Fix and update your drivers instantly

There are several ways you can go about finding drivers for your pc devices. Listed below are just 7 of them. Sometimes we experience problems with our devices due to driver errors, by knowing where to locate new drivers you should be able to solve most driver based conflicts both quickly and easily.

Where To Locate Drivers:

1: Device Installation Disk – whenever you buy a new piece of hardware the chances are that it will be supplied with a disk containing the appropriate drivers. The disk will contain details such as the version of the driver and will allow you to re-install the drivers or repair previous driver installations that have become broken or faulty.

2: Device Manufacturer’s Website – the majority of manufacturers have their own website where you can download the latest drivers for your specific device.

3: PC Manufacturer’s Website – if you have a branded computer, such as Dell, Lenevo or Acer for example, then the manufacturer’s website can also provide you with the latest drivers. This is a good place to source your drivers because computers made by specific manufacturers may require specialized versions of drivers in order to work correctly. By visiting your PC manufacturer’s website you can ensure that you are installing the correct drivers for your specific system.

4: Search Engine Results Page – search engines are a great resource when looking for drivers. Simply enter the make and model name of your device and the search engine will return a list of sites that allow you to download the driver.

5: Driver Resource Websites – these are sites that maintain large databases containing hundreds of thousands of device drivers. Simply enter the make and model of your hardware device and the site will search its database for the latest driver.

6: Windows Device Manager – the Windows operating system has a built in feature that allows you to check that your drivers are working correctly, and to also update drivers if required. To access this feature:

Click Start button and choose Control Panel

Click System and Maintenance and then choose Device Manager

(You can also right click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Properties, then Hardware, then Device Manager.)

Double click the hardware device and choose the Driver tab.

7: Driver Download And Update Programs – these programs make it easy to keep your drivers up to date. Once installed the program will scan your computer identifying all of your hardware devices and drivers. The software then lets you know if any drivers are outdated or broken. With a single click of your mouse you can then update and repair out of date and broken drivers. The software automatically locates the latest driver for each of your devices. This is especially helpful if you want to update several drivers at the same time.

Conclusion

By knowing where to locate the drivers needed by each of your hardware devices you will be able to ensure that your drivers are kept up to date, which in turn will help you to get the very best performance out of your hardware.

Most people at some time or another have experienced computer problems only to be advised that their drivers need updating. But what exactly is meant by that, and more to the point, what is a driver?

Quite simply, a driver is a small encoded file stored in the operating system of a personal computer. It governs any hardware devices, like modems, video cards, scanners and printers. As its name suggests, a driver drives the device, or makes it work. Your computer’s operating system uses drivers to communicate with any physical hardware attached to it.

All Microsoft Windows operating systems have a library of built-in drivers; often the system will automatically select and install the appropriate driver when a new device is added. Sometimes, though, the system will not acknowledge a new device. If that happens it’s simply a case of installing the driver manually from either a floppy disk or CD. If you don’t have a driver disk, all is not lost; you can download current drivers from the Internet.

In some cases it’s preferable to use the device manufacturer’s driver rather than the built-in Microsoft Windows version. The former are often more up-to-date, which can mean better functionality.

You may sometimes need to update a driver if a device is not working properly. Bugs in the existing driver often cause unreliable performance and glitchiness. In order to update a driver, you’ll need to download the latest version from the device manufacturer’s website. The majority of companies feature a support or customer care section on their websites. This is where driver files are usually located. To find the correct driver, all you need is the make and model of your device. This is usually clearly visible on the object itself. In the case of interior hardware like modems or video cards you will need to take a different route: Click the Start button; go to Programs, Accessories, then System Tools. In System Information a list of devices and their names will appear. If you click the plus (+) sign next to Components and then Display you will be able to see which make of device is in use.

Armed with the device name and number, you will be better equipped to find the correct driver for your hardware on the maker’s website. When you find the correct driver file on the maker’s website, click on it. You’ll be given two options. A message in your web browser will ask if you want to ‘run’ or ‘download’ the file. Always opt to download it. Then select which folder on your computer you want to save it to. For ease of use and visibility, may people opt to save downloads to the desktop. You can always move the file later on, once the driver has been successfully installed.

Installation is usually very simple, a couple of clicks and its done. Often you will be asked to restart your computer in order for the changes to take place. With the correct drivers all your hardware should run smoothly.