Recognizing uninstalled hardware?

[Pumpkin]

I'm in a bit of an odd situation - helping a friend who doesnt know anything at all about hardware and he basically dropped his machine off on my doorstep after reformatting, with nothing working (no drivers).

The only problem is i dont know what hes pushing in order to set him back up. Is there a way to determine a systems specific hardware after a windows reinstall so i know what to look for? Device manager gives me question marks etc, and im wondering if there might be a windows utility, etc. that might recognize them before i crack this thing open.

 

[fattony]

if it's a white box then you'd prolly need to open it
windows can't probe the hardware signature without some sort of common driver in place

if it's an OEM like dell or gateway or something, just check it out on their site, they should have specs for the matching model

 

[Pumpkin]

alright thats what i figured - i ended up popping the case open and checking myself. its a custom system he had built by a friend, so no dice on any oem research.

thanks

 

[evongugg]

Try this:

Unknown Device Identifier 5.02

http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

 

[Guest]

You could try Driver Wizard. http://drivermagic.com/p/nph-wizard.php

Grumpy