Unknown Device

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I just installed WIN 98 SE on an older Compaq (Presario 9642). Installation went fine. However, WIN 98 is finding two devices but not finding drivers for them. In Device Manager, they are listed with exclamation sign under Other Devices. How can I figure out what these unknown devices are so I can find the proper drivers. I removed them but upon restart, WIN 98 detected them again and has once again listed them as Unknown Devices.

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I had a similar situation which thankfully cleared up when I rebooted. I have been trying to find a list of the hardware devices in my system in a way I can understand. There is a folder called msinfo32 which has resources information and shows hardware. From Start you enter it in Run.

By the way, are the unknown devices IDE controllers, Primary and Secondary?

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Can you post a screen shot of the device manager displaying the unknown devices?

Anything not working on your system that should be?

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sorry – that system is “gone”. The unknown devices were simply listed under OTHER DEVICES. And there was nothing not working that should be working. Pretty basic unit – sound card, modem, video card and network card all recognized and working. Tis strange.

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Press F10 during bootup. Then go to Computer Setup. Write down all devices listed. If you will see “Unknown ISA Device” or “Unknown PCI Device” make sure all PC cards physically present in your machine are listed, then delete unknown devices (sometimes removed devices are still listed as “unknown”). Exit from Setup and reboot to Windows. Compare the list you have with Device Manager. Are all devices listed?

Some sound and video cards can be recognized by Windows as two separate devices. If you install additional cards (not Compaq basic installation) check manuals for details.

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