Copyright: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 05:33:09


Displays the PC Cards and other similar devices that are installed and running on your computer. If you are removing a device, you should click the device in the list, and then click Stop. Windows will then eject the device, or notify you when you can eject, remove, or unplug the device.


Click to display the properties of the device that is selected in Hardware Devices. You can also use Device Manager to view the properties of a device.


Click to remove, unplug, or eject a PC Card, a USB device, an IEEE 1394 device, or any similar devices. When the device is safe to remove, Windows will either eject the device or notify you that it is safe to eject, remove, or unplug the device.


Specifies whether to display all device components that are connected to a device. A device component is another device or a part of a device that is connected to the main device. This is most often used by system administrators and users who are knowledgeable about hardware devices. If you are managing PC Cards, USB devices, and IEEE 1394 devices, you usually do not need to check this.


Specifies whether to control PC Cards, USB devices, IEEE 1394 devices, and other similar devices from your desktop. This is useful if you have a portable computer and you frequently use PC Cards, or you swap devices such as a floppy drive and a CD-ROM drive.

When you select this check box, an icon will appear on the taskbar. You can click the icon to view device properties or eject, remove, and unplug a device.


Lists devices that will be stopped so they can be ejected, removed, or unplugged. If you click OK, the device will be ejected or you will be notified when you can eject, remove, or unplug the device.


Lists devices that were ejected, removed, or unplugged unsafely. To safely eject, remove, or unplug a device, use the Add Hardware wizard.


Closes the dialog box.


Click to start the Hardware troubleshooter if there is a problem removing a device.


An external bus that supports Plug and Play installation. Using USB, you can connect and disconnect devices without shutting down or restarting your computer. You can use a single USB port to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, including speakers, telephones, CD-ROM drives, joysticks, tape drives, keyboards, scanners, and cameras. A USB port is usually located on the back of your computer near the serial port or parallel port. Universal serial bus is also called USB.

See also bus; Plug and Play; port.


A type of connector that allows you to connect and disconnect high-speed serial devices. An IEEE 1394 connector is usually on the back of your computer near the serial port or the parallel port.

If a device is IEEE 1394 compatible, you can connect the device to the IEEE 1394 connector while the computer is running and Windows will detect the device and inform you when it is ready for use. Similarly, you can unplug the device while the computer is running, but you should first check to see if the device is listed in the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box. If it does appear, you can use Safely Remove Hardware to inform Windows that you are unplugging the device. If it does not appear, you can safely unplug the device without informing Windows. If you use Safely Remove Hardware, Windows will then inform you when the device can be unplugged from the computer. (To open Safely Remove Hardware, double-click the icon [image] located in the right corner of the taskbar.)

The IEEE 1394 bus is used primarily to connect high-end digital video and digital audio devices to your computer; however, some hard disks, printers, scanners, and DVD drives can also be connected to your computer using the IEEE 1394 connector.


A hardware device that you can plug a portable computer into. A docking bay typically has a monitor connected to it as well as other peripheral devices that make your portable computer behave more like a desktop computer. Docking bays are also known as docking stations or port replicators.

Some docking bays will support hot and warm docking and undocking of your portable computer. This means you do not have to shut down or restart your computer. Before you undock your computer, however, you should click Start, click Undock Computer, and then wait until Windows notifies you that the undock is complete. If Undock Computer does not appear on the Start menu, you may be able to use Safely Remove Hardware to inform Windows that you are undocking the computer. If the docking station does not appear here either, then you do not need to inform Windows that you are undocking the computer. If you use Safely Remove Hardware, Windows will then notify you when you can undock your portable computer. (To open Safely Remove Hardware, double-click the icon [image] located in the right corner of the taskbar.)


A removable device, approximately the size of a credit card, that can be plugged into a PCMCIA slot in a portable computer. PCMCIA devices can include modems, network adapters, and hard disk drives.

Some PCMCIA cards can be connected and disconnected to your computer without shutting down or restarting your computer. Before you remove the PCMCIA card, however, you should first check to see if the device is listed in the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box. If it does appear, you can use Safely Remove Hardware to inform Windows that you are unplugging the device. If it does not appear, you can safely unplug the PCMCIA card without informing Windows. If you use Safely Remove Hardware, Windows will notify you when you can remove the device. (To open Safely Remove Hardware, double-click the icon [image] located in the right corner of the taskbar.)

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association is also called PCMCIA.