"After you," A says.
"No, after you," says B
"No, I insist, after you," A says.
"No, really, I must insist, after you," says B
Or how about the ones where neither character gives way and they both end up wedged in the doorway.
Either way the result is the same. An impasse.
That's the sort of confusion IRQ conflicts cause. IRQs (Interrupt Requests) are a way for programs to decide who goes first when more than multiple components require the same resource at the same time. If things can't be sorted out, one or both components may fail to work. Crashes are usually close behind.
Conflicts between IRQs are not always easy to sort out. There is help however, in the form of a Microsoft diagnostic utility. It's called Microsoft Diagnostics (no surprise there) and it's included on your Windows 95 CD-ROM (look for the file MSD.EXE).
Just click on Start, then Settings, Control Panel, and System.
Once there, select the Device Manager tab. From this tab you can inspect the properties of each individual item, or select print for a System Summary or the full report, which supplies detailed information about all devices on your system.
As useful as these three resources are, I won't trade them for my membership in Melbourne PC. There is a lot of information here, but unless you have the wisdom of a Jedi master, you won't be able to decipher all of it on your own. Add them to the combined wisdom of your fellow members and you're on your way to turning information into knowledge.
This article is furnished as a benefit of our membership in the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization to which this user group belongs. The author, Carol Daniels is a freelance writer and editor specializing in science, technology computers, computing, business, health, medicine, food and agriculture. She is on the Management Committee of the Melbourne PC User Group and a member of APCUG's Board of User Group Advisors.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here