First introduced with the release of Microsoft Windows 95, the Windows Device Manager is a Windows feature that allows a user to view detected hardware devices and the status of each device. Device Manager is available in Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, and 7. Below are some examples of what the Device Manager may look like in your version of Windows.
If everything is properly detected within Windows you'll see all +'s next to each of the device categories as shown in the above examples. However, when problems do occur you'll be presented with one or more of the below types of errors.
Double-clicking and opening the device with the error will often present you with an error code. A listing of these error codes can be found on document CH001162.
Below is a listing of each of the Windows Device Manager categories and a basic explanation of what you may find in these categories. Knowing what categories are available and what should be contained in these categories can help you easily determine when a hardware device is being detected or not, and have a better understanding of Device Manager.
| Category | Description |
| Batteries | Displays any batteries being detected by Windows. This category only displays ACPI compliant batteries that power computers; other batteries, such as a CMOS battery, will likely be displayed under System devices. |
| CD-ROM | Displays a listing of the currently detected and installed CD disk drives in the computer. Later versions of Microsoft Windows renamed this category to DVD/CD-ROM drives to help accommodate all the new types of CD and DVD drives. |
| Disk drives | Displays each of the hard disk drives installed in the computer. |
| Display adapters | Displays each of the video cards installed and/or detected by Windows. |
| DVD/CD-ROM drives | Included in Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP, this category is the replacement for the earlier CD-ROM category and displays all CD and DVD drives currently detected and/or installed by Windows. |
| Floppy disk controllers | Displays each of the floppy disk drive controllers detected on the motherboard. |
| Floppy disk drives | Displays each of the floppy disk drives currently installed in the computer. |
| Hard disk controllers | Displays each of the disk controllers currently detected on the motherboard. Later versions of Microsoft Windows renamed this category to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers or the appropriate controller for the controller detected on the motherboard. |
| Human Interface Devices | Displays any HID devices currently detected by Windows. For example, game controllers and USB devices may be listed in this category. |
| IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers | Included in Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP, this category displays each of the ATA or ATAPI controllers currently detected on the motherboard. This category replaces the old hard disk controllers category. |
| IEEE 1394 bus host controller | Displays any IEEE 1394 controllers currently being detected by Windows. |
| Keyboards | Displays each of the keyboards currently being detected by Windows. |
| Mice and other pointing devices | Included in Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP, this category displays each of the computer mice and any other pointing devices currently being detected by Windows. This category replaces the old mouse category. |
| Modem | Displays each of the computer modems being detected by Windows. |
| Monitors | Displays each of the computer monitors being detected by Windows. |
| Mouse | Displays each of the computer mice being detected by Windows. Later versions of Microsoft Windows renamed this category to Mice and other pointing devices. |
| Multi-function adapters | Internal and/or external device that is capable of performing multiple functions. |
| Network adapters | Displays each of the computer network cards being detected by Windows. |
| Other | Displays any hardware device that is either not properly installed or cannot be detected by Windows. If this category exists it is possible for the computer to encounter errors. |
| PCMCIA socket | Displays a listing of PCMCIA sockets currently being detected by Windows. |
| Ports (COM & LPT) | Displays any COM ports (Serial Ports) and LPT ports (Parallel Ports) detected by Windows. This section will also display what COM ports are detected; for example, if you have multiple serial ports you may see a COM1 and COM2. In addition, this will also display the LPT port mode detected; for example, ECP printer port. The COM and LPT ports can be configured through the computer's BIOS. |
| Processors | Included with computer running Windows 2000 or Windows XP, this category displays any processors currently being detected by Windows. If your computer has one or more processors or is a processor with Hyper-threading, you may have multiple processors listed. |
| SCSI controller | Displays any SCSI controllers currently being detected by Windows. |
| Sound, video and game controllers | Display the computer sound card, video capture devices, Codecs, and game controllers currently installed. Note: Your video card should be installed under the Display adapters category and not this category. |
| System devices | The remainder of the system hardware devices that are nota already listed in this section. Commonly, this section will list motherboard resources such as the controllers, PCI bus, system speaker, system timer, etc. |
| Universal Serial Bus controllers | Displays each of the USB devices, controllers, and hubs currently being detected by Windows. |
