- 1). Display your system resources. First you need to know what resources are available, and how they're being used. Right-click "My Computer" and choose "Properties" to bring up the System Properties dialog box. Click the "Hardware" tab and then the "Device Manager" button. This brings up a list of devices; click on the "+" sign next to a device to see the specifics about each device's assignments.
- 2). Note where each device is assigned, and determine where the conflicts are arising. For example, if your internal modem doesn't operate when you try to use it and you get an error message citing an IRQ conflict, note the error message, taking into account the specific assignment given to the conflict in your error message. Then determine how you can reassign devices to free spots to remove conflicts. Write down or print out the current configuration in case you need to revert back to it.
- 3). Manually specify a resource assignment by first going to "Device Manager." Refer back to Step 1 to find this. On the Device Manager, find the check box labeled "Use Automatic Settings." Turn this off by clicking on the box. Now you can manually specify a setting for your device by double clicking the device you want to change and changing the setting. Using the modem issue from Step 2, reassign the modem to another IRQ address. Sometimes you cannot change some settings because of built-in protections in the computer. Change what you can, and retry your system to see if you've resolved the conflict.