What does new hardware was installed and ready to use

[kimthuy]

Hello,
I had my computer as "stand by" mode the night before. This morning the computer was in a "restart" mode and a msg popped up "new hardwae installed and ready to use". Does this mean someone has tried to installed something on my computer. If so, what it is?

 

[aford10]

What was the new hardware?

It could've been an auto update that restarted the computer.

 

[kimthuy]

What was the new hardware?

It could've been an auto update that restarted the computer.

Hi there--thanks so much for your reply. I don't know what hardware was installed because I didn't install anything. That's why I was surprise to see the msg.

I'm a bit confused w/ this auto updates bec I thought it always asks if I want to restart first before restarting.

thanks again.

 

[aford10]

Look on the windows update site, and see if there was an update that night.

Check inside your tower to see if any new hardware is in there. If not, then check the device manager to make sure all your hardware is installed correctly, with no conflicts.

 

[kimthuy]

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I clicked on the window updates but don't see anywhere I can put in a date.

Also what is "the tower" ? And please.... Where do I go to "Device manager"? All of these are new to me, but if you don't have time to help me, I'll understand, too.

 

[aford10]

If you go to the update icon in the control panel, you can click on a link to go to the windows update web page. It should display the entire update history with dates and times.

Does your computer have a tower? It's the box that your mouse and keyboard plug into. It could be horizontal or verticle, or maybe attached to the back of your monitor.

 

[kimthuy]

Hi--when I clicked on "Window Updates" I got this: Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site. There is no display of the history. 🙁. I use a laptop and yes, there's a docking. Is this same as tower you refer to? Thx.

 

[aford10]

Well, there's less chance of someone installing new internal components. A tower is part of a desktop computer.

It could have been plug and play hardware (mouse, keyboard, speakers...etc). If everything is running normally, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure your device manager isn't showing any conflicts (yellow !).
start-->control panel-->system-->hardware tab-->device manager-->look for yellow !'s

 

[graywolf]

Could be the update installed new drivers for old hardware.

 

[kimthuy]

Well, there's less chance of someone installing new internal components. A tower is part of a desktop computer.

It could have been plug and play hardware (mouse, keyboard, speakers...etc). If everything is running normally, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure your device manager isn't showing any conflicts (yellow !).
start-->control panel-->system-->hardware tab-->device manager-->look for yellow !'s

Thanks, I will try that. Thanks again for your input.

 

[graywolf]

After you solve it, please choose BEST ANSWER.

 

[kimthuy]

After you solve it, please choose BEST ANSWER.

Sorry but I haven't gotten it solved.

 

[chargedgod]

May be i am wrong...but i think if you are using a genuine ver of yr os then it was a device driver that was updated...possibly...chipset or display driver...

 

[aford10]

Any conflicts (yellow !) in the device manager?

 

[kimthuy]

Hi, I haven't had a chance to try your suggestion but I will and will let you know of the outcome. Thanks so much.

 

[aford10]

This won't tell you why it restarted on you. There's probably no way to know for sure. You could scour the event viewer for any changes that night, but it may not tell you anything.

If there is no conflicts in the device manager, and your system is running fine, I think all is fine.