Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
    • Plug and Play
    • Windows Offers Hardware Help
    • Setting Up a Second PC
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Plug and Play

Despite the industry hype over Plug and Play, it does not always work. If you attempt to install an older board into your computer, Windows might not recognize the board, and you could have all kinds of hardware problems that take time to correct. Generally, devices currently billed as Plug and Play are fairly stable and install well.

New USB (USB stands for Universal Serial Bus) and FireWire, also called IEEE 1394, hardware generally works as well or better than the plug and play installations described here. The advantage to USB and FireWire is that you don't have to power-off your computer to install new devices. Simply plug the device's connector into your computer's USB or FireWire port and Windows recognizes the device, prompts you for installation software if any is required, and you are ready to use the device. In spite of the advantages to these connections, plug and play devices are still needed, such as graphics adapters that must plug directly into your computer's motherboard.

Things do not always go as planned when installing non–plug-and-play hardware. New hardware that supports Plug and Play often has a seal with PnP on the box indicating its compatibility. You often have to set certain hardware switches correctly. You might also have to move certain jumpers so that electrical lines on your new hardware flow properly to work with your specific computer. The new hardware can conflict with existing hardware in your machine. Most hardware devices, such as video and sound boards, often require new software support contained in small files called drivers that you must install and test.

Before Plug and Play can work in Windows, these two plug-and-play items must be in place:

• A Basic Input Output System called the BIOS in your computer's system unit that is compatible with plug and play. The computer manual's technical specifications or technical support should tell you whether the BIOS is compatible with Plug and Play. Fortunately, virtually all PCs sold since early 1996 have supported Plug and Play.
• A device to install that is compatible with Plug and Play

You are running Windows XP, which is compatible with Plug and Play. If you do not have the Plug and Play BIOS inside your computer (most computers made before 1994 have no form of plug and play compatibility at all), you have to help Windows with the installation process by answering some questions posed by a new hardware setup wizard. When you purchase new hardware in the future, try to purchase only hardware rated for plug-and-play compatibility.

If you run Windows, own a computer with a Plug and Play BIOS, and purchase only plug-and-play hardware, the most you usually have to do is turn off the computer, install the hardware, and turn the computer back on. Everything should work fine after that.

Plug and Play works both for newly installed hardware and for removed hardware. If you remove a sound card that you no longer want, or remove memory and replace that memory with a higher capacity memory, Plug and Play should recognize the removal and reconfigure the computer and operating system automatically. Again, Plug and Play is not always perfect and does not always operate as expected, but as long as you run a Plug-and-Play BIOS and install plug-and-play hardware, you should have little trouble with installation.

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