Problems with a PCI card installation

One of your customers has installed a new modem into their desktop computer by adding a modem adapter card into a free PCI bus adapter card slot. However, when they start Windows XP the card isn’t recognized automatically as expected and the adapter doesn’t appear in Windows Device Manager. What is the most likely cause of this problem?

A) The modem card drivers are not loaded

B) The PCI card is not seated properly

C) The PCI slot is disabled in the BIOS

D) The modem card is not a PCI-compatible adapter card

The answer: B) The PCI card is not seated properly

One of the challenges when working with new adapter cards is to ensure that they are completely seated into the motherboard slot. If the adapter card is even off a bit, the card won’t be recognized by the system and therefore obviously won’t appear in the operating system.

The incorrect answers:

A) The modem card drivers are not loaded
Before drivers can be loaded, the computer has to be aware that the modem is installed. In this case, the modem wasn’t seen in Device Manager so it would be difficult to load drivers. We’re assuming that the modem is a plug-and-play modem, but there haven’t been any new modems in the last ten years that weren’t plug-and-play. If you’re looking for the most likely cause, this isn’t it.

C) The PCI slot is disabled in the BIOS
There’s probably a BIOS out there that can disable individual PCI slots, but they’re not common. If you want to disable a PCI slot, just remove the adapter card from the device.

D) The modem card is not a PCI-compatible adapter card
The PCI interface was built so that only PCI cards could properly fit into the bus interface. If it’s not a PCI-based adapter card, it wouldn’t have fit into the adapter slot in the first place.

Want to know more? Watch “Installing and Troubleshooting Adapter Cards.” The installation of troubleshooting of personal computer adapter cards is an exercise that requires an understanding of both hardware and software components. In this video, you’ll learn the steps to take when installing an adapter card and what Windows components are necessary to ensure that the device driver software works properly with the adapter card hardware.