Adding PCI controller card (usb)

[diomedes]

I am trying to add a PCI card to increase the number of usb ports. I have it and am ready to put it place, but i have a couple cards there already, and there's no more space. I'm pretty sure one of them is a sound card that i have stuff plugged into and use. I'm not sure what the other one is. It says "powerview" and although i think its a sound card, by that name it suggests to me a graphics card. I'm pretty sure it's not in use, if it is either of them. How do i verify on my system if it's something my computer currently operates. My system is not used for gaming or anything special. I'd like to remove that top card and replace it with this usb card, have a look at the pic and please suggest what i should do next.

Thanks.

 

[Slaymate]

It maybe a TV Tuner card. What do the outputs on the back of the card look like? Does anything plug into the card?

 

[kmote]

Could be a TV card. If it's not connected to anything then it probably isn't used.

EDIT: ninja'd

 

[diomedes]

Yes. It's a tv card, i remember now. I had my friend install one under the assumption i'd have need for it when connecting a console to it. That's never happened, and i know i don't use it for that. Nothing is plugged into the back of it. Want me to take a photo of it anyway?

You guys are fast, that's great, many thanks.

Based on that, should i remove it, or any uninstalls i need to do before shutting down the pc? As for the usb card, just plug it in and the system will recognize it?

 

[Slaymate]

You can remove any programs and drivers associated with the card, if you know what they are. After that you can just pull it out of the PC.

As for the usb card. Did it come with a driver cd? It may not need any additional drivers.

 

[diomedes]

Well, i know that it's not used and not critical, so i removed it anyway. Probably not the best idea, i know. On startup after replacing it with the hub card i got the message "have no device. Cannot get device". Since ive never seen this it's clearly referring to the card. Problem is i have no idea what the name of the driver is, nevermind finding it and removing it. I'm under the impression i should remove it regardless. Any suggestions on how to solve that?

I googled powerview tv driver, and came up with nothing useful at all.

Also, the pc recognized the usb card and seems happy with it. Because i fried one of my external drives on an external usb hub and now have paranoia, how can i verify that this new usb card is reliable and won't blow up another drive on me without actually plugging one in?

 

[Slaymate]

Go to the control panel / Administrative Tools / Event Viewer

It should show you any recent errors or problems.

 

[diomedes]

OK, found one that describes a problem with a tv capture card.

Should I bother removing the driver on the tv card?

 

[Slaymate]

Yes, and any programs you can find associated with it.