ISA ports are located on the system board.
The industry standard architecture, or ISA, port on a motherboard allows the connection of peripherals such as sound cards, video cards or IDE controller cards. It is found in 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit versions. As of 2010, the ISA port is rarely found on motherboards. Its replacements include the peripheral component interconnect, or PCI, port, universal serial bus, or USB, port or advanced graphics port, or AGP, interface. Testing an ISA port is a simple process of trial and error.
Instructions
1. Follow the computer's documentation to open the case. Most of the time this involves taking out screws or pressing tabs to release a panel.
2. Locate the ISA port that you wish to test. The ISA port is black with a spacer roughly one-third of the way into the port.
3. Unplug any card that is currently in the slot. You may need to release a tab or a screw to remove the card. Pull straight up and the card will slide out of the slot.
4. Plug the known good ISA card into the slot. Secure the card to the case with a screw or other appropriate method.
5. Close the case. Do not reinsert screws as the case will need to be reopened.
6. Turn on the computer. Allow the system to boot into Windows.
7. Follow the on-screen directions to "Install New Hardware." You will need a driver to install the device correctly. The driver is distributed with the card at retail or is found on the Internet. If the device installs correctly and works then the ISA port is functional. If the computer does not detect the known good card or the device fails to operate, the ISA port is nonfunctional.
8. Turn off the computer. Open the case back up and remove the test card.
9. Close the case. Reinsert the screws.
Tags: Close case, good card, known good, known good card, Turn computer