Update your drivers
How to update your drivers
Question: I was told I need to update my drivers. How do I do that?
Answer: First lets explain what a driver is and how it effects your system. A driver is a program that interacts with a particular device or special (frequently optional) kind of software. The driver contains the special knowledge of the device or special software interface that programs using the driver do not.
Anytime you update system software or third party software it can impact how your hardware performs.To maintain peak performance you as well need to update your hardware drivers. This is neccessary due to changes made in either system or third party software.
Microsoft and other software vendors design their software to work in specific conditions. These conditions are set by the latest hardware available and how it relates to software functionality. When you update these types of software your hardware may not work. optimally or you may experience a failure of the device or software.
The easiest and quickest way to update your drivers is by using the latest and greatest software the Pc Updater which can track and update driver software installed on your computer without any headaches. The Pc Updater program does not require following the instructions below.
How to manually update your drivers:
Just as you update Windows or any other software you should maintain the latest version of your device drivers. As well if you ever experience weird behavior or intermittent functionality with a device you should always either update or if no update is available reintsall the driver.
Note: If you own an OEM computer such as a Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq or Toshiba, visit their support pages to obtain the latest version of software and drivers for the devices installed on your computer.
Every once in a while an operating system such as Windows will not recognize a new device and it will be neccessary to install a driver manually from CD, DVD or from the Internet. It is always a best practice to use a driver provided by the manufacturer of the device rather than use a built-in Windows driver.
If you do not own an OEM machine or if it was built by your local computer store then review your hardware documentation. Your receipt should list the installed components. Most often you can device specific information in the manual of the device or computer, and usually can be found on the device itself in the case of a printer, scanner and some other peripherals.
If the device is internal such as a network interface card, video card, or sound card the information can be found by using the Windows System control panel. This control panel can be accessed several ways. The easiest way is to click the "Start" button and then select "Control Panel" then select "System" then click "Device Manager".
Once you have the list of devices you can search each manufacturers website for the drivers and software individually. Be sure to follow any reccomendations or special directions provided by the hardware or software manufacturer when updating any device drivers. If for any reason you are having difficulties in locating a particular driver for a specific model hardware piece visit the following sites for assistance: driverguide.com, windrivers.com, driverzone.com, drivershq.com, or mrdriver.com.
Once the device name has been acquired you will now be able to find the correct driver on the manufacturer's Web site. When you select the file containing the driver package your browser will prompt you to run or download the file. It is best to select the download option as this gives you the opurtunity to archive the software which may be needed at a later date.
Now that the driver is downloaded you will need to browse to the location in which it was downloaded. When the driver package file has been located you will need to double click the file to start the installation process. This process may differ from one manufacturer to another. Simply follow all on screen instructions to complete the installation of the driver package.
Always remember to rboot any computer after updating a driver. The driver may be installed, but activation of the driver is not complete until the computer has been rebooted.
Note: This process will need to be repeated for each individual hardware device installed on a computer. Each process will differ slighlty.
Now that all the drivers have been updated you can let out a sigh of relief (sort of). To maintain peak performance of your computer these driver updates must be maintained. Updates to device drivers are not published as frequently as other software updates, but you should check periodically for these updates. Manufacturers usually publish driver updates every few months as a general schedule. Updating or installing the latest drivers will help with the compatibility, reliability, and performance.
Let's get your drivers up to date right now: