A+: I/O Devices

Problems with I/O devices can be caused by Windows configuration issues, BIOS configuration issues (for ports built into the motherboard), cabling problems, and damage to the port itself.  Windows’s primary method of displaying I/O device configurations and problems is Windows Device Manager; to launch it, right-click on Computer or My Computer, select Manage then pick Device Manager. 

Device Manager displays information about disabled I/O devices, I/O devices that cannot start or run, and other information (such as USB device and hub power, hardware resource usage such as IRQ, DMA, I/O port address, and memory address, power management and technical information such as PnP identification and others).

Windows cannot display information for ports and devices that have been disabled in the system BIOS. If a port that is physically present in the system is not visible in Device Manager, or if the port has reduced functionality (for example, a system with USB 2.0 ports lists only the USB 1.1-compatible standard USB host controller instead of listing both the standard and enhanced USB host controllers), you must adjust the system’s BIOS configuration.