Abbreviation of interrupt request line, and pronounced I-R-Q. IRQs are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. When you add a new device to a PC, an IRQ is usually assigned to the new device automatically; however, sometimes you may need to set its IRQ number manually. Setting an IRQ manually specifies which interrupt line the device may use. IRQ conflicts used to be a common problem when adding expansion boards, but the "Plug-and-Play" specification has removed this headache in most cases.

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