To use Device Manager
For Plug and Play–compliant devices, there are no true default settings. Instead, Windows 98 identifies devices and their resource requests and then arbitrates requests among them. If no device requests the same resources as another device, their settings should not change. If another device requests the same resources, the settings might change to accommodate the request. Consequently, you should never change resource settings for a Plug and Play–compliant device unless absolutely necessary. Doing so will fix its settings, making it impossible for Windows 98 to grant another device’s request to use that resource. Changed resource settings can be brought back to the original values by checking the Use automatic settings box under the Resources tab of the Device Properties dialog box in Device Manager. See the procedure "To change a device’s resource settings using Device Manager" later in this section.
All legacy devices have fixed resource settings, which are discovered either during Windows Setup or through the Add New Hardware Wizard in Control Panel.
Certain circumstances might require users to change resource settings after Windows 98 has configured a device. For example, Windows 98 might not be able to configure one device without creating conflicts with another device. In such a case, a message usually appears to explain what is happening and what you can do about the problem — turn off a device to make room for the new device, disable the new device, or reconfigure a legacy device to make room for the new device.
The best source for resolving any conflicts that might occur is the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Windows 98 Help. For more information, see "Troubleshooting Device Management" later in this chapter.
When you must manually change a device’s configuration, you can use the Device Manager tab in the System option in Control Panel. Never attempt to edit registry entries directly. Editing registry entries directly is not supported and can cause serious problems.
If you need or want to resolve device conflicts manually, you can use Device Manager and try the following strategies:
Caution
Changing default settings using either Device Manager or Registry Editor can cause conflicts that make one or more devices unavailable on the system.
To get assistance in resolving device conflicts, go to the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Windows 98 Help. For more information, see "Troubleshooting Device Management" later in this chapter.
To use Device Manager
– Or –
Right-click My Computer, click Properties from the shortcut menu, and then click the Device Manager tab. The Device Manager dialog box is displayed.
In Device Manager, you can print reports about system settings, including reports on the following:
To print a report about system settings
Important
You should quit all MS-DOS-based applications before printing the report named "All devices and system summary," because the device detection code might cause problems for some MS-DOS-based applications. If you do not do this, some applications might report the system is out of memory.
The following procedure explains how to change a device’s resource settings using Device Manager. Change resource settings only if absolutely necessary. Also, before changing resource settings, make sure that your problem is a resource conflict instead of a missing driver.
To change a device’s resource settings using Device Manager
If there is a conflict with another device, a message is displayed in the Conflict Information field.
Note
When you click Change Setting, you might see an error message saying, "This resource setting cannot be modified." If this is the case, you must choose a different basic configuration until you find one that allows you to change resource settings.
Note
Most legacy devices have jumpers or switches that set the IRQ, DMA, and I/O addresses. If you change these settings in Device Manager, you must also change the settings on the device to match them.
If your device is not working properly and you suspect that you have either an outdated device driver or the wrong device driver for your device, you can change your device driver from within Device Manager.
You might also want to change your device driver from within Device Manager if you need to switch between WDM and VxD drivers. You might want to do this, for example, if your WDM driver doesn’t work with a specific application, or if you are using VxD drivers and you want the enhanced performance and functionality available with WDM drivers.
To change the device driver using Device Manager
– Or –
If you want to choose a driver yourself, click Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want.
Windows 98 uses hardware profiles to determine which drivers to load when system hardware changes. Hardware profiles are an especially important feature for portable computers that can be docked. Windows 98 uses one hardware profile to load drivers when the portable is docked and another when it is undocked — for example, at a customer site that has a different monitor from the one at the office.
Configurations are created when Windows 98 queries the BIOS for a dock serial ID and then assigns a name for the docked and undocked configurations. Windows 98 then stores the hardware and software associated with these configurations. Applications access and store information for each of the different hardware configurations used by the mobile user. The registry support enables applications to adapt gracefully to different hardware configurations.
Note
It is not necessary to use a different hardware profile for a fully Plug and Play–compliant portable computer, because the computer automatically knows when it is docked or undocked.
The only time Windows 98 prompts you for the name of a hardware profile is when two profiles are so similar that Windows 98 cannot differentiate between them. If this happens, Windows 98 displays a Hardware Profile menu from which you can choose the correct one.
To create a hardware profile
To enable or disable hardware in a hardware profile
To delete or rename a hardware profile
– Or –
If you want to change the name of the profile, click Rename, and then type a new name.
Windows 98 consolidates display properties in the Display option in Control Panel, so you can easily customize display adapter settings. You can use the Display option in Control Panel to do the following:
Tip
To set display options quickly, right-click the desktop, and then click Properties. Click the Help button to get help for setting display properties.
