NT1110
Unit 8: Video Summary 6 Hardware Configurations

I watched 4 videos on Hardware Configuration. They were, in order, Device Manager, Driver Signing, Hardware Profile and Regional and Language Options. The 1st, Device Manager went over how to manage all your hardware devices. It covers how they are configured, their settings, drivers and resources. It’s found in System Properties.
After this, was Driver Signing which is Microsoft’s way of confirming that its devices and drivers have been tested and are compatible with Microsoft’s operating system. Each driver and device is checked off in the System Properties verifying its authenticity. There is also driving signing options for hardware installations with software that is not Windows. They are Ignore, which means install anyway. Warn, which means the system will prompt you to choose and Block, which blocks unsigned software. The next video was Hardware Profile. This is a list of devices enabled at the start of a computer and loading into the operating system. It too is found in System Properties. It covered how to change your hardware profile. It’s usually used for laptops. We can change what devices our system uses 1st for instance, changing the network connections when traveling. The last video was Regional and Language Options. This is found on the Control Panel. Here, you can set language or choose how you want your numbers, currency, time and dates displayed. You can go to Customize to make changes.
Topics
* Device Manager * Driver Signing * Hardware Profile * Regional and Language Settings * System Properties * Hardware Tab
General, Advanced, Driver, and Resource Tabs
Terms
* Roll Back Driver – This is when you return a driver to the version it was when originally installed. * Digital Signer – this is an option in System Properties that electronically signs a device to confirm its authenticity. * Unsigned Drivers – A driver not supported and not certified to work with Windows. * File Signature Verification – This is an option to verify unsigned file and view their name, location, modification, date, file type and version number.
Hardware Profiles Selection – An option that gives you the choice, when Windows opens, to either, wait until you select a hardware profile or select the 1st hardware profile selected. I learned everything from the videos. It was all new to me. We did cover the red x meaning a disabled device in class. A ! sign means the device is faulty and ? means it’s an unknown device. You can do many things to your devices to make them suit your personal needs or to protect your system. It’s valuable information. I don’t know why you would do too much hardware profile changing outside of when you’re traveling. All in all, many of the topics, if not all, are to be covered in the A+ certification test. That makes it all very valuable to me. I’m going to try some of this information on my system just to see it and get familiar with it. It always good to get hands on with something you’ve learned.