Byte-O-Rama

Driver Update Software – Your One Time Solution to Hardware Problems

by Dana Goldberg

Part of good computer maintenance is being sure to update drivers. What is a driver? A driver is a bit of software that works with your operating system by telling hit how to tell the outside devices, such as printers and keyboards, what to do. A printer driver, for example, tells your computer how to print a document or picture.

Take an inventory of all the hardware you attach to your computer as each piece will have its own unique driver. These include not only printers and keyboards, but also scanners, digital cameras, video cards, sound cards, mice, and monitors. You also might consider keeping an on-going record of when you last updated your journal.

The two main reasons you want to keep drivers up to date are efficiency and function. Let’s say you replace an old keyboard with a newer model and this newer model has more features. Your old driver had all the information the operating system needed to properly run the keyboard. But it may not be able to handle the new features of the new board. The new keyboard’s driver will be able to provide this info.

New drivers may also solve security problems that haunted older versions. The manufacturer will usually be able to fix faults and bugs in previous releases of the driver.

The process of updating or installing drivers is fairly straight forward. Usually your new hardware add-on comes with drivers on a CD. Even though you may have received a driver CD with your new peripheral, it’s a good idea to visit the manufacturer’s website to see if there are newer drivers available. By downloading the latest driver from their site, you are optimizing thee capabilities of the device. Also, most operating systems have ‘hardware update wizards’ which will allow you to update or rollback certain drivers.

Keeping all the drivers updated for all your computer’s devices will help keep your computer running smoothly. We all want the best experiences when using our computers. Staying on top of the drivers will help achieve this.

There are times when you need to update drivers on your computer. Make sure your updating drivers the right way. Head online and find the correct methods to use.