Windows 98 provides enhanced functionality and easy configuration for display adapters, in addition to resolving many problems inherent in Windows 3.1 display drivers. By using a minidriver architecture for display drivers, Windows 98 provides better support for a wide range of hardware and provides more stable and reliable drivers.
If you are upgrading from Windows 95, Setup uses the existing display driver. Otherwise, if Windows 98 supports the display adapter, Setup automatically detects it and installs the correct display driver, or an updated driver, if one is available in Windows 98. If the display adapter is not supported, the user is asked to provide the search locations for the appropriate driver. If no appropriate driver is found, Windows 98 installs the standard Video Graphics Array (VGA) driver. In some cases, if an existing driver has been shown to cause problems with Windows 98, Windows 98 replaces an existing display driver with the Microsoft-provided driver.
Windows 98 contains a universal display driver called the device-independent bitmap (DIB) engine. The DIB engine provides 32-bit graphics code for fast, robust drawing on high-resolution and frame buffer-type display adapters. Windows 98 display minidrivers use the DIB engine for all in-memory graphics operations and on-screen operations that do not pass to the adapter for hardware acceleration. This architecture makes it easy for hardware developers to write drivers for a new controller type and to add hardware acceleration features incrementally.
To ensure broad support for display adapter devices in Windows 98, Microsoft developed many display drivers in cooperation with the major display controller hardware manufacturers. The Microsoft development team also worked closely with hardware manufacturers to write additional display drivers and assisted in optimizing existing drivers to enhance display speed for improved graphics performance.
Windows 98 also includes mechanisms to ensure that incompatible display drivers cannot prevent a user from accessing the system. If a display driver fails to load or initialize when Windows 98 is started, Windows 98 automatically uses the generic VGA display driver. This ensures that you can start Windows 98 to fix a display-related problem.
For displays, colors are described in bits per pixel (bpp). Table 24.2 lists the bpp-to-color conversions.
Table 24.2 Bpp-to-color conversions
| Bits per pixel | Color conversion |
|---|---|
| 1 bpp | Monochrome |
| 4 bpp | 16 colors |
| 8 bpp | 256 colors |
| 15 bpp | 32,768 (32K) colors |
| 16 bpp | 65,536 (64K) colors |
| 24 bpp | 16.7 million colors |
| 32 bpp | 16.7 million colors 1 |
| 1 This is another description of true color that includes an 8-bit alpha component in addition to the 24-bits used for 16.7 million colors. Alpha is a degree of transparency or translucency. | |
Resolutions are described in the horizontal number of pixels multiplied by (x) the vertical number of pixels—for example, 640 x 480.
Tip
You can identify the Windows 98 version of a display driver by clicking the display adapter from within Device Manager. If you can boot only to the command prompt, you can also identify the driver by examining the following line in the [boot.description] section of the System.ini file:
display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv.
For example:
[boot.description]
system.drv=Standard PC
keyboard.typ=Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
mouse.drv=Standard mouse
aspect=100,96,96
display.drv=S3 ViRGE-DX/GX PCI (375/385)
The actual display driver is loaded from the registry. This supports docking computers that have different adapters for the portable computer as opposed to the docking station.
Windows 98 can automatically detect a Plug and Play monitor as soon as you plug it in. If you are using a legacy monitor, this option is disabled by default. If you want to enable it, follow the procedure below.
To enable Windows 98 to detect Plug and Play monitors automatically
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
If you are having problems with a Plug and Play monitor, you might need to disable this option by following the procedure below.
To prevent Windows 98 from automatically detecting Plug and Play monitors
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
When the computer reboots, Windows 98 runs the Add New Hardware Wizard and configures your monitor as an Unknown Device, with a default refresh rate of 60 Hz.
After your computer has been configured as an Unknown Device, you can change the device driver by following the procedure in "Changing the Display Type and Driver" later in this chapter.
You can change or upgrade a display driver by using the Display option in Control Panel or by using Device Manager. For more information about adding or changing a device driver, see Help.
Warning
Some monitors can be physically damaged by incorrect display settings. Carefully check the manual for your monitor before choosing a new setting.
To change or upgrade the display driver by using the Display option in Control Panel
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
– Or –
If you are not using a Plug and Play monitor or have not selected the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box, the Select Device dialog box is displayed. Follow the instructions to change your driver.
Windows 98 uses hardware acceleration to improve display performance. In some cases, this might cause problems. (These problems are rare with newer hardware.) If so, you can turn off part or all of your hardware acceleration.
Note
If you are using multiple monitors, changing hardware acceleration settings affects all monitors.
The following procedure describes how to turn off hardware acceleration.
