboard with a CrossFireX-compatible chipset and two free PCI Express slots that are designed for CrossFireX, as well as two CrossFireX-capable video cards from the same chipset family. Figure 28.9 shows two video cards connected with a CrossFireX bridge. To learn more about CrossFireX-compatible equipment, see http://sites.amd.com/us/game/technology/Pages/crossfirex.aspx.
NVIDIA SLI—NVIDIA’s dual-GPU technology is called scalable link interface (SLI). To use it, you need a motherboard with an SLI-compatible chipset and two free PCI Express slots designed for SLI, as well as two SLI-capable video cards that use the same NVIDIA chipset. To learn more about SLI-compatible equipment, see http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli.
Each of these video cards has two output ports, so you have a total of four ports to use. After you get the cards installed, you run VGA or DVI cables from three of those ports (or four, if you want to go all the way and use four monitors) to the corresponding ports on your monitors. When you next start Windows, install the video card drivers.
Now you’re ready to configure Windows to extend the desktop across all your monitors. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Make sure all your monitors are connected and turned on.
2. Right-click the desktop and then click Screen Resolution. The Control Panel’s Screen Resolution window appears. You now see icons for four monitors, which represent the four output ports of the video cards.
Tip
If you’re not sure which three of the four icons represent your actual monitors, select Identify. Windows 10 displays large numbers—1, 2, and 3—on each monitor, and the numbers correspond to the numbered icons in the Screen Resolution window.
3. In the Multiple Displays list, select Extend These Displays.
4. Click and drag the monitor icons to the orientation you prefer. For example, you might want your main monitor (the monitor that holds the taskbar) in the middle and the other two monitors on either side.
5. Adjust the resolution for each monitor, as desired.
6. Click Apply.
Managing Your Hardware with Device Manager
Windows 10 stores all its hardware data in the Registry, but it provides Device Manager to give you a graphical view of the devices on your system. To display Device Manager, you have several choices:
If you’re viewing the Settings app’s Devices window, in the Connected devices tab, click the Device Manager link.
Click the taskbar’s Search box, type device, and then click Device Manager in the search results.
Press Windows Logo+X (or right-click the Start button), and then click Device Manager.
Device Manager’s default display is a tree-like outline that lists various hardware types. To see the specific devices, click the plus sign (+) to the left of a device type. For example, opening the Disk Drives branch displays all the hard drives, Flash drives, and memory card slots attached to your computer, as shown in Figure 28.10.
Figure 28.10 Device Manager organizes your computer’s hardware in a tree-like hierarchy organized by hardware type.
Controlling the Device Display
Device Manager’s default view is by hardware type, but it also offers several other views, all of which are available on the View menu:
Devices by Connection—This view displays devices according to what they are connected to within your computer. For example, to see which devices connect to the PCI bus, on most systems you’d open the ACPI branch, then the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System branch, and finally the PCI Bus branch.
Resources by Type—This view displays devices according to the hardware resources they require. Your computer’s resources are the communications channels by which devices communicate back and forth with software. There are four types: Direct Memory Access (DMA), Input/Output (IO), Interrupt Request (IRQ), and Memory (a portion of the computer’s memory that’s allocated to the device and is used to store device data).
Resources by Connection—This view displays the computer’s allocated resources according to how they’re connected within the computer.
Show Hidden Devices—When you activate this command, Device Manager displays those non–Plug and Play devices that you normally don’t need to adjust or troubleshoot. It also displays nonpresent devices, which are those that have been installed but aren’t currently attached to the computer. (However, refer to “Showing Nonpresent Devices in Device Manager” to be sure you’re seeing all devices.)
Viewing Device Properties
Each device listed in Device Manager has its own properties sheet. You can use these properties not only to learn more about the device (such as the resources it’s currently using), but also to make adjustments to the device’s resources, change the device driver, alter the device’s settings (if it has any), and make other changes.
To display the properties sheet for a device, double-click the device to take you to the Properties box or right-click the device and then select Properties. The number of tabs you see depends on the hardware, but most devices have at least the following:
General—This tab gives you general information such as the name of the device, its hardware type, and the manufacturer’s name. The Device Status group tells you whether the device is working properly, and gives you status information if it’s not.
