Hardware conflict

A resource conflict or hardware conflict is an error that occurs when a hardware device in the computer conflicts with other hardware devices IRQs, I/O ports, or DMA (direct memory access). For example, if a hardware device in the computer shares the same I/O port as another device, that would result in a hardware conflict. With computers running Microsoft Windows, hardware conflicts are displayed in the Device Manager.

In the past, hardware conflicts were more common than they are today because each hardware device required the user to configure the hardware resources using jumpers or dip switches. Today, hardware conflicts are avoided using plug and play, which manages each of the hardware devices installed in the computer for the user.

Error, Hardware, Hardware terms