This topic provides procedures that you can use to change settings that are specific to certain types of devices.

Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

Change the settings for a network adapter

Device properties for network adapters are device dependent. Read the device manufacturer's instruction manual to determine which settings you must change.

To change the settings for a network adapter
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click Network adapters.

  3. Right-click the network adapter you want, and then click Properties.

  4. On the Advanced tab, make the appropriate changes you want.

Change the settings for a COM or LPT port

To change the settings for a COM or LPT port
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click Ports (COM & LPT).

  3. Right-click the port you want, and then click Properties.

  4. On the Port Settings tab, make the changes you want.

    Note

    Most hardware devices that use ports set the port speed automatically. The defaults for modem port speed are specified in Phone and Modem Options in Control Panel, in the Hardware and Sound section.

Change the settings for a PS/2 mouse

To change the settings for a PS/2 mouse
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click Mice and other pointing devices.

  3. Right-click PS/2 Compatible Mouse, and then click Properties.

  4. On the Advanced Settings tab, make the changes you want.

Change the settings for an IDE controller

Some of the advanced settings for IDE controllers are device dependent. Read the device manufacturer's instruction manual to determine which settings you can change.

You will not be able to change the setting in Device Type if the system has already detected an IDE device on an IDE channel. This prevents you from selecting None, which would disable the IDE device.

To change the settings for an IDE controller
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, right-click the IDE device you want, and then click Properties.

  3. On the Advanced Settings tab, make the changes you want, and then click OK.

    Note

    The Advanced Settings tab might not appear for all IDE controller devices.

Change the regional settings for a DVD drive

Many software decoders require Direct Memory Access (DMA) in order to function. Check the settings of your Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) ATA/ATAPI controllers to ensure that DMA if available is selected in Transfer Mode. If applicable, check this setting for the Secondary IDE Channel also.

To change the region setting for a DVD drive
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click DVD/CD-ROM drives, right-click the DVD drive you want, and then click Properties.

  3. On the DVD Region tab, make the changes you want.

    Note

    The DVD Region tab might not be available for all DVD drives.

To configure your DVD drive to play discs from other regions, select a geographic area from the list of regions. Typically, you would select the region in which you reside. It is not usually necessary to change the setting again.

The region settings can be changed only a limited number of times. When Changes remaining equals 1, and you select a new region, an alert will be displayed warning you that after this, you will only be able to play DVDs from that region. Be aware that you might not be able to change the region setting for some DVD hardware and software decoders.

Change the settings for an ISDN adapter

To change settings for an ISDN adapter
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click Network adapters, right-click the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) adapter card you want, and then click Properties.

  3. On the ISDN tab, in the Select the switch type or D-channel protocol list, click a switch type or a D-channel protocol, and then click Configure.

    Make the changes you want.

For information about how to configure ISDN adapter settings, see documentation provided by your telephone company or hardware manufacturer.

Change the settings for a multimedia device

Multimedia devices can include streaming audio or video devices, audio or video codecs, or MIDI devices.

To change the settings for a multimedia device
  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Double-click Sound, video and game controllers.

  3. Right-click the device that you want, and then click Properties.

  4. Change the configurations that you want.

    Note

    The Properties button is enabled only if you have drivers other than Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers on your computer. If the Properties button is not enabled, use the Resources tab to configure the device.

Additional references

Configuring Device Properties