To turn off hardware acceleration
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
You can configure the display resolution and color choices for your display or customize the font size used by using the Display option in Control Panel.
New features in Windows 98 allow you to change resolution and color depth without rebooting, if the installed display adapter is using a video driver provided by Windows 98. However, if you select to change or customize the font size, you must reboot your computer regardless of what video driver you are using. You must also reboot the computer if you are not using a Plug and Play–compliant display adapter and driver that support on-the-fly changes (such as an older Windows 3.1 driver).
To configure your display resolution
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
Table 24.3 Display setting options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Colors | Select from this list the number of colors you want for your display adapter. The larger the number, the greater the number of colors. |
| Screen Area | Drag the slider to change the visible screen area used by the display. The larger the desktop area, the smaller everything looks on your screen. |
| Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor | Active when multiple display support is enabled and monitors are configured as multiple displays. A checked box activates the display adapter for a particular monitor. For information, see "Configuring Multiple Displays" later in this chapter. |
| Advanced | Click to display a dialog box with tabs for selecting display font size, adapter type, monitor type, and restart options. Notice that the monitor type setting has no impact on system performance. This setting identifies the characteristics of the monitor to define the maximum resolution and power management capabilities that it supports. For information, see "Changing the Display Type and Driver" earlier in this chapter. |
Note
Sometimes selecting a supported, higher color-depth (for example, from 16bpp to 24bpp) requires you to reduce the desktop area (for example, from 1024 x 768 to 800 x 600 pixels). Conversely, selecting a supported, lower color-depth gives you the option to select a higher resolution. In nearly all cases, these traits are a function of the amount of video RAM installed on the display adapter.
To customize display of fonts in dialog boxes
Note
You must shut down and restart Windows 98 for the font size changes to take effect.
You can use the Display option in Control Panel to set the screen saver and the background pattern used on the desktop.
You can also use settings in Screen Saver properties to take advantage of Energy Star Monitor support in Windows 98 if your hardware supports this feature. This is similar to the standby mode commonly used in portable computers to save power. Windows 98 can support screen saver power management if both of the following conditions are true for your computer:
This option is checked automatically if, during Setup, hardware detection determined that the monitor supports the VESA Display Power Management Signaling (DPMS) specification. You can also check this option manually.
The display monitor is typically one of the most "power-hungry" components of a computer. Manufacturers of newer display monitors have incorporated energy-saving features into their monitors based on the DPMS specification. Through signals from the display adapter, a software control can place the monitor in standby mode or even turn it off completely, thus reducing the power the monitor uses when inactive.
To use Energy Star power consumption features
Multiple Display allows you to configure multiple monitors so that the Windows 98 desktop can be spread out over their display areas. For each display, you can adjust its position, resolution, and color depth.
Windows 98 has been tested successfully with up to nine monitors; however, because of such limitations as the limited number of PCI slots available on current motherboard designs, real-world implementations generally work on three or fewer additional monitors.
For you to be able to use a monitor as a secondary monitor, it must meet certain criteria. It must be a PCI or AGP device, and it must be able to run in GUI mode or without using VGA resources. It also must have a Windows 98 driver that enables it to be a secondary display. For a list of these drivers, see "Technical Notes on Multiple Display" later in this chapter.
For more information about Multiple Display, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management."
To add a second display to your computer
Note
To test which card will be primary, watch to see which card performs a Power On Self Test (POST). The one that performs a POST will be primary, and the one that seems inactive will be secondary. If you want the order to be changed, reverse the order of the cards in the PCI slots.
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
To configure multiple displays
Note
This procedure applies only if your system contains multiple displays. A system with a single display will have a different Display Properties dialog box.
– Or –
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
From the context-sensitive menu that appears, you can enable or disable the display, show the number of the display on the desktop, or select which monitor to use.