For information on using Device Manager for troubleshooting, see “Troubleshooting Device Problems,” p. 609.
Driver—This tab gives you information about the device driver and offers several buttons to manage the driver. See “Working with Device Drivers,” later in this chapter.
Resources—This tab tells you the hardware resources used by the device.
Showing Nonpresent Devices in Device Manager
We mentioned earlier that if you have any non–Plug and Play devices that you want to work with in Device Manager, you select View, Show Hidden Devices.
That works, but it doesn’t mean that Device Manager is now showing all your devices. If you have any devices that you’ve installed in Windows but that you regularly connect and then disconnect (such as a USB digital camera), Device Manager won’t show them. (Windows describes such devices as ghosted devices.) That makes a bit of sense, because it might be confusing to see nonconnected hardware in Device Manager.
However, what if you’re having a problem with a ghosted device? For example, suppose Windows hangs or crashes every time you connect such a device. Ideally, you’d like to use Device Manager to uninstall that device, but you can’t because Windows goes belly-up whenever you connect the nasty thing. What do to?
Note
By setting the DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES environment variable in your Command Prompt session, you must launch Device Manager from that session. If you just launch Device Manager in the usual way, you won’t see the ghosted devices.
The solution to this kind of problem is to force Device Manager to show ghosted devices. Here’s how:
1. Press Windows Logo+X (or right-click the Start button), and then click Command Prompt. Windows 10 launches a new Command Prompt session.
2. Type the following command, and then press Enter:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
3. Type the following command, and then press Enter to launch Device Manager:
devmgmt.msc
4. In Device Manager, select View, Show Hidden Devices. Device Manager adds to the device list any ghosted devices installed on your PC.
Working with Device Drivers
For most users, device drivers exist in the nether regions of the PC world, shrouded in obscurity and the mysteries of assembly language programming. As the middlemen brokering the dialogue between Windows 10 and our hardware, however, these complex chunks of code perform a crucial task. After all, it’s just not possible to unleash the full potential of your system unless the hardware and the operating system coexist harmoniously and optimally. To that end, you need to ensure that Windows 10 is using appropriate drivers for all your hardware. You do that by updating to the latest drivers and by rolling back drivers that aren’t working properly.
Tips for Downloading Device Drivers
Finding device drivers on the World Wide Web is an art in itself. We can’t tell you how much of our lives we’ve wasted rooting around manufacturer websites trying to locate a device driver. Most hardware vendor sites seem to be optimized for sales rather than service, so although you can purchase, say, a new printer with just a mouse click or two, downloading a new driver for that printer can take a frustratingly long time. To help you avoid such frustration, here are some tips from our hard-won experience:
If the manufacturer offers different sites for different locations (such as different countries), always use the company’s “home” site. Most mirror sites aren’t true mirrors, and (Murphy’s law still being in effect) it’s usually the driver you’re looking for that a mirror site is missing.
The temptation when you first enter a site is to use the search feature to find what you want. This works only sporadically for drivers, and the site search engines almost always return marketing or sales material first.
Instead of the search engine, look for an area of the site dedicated to driver downloads. The good sites will have links to areas called Downloads or Drivers, but it’s far more common to have to go through a Support or Customer Service area first.
Don’t try to take any shortcuts to where you think the driver might be hiding. Trudge through each step the site provides. For example, it’s common to have to select an overall driver category, then a device category, then a line category, and then the specific model you have. This process is tedious, but it almost always gets you where you want to go.
If the site is particularly ornery, the preceding method might not lead you to your device. In that case, try the search engine. Note that device drivers seem to be particularly poorly indexed, so you might have to try lots of search text variations. One thing that usually works is searching for the exact filename. How can you possibly know that? A method that often works for us is to use Google (www.google.com) or Google Groups (groups.google.com) or some other web search engine to search for the driver. Chances are, someone else has looked for your file and will have the filename (or, if you’re really lucky, a direct link to the driver on the manufacturer’s site).
