There’s a yellow exclamation mark in my Device Manager!

During the troubleshooting process of a new printer, you see a yellow exclamation mark next to the printer name in the Windows Device Manager. What does a yellow exclamation mark in Windows Device Manager mean?

A) The printer’s device driver is disabled

B) The printer’s device driver is working properly

C) The printer’s device driver is not loading properly

D) The yellow exclamation mark is not related to the device driver status

The answer: C) The printer’s device driver is not loading properly

If a device driver is enabled but it’s not working properly, you’ll see a yellow exclamation mark. If you look at the properties of the device driver, you’ll get a specific error message related to the problem.

The incorrect answers:

A) The printer’s device driver is disabled
If the device driver is “turned off,” you’ll see a red X next to the device name.

B) The printer’s device driver is working properly
There’s no icon specific to normal operation, but if there’s not a yellow exclamation mark or a red X, the device is working as expected.

D) The yellow exclamation mark is not related to the device driver status
As we’ve noted above, the exclamation mark is directly related to the operation of the device driver.

Want to know more? Watch “Working with Device Drivers.” If you’re going to troubleshoot hardware, you’ll certainly be working with device drivers in Windows’ Device Manager. In this video, we’ll discuss the importance of device drivers and interactively walk you through the installation, troubleshooting, and uninstall of device drivers in Windows XP.