Peripherals and drivers: teaching the system about new devices
Week 6 · Lesson 4 Installing and Removing Software and Digital Peripherals (2) · 3 lessons
2
Plug and Play: when the system finds the driver
ICT Prep 1 Term 1, Lesson 4: pp. 30–40
GoalExplain what Plug and Play does and what happens when the system has no matching driver.
New words
Plug and Play · a feature that lets a system find a new device and install its driver by itselfmatching driver · the driver made for that exact devicewizard · a helper program that asks questions step by stepUSB port · a common socket for plugging in devices such as printers and cameras
Explanation
Modern operating systems keep a list of drivers for many peripherals. When you connect a new Plug and Play device for the first time, for example to a USB port, the system notices it and searches its list for the matching driver. If it finds one, it installs the driver files and makes the other changes it needs, without any help from you. Then a message tells you that the device is ready. But sometimes the system notices the new device and does not find a matching driver. In that case it starts a wizard, a helper program, and the wizard asks you to say where the driver is. The driver may be on a disc or on another storage unit. The decision is a question with two answers, and a flowchart is the best way to draw it.
Worked examples
plug in the webcam→driver found in the list→installed alone→ready
Salma’s class connects a webcam to a USB port. The system finds a matching driver in its list, installs it alone, and shows “ready”. Salma only plugged it in.
Karim’s teacher connects a scanner that is new and the system has no matching driver. A wizard opens and asks for the place of the driver. The teacher puts in the disc that came with the scanner, and the wizard finds the driver there.
Supports Plug and Play
Does not support it
You do
plug it in
extra set-up steps
The driver
found and installed by the system
you choose it or point to it
This table compares what you do with a device that supports Plug and Play and with one that does not. Next lesson shows the second case for a printer.
Class activity
Act it out on paper without a device. Make a card “connect the device” and two answer cards, “driver found” and “no driver found”. A partner picks an answer card and you say what happens next, using the flowchart. Swap roles. Finish by writing where a driver may be kept.
Practice
1
What does Plug and Play do?
It lets the system find a new device and install its driver by itself.
2
What happens if the system finds no matching driver?
A wizard starts and asks you where the driver is.
3
Name two places where a driver may be kept.
On a disc that came with the device, or on another storage unit.
4
The system shows “device ready”. What did it do just before?