When you get to the device’s download page, be careful which file you choose. Make sure it’s a Windows 10 driver (although in some cases a Windows 8 driver might work), and make sure you’re not downloading a utility program or some other nondriver file.
When you finally get to download the file, be sure to save it to your computer rather than opening it. If you reformat your system or move the device to another computer, you’ll be glad you have a local copy of the driver so that you don’t have to wrestle with the whole download rigmarole all over again.
Checking Windows Update for Drivers
Before getting to the driver tasks that Windows 10 offers, remember that if Windows 10 can’t find drivers when you initially attach a device, it automatically checks Windows Update to see whether any drivers are available. If Windows 10 finds a driver, it installs the software automatically. In most cases, this behavior is desirable because it requires almost no input from you. However, lots of people don’t like to use Windows on automatic pilot all the time because doing so can lead to problems. In this case, for example, the Windows Update driver might be older than the driver available at the Windows Update site. If you’ve downloaded the driver you actually want to use from the manufacturer’s website, you don’t want whatever is on Windows Update to be installed.
To gain control over Windows Update driver downloads, follow these steps:
1. In the taskbar’s Search box, type systempropertieshardware, and then press Enter. Windows 10 opens the System Properties dialog box with the Hardware tab displayed.
2. Click Device Installation Settings. Windows 10 displays the Device Installation Settings dialog box.
3. Select the No, Let Me Choose What to Do option. Windows 10 displays the options shown in Figure 28.11.
Figure 28.11 Use the Device Installation Settings dialog box to control how Windows 10 uses Windows Update to locate and install device drivers.
4. Select one of the following two choices:
Always Install the Best Driver Software from Windows Update—This is the default setting, and it tells Windows 10 to go ahead and locate and install Windows Update drivers each time you attach a new device.
Never Install Driver Software from Windows Update—Check this option to tell Windows 10 to bypass Windows Update for all new devices. Use this option if you always use the manufacturer’s device driver, whether it’s on a disc that comes with the device or is downloaded via the manufacturer’s website.
5. If you don’t want Windows to automatically download the device program as well as the device information from the vendor, uncheck the Automatically Get the Device App and Info Provided By Your Device Manufacturer box.
6. Click Save Changes.
Updating a Device Driver
Follow these steps to update a device driver:
1. If you have a disc with the updated driver, insert it. If you downloaded the driver from the Internet, decompress the driver file, if necessary.
2. In Device Manager, click the device with which you want to work.
3. Select Action, Update Driver Software. (You can also click the Update Driver Software button in the toolbar or open the device’s properties sheet, display the Driver tab, and click Update Driver.) The Update Driver Software Wizard appears.
4. Select one of the following two choices:
Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software—Click this option to have Windows 10 check Windows Updates for the driver.
Browse My Computer for Driver Software—Click this option if you have a local device driver, whether on a disc or in a downloaded file. In the dialog box that appears, click Browse, and then select the location of the device driver.
Note
If your driver download comes packaged in a setup file, it’s almost always best just to launch the setup file and let it perform the update for you.
Configuring Windows to Ignore Unsigned Device Drivers
Device drivers that meet the Designed for Windows 10 specifications have been tested for compatibility with Microsoft and are then given a digital signature. This signature tells you that the driver works properly with Windows and that it hasn’t been changed since it was tested. (For example, the driver hasn’t been infected by a virus or Trojan horse program.) When you’re installing a device, if Windows 10 comes across a driver that has not been digitally signed, it displays a dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 28.12.
Figure 28.12 Windows 10 displays a dialog box similar to this one when it comes across a device driver that does not have a digital signature.
If you click Don’t Install This Driver Software, Windows aborts the driver installation, and you won’t be able to use the device. This is the most prudent choice in this situation because an unsigned driver can cause all kinds of havoc, including lock-ups, BSODs (blue screens of death), and other system instabilities. You should check the manufacturer’s website for an updated driver that’s compatible with Windows 10, or you can upgrade to newer hardware that’s supported by Windows 10.
Note
Test your system thoroughly after installing the driver: use the device, open and use your most common applications, and run some disk utilities. If anything seems awry, roll back the driver, as described in Chapter 26, “Troubleshooting and Repairing Problems.” If that doesn’t work, use the restore point to roll back the system to its previous configuration.
