Hardware profiles were originally designed to easily allow
laptop computers to exist used in stand-alone and docking station configurations.
While these are still valid options, the advances in laptop technology and an
increase in the number of inexpensive peripheral devices mean that at that place may be
more than than two types of configuration options for your laptop.

For example, in addition to having a full blown docking
station configuration in your office that provides a network and other
peripheral connections and a stand-solitary configuration when your traveling with
your laptop, maybe you have a simple port replicator at a remote office you
visit regularly every bit well equally a wireless network connectedness and an external DVD
drive at your domicile.

Of course with the advances in Plug and Play, chances are
that good that you lot can brand the configuration changes needed at each location
without too much trouble–as long as yous don't encounter whatever device commuter
conflicts. Withal, you can avoid all of those intermediary steps and whatever
problems that may accompany them by setting upward dissimilar hardware profiles for
each location in which you lot connect different peripherals to your laptop.

In this article, I'll examine hardware profiles in more than
detail. As I practise, I'll show you lot how to set upwards and configure different hardware
profiles for your laptop in Windows XP. (Keep in mind that while I'll focus on
Windows XP in this commodity, the steps are very like for a laptop running
Windows 2000.

What's a hardware profile?

When y'all use hardware profiles, each time you start your
laptop you'll come across a menu that prompts you to select a profile configured for
the devices at a particular location. Once yous select a profile, the operating
system will load the drivers needed for the devices connected at that
item location.

A hardware contour is
basically a set of instructions that tells the operating organization which devices
are available and need to be enabled when you start your laptop. When yous first
install Windows XP on a laptop, a hardware profile named Docked Contour or
Undocked Profile is created, depending on how your laptop is connected when you
install Windows XP. By default, every device that is installed on your estimator
when you install Windows XP is enabled in that initial hardware profile.

Creating hardware profiles

Creating hardware profiles is actually very easy once you
know how to go near performing the functioning. To begin, access the Control
Console and double-click the system icon. When you see the System Properties
dialog box, select the Hardware tab, and then click Hardware Profiles button.
When yous do and so, yous'll see the Hardware Profiles dialog box, as shown in Figure
A, and will see the Available Hardware Profiles list.

Figure A

When yous install Windows XP, it
creates a default hardware profile that includes the devices that are connected
to the system at that time.

As you can see, on my example laptop the simply hardware contour is called Undocked Profile, which
means that Windows XP was installed while the laptop was in a stand alone
configuration. It also indicated that this laptop has never been continued to a
docking station. Keep in mind that if your laptop is Plug and Play compliant,
the Windows XP operating system will automatically create a Docked Profile when
the figurer is connected to a docking station.

To brainstorm preparing your laptop for boosted hardware
profiles, you'll outset rename the default profile using a more descriptive
name. To do then, simply select the Rename button, blazon the new name in the
Rename Profile dialog box, and click OK. To enable the Hardware Contour Menu–which
will announced when you starting time your computer–and to add the profile to the menu,
select the Backdrop button to display the dialog box, shown in Effigy B.

Figure B

Once yous create a hardware profile,
be certain that y'all select the check box in the Hardware Profiles Option panel.

Every bit y'all tin see, the center panel is disabled but that the
This Is A Portable Estimator and The Calculator Is Undocked check boxes are
selected. The operating system disables this panel when information technology detects that the
laptop isn't continued to a docking station. When the laptop is connected to a
docking station, this panel volition exist enabled.

To continue with the configuration, select the Ever
Include This Profile As An Option When Windows Starts check box and click OK.

Working with multiple profiles

You can at present employ the
Copy button to create every bit many boosted hardware profiles as yous demand. So,
rename each one with a descriptive name related to the location. As you lot do, exist
sure to admission the properties dialog box of each new hardware profile and
select the Always Include This Profile Equally An Option When Windows Starts check
box in order to include each hardware profile on the menu.

At this point, you
can configure how the menu operates also equally fix your preferred hardware
profile. The preference of the hardware profiles is based on their position in
the Available Hardware Profiles list, from peak to bottom. The first profile in
the list is loaded as the default hardware configuration during startup.

To reorder the list, select a contour and use the arrow
buttons on the right to move the selected profile up or down in the list. You lot
can then configure the card to expect indefinitely for you to choose a profile,
or to pause for a set amount of time and then load the default profile once the
fourth dimension expires. Be default, the menu is configured to display for 30 seconds, as
shown in Figure C.

Figure C

You can choose which hardware
profile volition be the default past using the arrow buttons to move that profile to
the top of the list.

To consummate the
initial configuration performance, click OK to shut the Hardware Profiles dialog
box. And then, shut the System Properties dialog box.

One time you've created your hardware profiles, restart your
system. Every bit the system restarts, you lot'll see the Hardware Profile/Configuration
Recovery Carte du jour, every bit shown in Figure D.

Effigy D

Once you enable your hardware
profiles, you'll run across this card when your calculator starts up.

Choose i of the new
profiles to brand it the current contour. Once the arrangement starts with that
profile, you tin can then launch Device Managing director and customize the profile by
enabling or disabling devices specific to that location.

For case, you might want to disable the wireless network
adapter in the Mobile profile, because in this environment y'all utilize your modem
to connect to the Internet. To do and so, yous'd access the wireless network adapter's
properties dialog box in Device Manager and select the Do Not Use This Device
In The Current Hardware Profile (Disable) setting in the Device Usage drop
down, as shown in Figure E. And then, click OK to exit this dialog box and click OK
once more to leave Device Managing director.

Effigy E

You'll disable those devices that
you don't want to use in a particular hardware contour.

Now, every time you select the Mobile profile, the wireless
network card will be disabled past default. You may also desire to disable the
wireless network adapter in the Office and Remote Office profiles if you use a
wired connexion in those locations and don't desire your laptop attempting to
connect to the wireless networks that are available in those locations. Y'all tin
then enable or disable other devices as well.