Read about when you need to update the driver of a device and how to do it correctly... If you've decided to update your PC's drivers, the best way is to obtain drivers from Windows Update or your device's developer website.

Drivers are software that Windows uses to communicate with your computer's hardware. They are created by device developers, and you can get them on the developer's official website. They send them to Microsoft for testing and signing, so getting them is also possible via Update centre Windows. With modern operating systems, you don't have to worry about updating them, but sometimes you may need the latest version if something is suddenly not working properly. There are many third-party driver update utilities, such as DriverPack Solution, but we do not recommend using them.

Content:

Do you need driver updates?

In general, it is not recommended to update drivers unless there is a reason to do so. The ones already installed on the computer probably work well. Even if there is a newer version, the difference will not be noticeable upon installation. There is no need to get stuck on the fact that your computer has the latest drivers for each of the PC components.

There are really good reasons to update your drivers. In particular, gamers keep their graphics drivers as up-to-date as possible to ensure better graphics performance and fewer bugs in modern games. In other cases, the latest version may be required if the hardware knocks out an error and blocks the system from starting.

If you decide to update, do not use the driver update utility to do so. It is better to refer to the official website of the developer. Or with the help Windows Update.

How to update hardware drivers using Windows Update

Even if you install your own drivers, the OS can automatically overwrite them when a new version is available. Using Update centre, you can forget about such a process as finding and updating drivers, it will do it for you. You can view the latest updated drivers by going to Menu / Settings / Updates and security / Windows Update.

Click on View the log of installed updates

A window will open where you can view all updates or delete them.

The only drivers that Windows 10 can be bad at updating are the graphics ones.

You can use the utility that is installed with the drivers to check and update your graphics drivers. NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel provide these, they will automatically check and download the latest graphics driver updates. Just open NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon, or Intel Graphics Control Panel, whichever is installed on your computer. They are often found in the system tray, or they can be found using a quick search in the menu "Start"... The OS will not automatically update graphics drivers every time NVIDIA or AMD releases a new version. Therefore, people who play computer games need to take care of this themselves.

Once you visit the developer's site, look for the download page for drivers for a specific hardware model. In most cases, this is a web page with a long list of drivers that you can download. By date, you can find out which ones are more recent.

Drivers are software that enables Windows to communicate with computer components and connected devices. Drivers are released by device manufacturers and need to be updated periodically.

Do I need to update my drivers?

In general, we do not recommend updating your drivers unless there is a compelling reason to do so. For example, the built-in card reader may well work with the version of the driver originally installed on the computer. Even if the manufacturer has released an update since then, you probably won't notice any difference. It is not necessary to have the latest drivers for all system components.

But in some cases, replacing drivers is objectively useful. In particular, gamers should always install the latest graphics card drivers to ensure maximum performance and minimum bugs in modern games. Also, updating the driver can help if the current version does not work correctly.

If it becomes necessary to update your drivers, do not rely on a variety of programs to update them. We keep repeating: drivers should be downloaded directly from the manufacturer's website or via Windows Update.

Updating drivers through Windows Update

On Windows 10, Update downloads and installs the latest drivers automatically. Windows 7 and 8 also distribute drivers through Update, but Windows 10 takes a more restrictive approach. The update happens automatically, and even if you try to install the necessary drivers yourself, Windows will overwrite them with the most recent version.

This is a set-and-forget automatic solution. You don't need any special software to update your drivers as this feature is already built into Windows.

In Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, drivers appear in Update Center as optional updates. If you want to install the latest drivers, first open Update Center, check for updates, and install any new drivers. They are distributed through Microsoft servers, so they should work stably.

Updating video card drivers

You can use the supplied control panel to update your graphics card drivers. NVIDIA, AMD, and even Intel have control panels that can automatically check for updates and install the latest drivers.

Just open NVIDIA GeForce Experience, AMD Catalyst Control Center (which will soon be renamed Radeon Software Crimson), or Intel Graphics Control Panel, whichever you have installed. Often the icons for these applications are in the system tray, and in addition, they can be found by searching in the "Start" menu.

Well, you can just go to the NVIDIA, AMD or Intel website, download the latest driver for your video card from there and install it.

Even on Windows 10, it doesn't hurt, especially if you love playing modern games. Windows 10 does not automatically update NVIDIA or AMD graphics card drivers with each new version, as they are primarily relevant for gamers.

Update from the manufacturer's website

Look for any other drivers directly on the manufacturer's website. If you have a laptop or off-the-shelf computer, go to the manufacturer's website and find the driver download page for your specific model. Typically, this page lists all the drivers for a given computer or laptop and is updated as newer versions are released. Often a release date is listed for each driver.

BIOS and UEFI updates can also be found here, but we do not recommend installing them without a good reason.

If you assembled the computer yourself, look for drivers on the websites of the manufacturers of each specific component. For example, you need to look for driver updates for the motherboard on the motherboard manufacturer's website, etc.

It is gratifying that this is not at all necessary. Windows, and especially

Instructions

First open the device manager. To do this, right-click on the "Computer" item in the "Start" menu. Go to its properties and open the Device Manager menu. Check the list of connected equipment. Devices for which the correct file bundle is not installed will be highlighted with an exclamation mark.

To install drivers using Windows automatic mode, right-click on the hardware name and select "Update drivers". In the menu that opens, select the automatic operating mode. Wait while the system detects and installs the appropriate files.

If this does not happen, then open the website of the manufacturer of this device. Try to find the files you need for stable operation of the equipment. Download them. Now repeat the procedure for updating the files by selecting "Search for drivers on this computer." Select the folder where you saved the downloaded files. It is advisable to first extract them from the archive.

Finding the right files for certain devices can be difficult. Install Driver Pack Solution. It is a collection of software for the most popular types of devices.