However, although not installing an unsigned driver is the prudent choice, it’s not the most convenient choice because, in most cases, you probably want to use the device now rather than later. The truth is that most of the time these unsigned drivers cause no problems and work as advertised, so as long as you obtained the driver from a source that you’re certain is legitimate, it’s probably safe to continue with the installation. In any case, Windows always sets a restore point prior to the installation of an unsigned driver, so you can restore your system to its previous state should anything go wrong.
To learn how to roll back a driver, see “Rolling Back a Device Driver,” p. 613.
By default, Windows gives you the option of either continuing or aborting the installation of the unsigned driver. You can change this behavior to automatically accept or reject all unsigned drivers by following these steps:
1. In the Search box, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to launch the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. Open the User ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemDriver Installation branch.
3. Double-click the Code Signing for Device Drivers policy. Windows displays the Code Signing for Device Drivers dialog box.
Note
If you’re running a version of Windows 10 that doesn’t come with the Group Policy Editor, we’ll show you a bit later how to perform this tweak using the Registry.
4. Click Enabled.
5. From the When Windows Detects a Driver File Without a Digital Signature list, select one of the following items (see Figure 28.13):
Ignore—Choose this option if you want Windows 10 to install all unsigned drivers.
Warn—Choose this option if you want Windows 10 to warn you about an unsigned driver by displaying the dialog box shown earlier in Figure 28.13.
Block—Choose this option if you do not want Windows 10 to install any unsigned drivers.
Figure 28.13 Enable the Code Signing for Device Drivers policy, and then choose what you want Windows 10 to do when it comes across an unsigned driver.
6. Click OK.
If your version of Windows 10 doesn’t support the Local Group Policy Editor, follow these steps to set the driver-signing options via the Registry:
Tip
Windows 10 knows that some device drivers will cause system instabilities. It will simply refuse to load these problematic drivers, no matter which action you choose in the Driver Signing Options dialog box. In this case, you’ll see a dialog box similar to the one in Figure 28.13, except this one tells you that the driver will not be installed, and your only choice is to cancel the installation.
1. In the taskbar’s Search box, type regedit, press Enter, and then enter your User Account Control credentials. Windows 10 launches the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following key:
HKCUSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoft
3. If you don’t see a Windows NT key, select Edit, New, Key, and then type Windows NT.
4. Select Edit, New, Key, and then type Driver Signing.
5. Select Edit, New, DWORD, and then type BehaviorOnFailedVerify.
6. Double-click the BehaviorOnFailedVerify setting to open it for editing.
7. Type one of the following values:
1—(Ignore) Use this value if you want Windows 10 to install all unsigned drivers.
2—(Warn) Use this value if you want Windows 10 to warn you about an unsigned driver by displaying the dialog box shown earlier in Figure 28.12.
3—(Block) Use this value if you do not want Windows 10 to install any unsigned drivers.
8. Click OK.
Write a Complete List of Device Drivers to a Text File
Sometimes you might wish you had a list of all the drivers installed on your PC. For example, if your system crashes, it would be nice to have some kind of record of what drivers are in there. More likely, such a list would come in handy if you have to set up your PC from scratch and you want to know which drivers you have to update.
How do you get such a list? Oddly, Windows doesn’t give you any straightforward way to do this. However, you can make your own list by using a script like the one shown in Listing 28.1.
For information on working with scripts, see “Windows Script Host,” p. 704.
Listing 28.1 A Script That Writes a Complete List of a PC’s Installed Device Drivers to a Text File
Option Explicit
Dim strComputer, objWMI, collDrivers, objDriver, intDrivers
Dim objFSO, strFolder, objFile
'
' Change the following value to the path of the folder
' where you want to store the text file
'
strFolder = "d:ackups"
'
' Initialize the file system object
'
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
'
' Create the text file
'
Set objFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile(strFolder & "drivers.txt", True)
'
' Get the WMI object
'
strComputer = "."