Table 24.4 lists Microsoft-supplied drivers that can be used for secondary displays and that are included with Windows 98:
Table 24.4 Microsoft-supplied drivers that can be used for secondary displays
| Monitor | Driver | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATI Mach 64 GX (GX, GXD, VT) ATI Graphics Pro Turbo PCI |
Atim64.drv | ||||
| ATI Rage I, II, & II+ ATI All-In-Wonder ATI 3D Xpression+ PC2TV ATI 3D Xpression ATI 3D Xpression+ |
Atim64.drv | ||||
| ATI Rage Pro (AGP & PCI) | Atir3.drv | ||||
| S3 765 (Trio64V+) | S3mm.drv, revisions 40, 42, 43, 44, 52, 53, and 54 1 | ||||
| S3 Trio64V2(DX/GX) Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001 STB PowerGraph 64V+ STB MVP 64 Miro TwinHead 22SD Hercules Terminator 64/Video Number Nine 9FX Motion 331 California Graphics V2/DX Videologic GraphicsStar 410 |
S3mm.drv | ||||
| Cirrus 543 Cirrus Alpine |
Cirrusmm.drv | ||||
| Cirrus 5446 STB Nitro 64V |
Cirrusmm.drv | ||||
| S3 ViRGE (ViRGE (325), ViRGE VX (988), ViRGE DX (385), ViRGE GX (385)) Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 Number Nine 9FX Reality 332 STB Nitro 3D STB Powrgraph 3D STB Velocity 3D STB MVP/64 3D Miro Crystal VR4000 |
S3v.drv | ||||
| ET600 Hercules Dynamite 128/Video STB Lightspeed 128 |
Et6000.drv | ||||
| S3 Aurora Compaq Armada |
S3mm.drv | ||||
| 1 If the card is at one of these revisions, then Windows 98 will recognize the card as a Trio 64V+, provided the Microsoft driver is used. If the card is not at one of these revisions then it is recognized as a Trio 32/64. Please note carefully which Microsoft driver Windows 98 selects with this card. | |||||
Table 24.5 lists third-party drivers that can be used for secondary displays. These drivers are provided by third-party manufacturers and are not supported by Microsoft.
Table 24.5 Third-party drivers that work with Multiple Display
| Monitor | Driver |
|---|---|
| Permedia 2 TI TVP4020, 8 MB(Reference board) |
Glint.drv |
| InterGraphics Systems (IGS) CyberPro 2000A, 2MB | Iga2k.drv |
Mouse drivers based on the Windows 98 mini-driver architecture are protected-mode drivers that provide better support for MS-DOS-based applications in the Windows 98 environment. Windows 98 makes mouse configuration and customization easier by providing a single Control Panel option for mouse settings.
Windows 98 Setup detects Microsoft, Logitech, and Microsoft-compatible mouse device drivers, and then replaces these with new drivers.
Windows 98 provides the following improvements in mouse and pointing device support:
Windows 3.1 required that an MS-DOS-based mouse driver be loaded before starting Windows to use a mouse in an MS-DOS-based application running in a window or running in a full screen.
The protected-mode Windows 98 Virtual Device Driver (VxD) mouse driver provides mouse support for Windows-based applications, MS-DOS-based applications running in a window, and MS-DOS-based applications running in a full screen. This results in zero use of conventional memory for mouse support in the Windows 98 environment. (However, most legacy real-mode drivers will run in Windows 98.)
In addition to better mouse services, Windows 98 allows the use of serial ports COM1 through COM4 for connecting a mouse or another pointing device.
To see the improvements in mouse driver support
For example, use an application such as Edit, and try the MS-DOS-based application both in a window and in a full screen. Notice that the mouse is available in both modes.
The Mouse option in Control Panel provides customization options, including setting the behavior of the mouse buttons and the mouse pointer. You can use Device Manager to change drivers for a pointing device. For information, see Help.
For pointing device drivers that do not appear in the Select Device dialog box (that is, those that are not provided with Windows 98), the Windows Driver Library (WDL) provides support for additional drivers from other vendors. For information about obtaining drivers, check the Windows Update Web site by clicking Windows Update on the Start menu.
You can use the Mouse option in Control Panel to configure buttons, customize mouse cursor appearance, set mouse speed, and make other changes. Different functions might be available, depending on the pointing device used with your computer.
To specify mouse behavior
For information about the configuration options, see Help.
A communications resource is a physical or logical device that provides a single, asynchronous data stream. Communications ports, printer ports, and modems are examples of communications resources. In Windows 98, VCOMM is the 32-bit protected-mode VxD that manages all access to communications devices. Port drivers use VCOMM to register themselves and to manage access to communications devices.
Two types of ports appear in Device Manager:
Several types of communications ports might be listed in Device Manager:
When you install a communications device, Windows 98 automatically assigns COM names to communication ports, internal modem adapters, and PC Card modem cards according to their base I/O port addresses as shown in the following list:
If a device has a nonstandard base address, or if all four standard ports have been assigned to devices, Windows 98 automatically assigns the modem to COM5 port or higher. Some 16-bit Windows 3.1–based applications might not be able to access ports higher than COM4. Consequently, in the System option in Control Panel, you must adjust the base address in Device Manager or delete other devices to free up a lower COM port.
In addition, if some of the devices installed on a computer are not Plug and Play–compliant, you might have to change resource settings for their communications ports. You can change communications port settings by using Device Manager, as described in "Installing Devices" earlier in this chapter.
Tip
For future reference, you might want to record the settings that appear on the Resources sheet for each communications port.