Set objWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\" & strComputer)
'
' Return the collection of device drivers on the computer
'
Set collDrivers = objWMI.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_PnPSignedDriver")
'
' Run through each item in the collection
'
intDrivers = 0
For Each objDriver in collDrivers
'
' Write the driver data to the text file
'
objFile.WriteLine(objDriver.DeviceName)
objFile.WriteLine("========================================")
objFile.WriteLine("Device Class: " & objDriver.DeviceClass)
objFile.WriteLine("Device Description: " & objDriver.Description)
objFile.WriteLine("Device ID: " & objDriver.DeviceID)
objFile.WriteLine("INF Filename: " & objDriver.InfName)
objFile.WriteLine("Driver Provider: " & objDriver.DriverProviderName)
objFile.WriteLine("Driver Version: " & objDriver.DriverVersion)
objFile.WriteLine("Driver Date: " & ReturnDriverDate(objDriver.DriverDate))
objFile.WriteLine("")
intDrivers = intDrivers + 1
Next
'
' Close the text file
'
objFile.Close
WScript.Echo "Wrote " & intDrivers & " drivers to the text file."
'
' ReturnDriverDate()
' This function takes the driver datetime value and converts
' it to a friendlier date and time format
'
Function ReturnDriverDate(dDriverDate)
Dim eventDay, eventMonth, eventYear
Dim eventSecond, eventMinute, eventHour
eventYear = Left(dDriverDate, 4)
eventMonth = Mid(dDriverDate, 5, 2)
eventDay = Mid(dDriverDate, 7, 2)
eventHour = Mid(dDriverDate, 9, 2)
eventMinute = Mid(dDriverDate, 11, 2)
eventSecond = Mid(dDriverDate, 13, 2)
ReturnDriverDate = DateSerial(eventYear, eventMonth, eventDay) & _
" " & TimeSerial(eventHour, eventMinute, eventSecond)
End Function
The script uses VBScript’s FileSystemObject to connect to the PC’s file system. In this case, the script uses FileSystemObject to create a new text file in the folder specified by strFolder. The script then sets up the usual Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) object, and then uses WMI to return the collection of installed device drivers. A For Each...Next loop goes through each device and writes various data to the text file, including the device name and description as well as the driver version and date.
Uninstalling a Device
When you remove a Plug and Play device, the BIOS informs Windows 10 that the device is no longer present. Windows 10, in turn, updates its device list in the Registry, and the peripheral no longer appears in the Device Manager display.
If you’re removing a legacy device, however, you need to tell Device Manager that the device no longer exists. To do that, follow these steps:
1. Press Windows Logo+X, click Device Manager, and then click the device in the Device Manager tree.
2. Select Action, Uninstall. (Alternatively, click Uninstall in the toolbar or open the device’s properties sheet, display the Driver tab, and click Uninstall.)
3. When Windows 10 warns you that you’re about to remove the device, click OK.
Working with Device Security Policies
The Group Policy Editor offers several device-related policies. To see them, open the Group Policy Editor (press Windows Logo+R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter) and select Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, Security Options. Here are the policies in the Devices category:
Allow Undock Without Having to Log On—When this policy is enabled, users can undock a notebook computer without having to log on to Windows 10. (That is, they can undock the computer by pressing the docking station’s eject button.) If you want to restrict who can do this, disable this policy.
Allowed to Format and Eject Removable Media—Use this policy to determine the groups allowed to format floppy disks and eject CDs and other removable media.
Tip
To control who can undock the computer, display Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights Assignment. Use the Remove Computer from Docking Station policy to assign the users or groups who have this right.
Prevent Users from Installing Printer Drivers—Enable this policy to prevent users from installing a network printer. Note that this doesn’t affect the installation of a local printer.
Restrict CD-ROM Access to Locally Logged-On User Only—Enable this policy to prevent network users from operating the computer’s CD-ROM or DVD drive at the same time as a local user. If no local user is accessing the drive, the network user can access it.
Restrict Floppy Access to Locally Logged-On User Only—Enable this policy to prevent network users from operating the computer’s floppy drive at the same time as a local user. If no local user is accessing the drive, the network user can access it.