Install this program, restart your computer and launch it. Immediately after that, the scanning process for all connected devices will start. At the same time, a search will be performed for the corresponding programs and files.

Open the "Drivers" tab and check the boxes opposite those file packages that you want to download. Read the comments for these drivers in advance. Now click the "Install" button. Wait while the process of updating programs and files for the selected devices is completed. Restart your computer and check if the drivers are working by opening Device Manager.

It often happens that you have installed some new hardware in the system unit of your computer, and Windows categorically refuses to recognize it correctly and cannot install the appropriate drivers. It's good if you have a CD with drivers from the manufacturer.

Instructions

There are at least three easy ways to get a new device. Refer to the official website of the equipment manufacturer. Go to the Support section of each site and look for instructions and the latest drivers for your device. Download them to your hard drive, unpack and install using standard Windows tools. The new must be defined and work.

If you do not know the manufacturer of the hardware, use another method to find out what drivers are needed for an unidentified device. To do this, go to Windows Device Manager (My Computer - Properties - Device Manager). Find the unidentified device and open its properties. Go to the Details tab and in the Property field select Hardware ID. Of all the lines that appear in the field below, copy the first one by right-clicking on it and selecting “Copy. Open your browser and go to the device search site by code: http://devid.info/... In the field “Search, paste the copied line with the code and in the appeared results, select any driver you like. Download it and install it on the system.

However, the easiest and most convenient option, which allows you not only to find out what drivers your hardware needs, but also to automatically install them, or - to use driver installation managers, such as DriverPack Solution or SamDrivers. You can download them completely. And the benefits of using them are obvious: they automatically install drivers for the vast majority and, thus, save you time. In case you suddenly need to roll back the installed drivers, create another system restore point before starting the managers.

Sources:

• how do i know which way i have

If you do not have a disc with suitable drivers, you can use special software or use the appropriate Internet resource. Follow the instructions of the option in which you can find drivers even for devices not detected by the system.

Instructions

Sources:

• devid.info

After reinstalling the operating system, in many cases you have to manually install drivers for all devices on your computer. This is especially true for laptop owners, where, in addition to drivers for primary equipment, install the accessory software. But how do you know which drivers are not installed yet?

Instructions

Useful advice

To install the drivers, right-click on the device icon and select the "Update drivers" command.

Any user one day is faced with the need to install driver... This need arises if the operating system has been reinstalled or a new device is connected. The program that allows the operating system to recognize and control the connected physical devices is the driver. Where to start and where to find the necessary driver?

You will need

• Computer running Windows operating system, Internet access

Instructions

Click the Details tab. In the drop-down selection box, find "ID" or "Instance ID" if you have Windows XP installed. In the lower half of the window there is a line like "PCIVEN_1032 & DEV_5944 & SUBSYS_0261564". This is a device code that contains all information about the model and manufacturer. Select this line by clicking the mouse and place it on the clipboard by pressing the "Ctrl" + "C" keys.

If you want to have more complete information about the manufacturer and model of the device, use the information about the manufacturer (Vendor) and the device (Device), which is contained in the device code. Write down the four-digit numeric values ​​after "VEN_ and DEV_". Go to the site www.PCIDatabase.com... In the "DeviceSearch" field, enter the available numbers. After clicking on the "search" button, the name of the chip and a link to the manufacturer's website will be displayed. Usually there is also a link to a site where you can download the driver for this device.

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After installing the operating system, it's time to take care of the selection of the right drivers for some hardware. Firstly, the standard Windows drivers are far from always the most suitable, and secondly, sometimes they are not installed at all together with the OS.

You will need

• Driver Pack Solution.

Instructions

I would like to note right away that installing a relatively new driver version does not always bring at least some results. Sometimes it can even lead to the failure of the device. There are several different ways to find the drivers you need. Begin this process by attempting to automatically search for drivers using the Windows operating system.

Open the properties of the My Computer menu. Go to Device Manager. You will see a window displaying a complete list of equipment installed in your system unit or.

Find equipment marked with an exclamation mark. This means that the operating system could not find the correct driver for it. Click on this device with the right mouse button and select "Update drivers". A window with two items will open in front of you. Select the first - Automatic installation of updated drivers.

This method works extremely rarely. Therefore, try to find the required set of drivers on the Internet yourself. Go to the official website of the manufacturer of the hardware that requires the driver. Go to the appropriate menu, specify the device model, select the required kit from the proposed options and download it.

Don't be discouraged if you can't find the driver package you want on your own. In such situations, special bases come to the rescue. Let's take Driver Pack Solution as an example. Download it and run the DriverPackSolution.exe file from the root directory.

Wait while the program scans your hardware and selects drivers for it. Turn on expert mode. This item is located in the left column of the program window. Select the appropriate drivers. Click the Install or Update All buttons.

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Tip 7: How to find out what drivers are needed for a sound card

The most frustrating moment in installing and configuring an operating system is the selection of the right driver packages for a specific hardware. There are many ways to do this.

You will need

• Internet access, Driver Pack Solution.

Instructions

Despite the fact that modern operating systems have a huge database of drivers, sometimes you have to look for the most suitable options on your own. To carry out this process, you can use special utilities or find the required kit.

Let's start the process of finding the right set of drivers using the capabilities of the Windows operating system. Open the properties of the "Computer" (Win 7) or "My Computer" (Win XP) menu. Go to the Device Manager menu. The hardware for which you want to install or the driver will be highlighted with an exclamation mark. In our example, this is a sound card.

Right-click on the name of your sound adapter and select "Update drivers". You will see a menu for choosing options to continue. Click on the item "Search automatically for updated drivers".

Now try doing a self-service search on the internet. It is best to use the resources of the official websites of your manufacturers. This will eliminate the possibility of installing low-quality drivers or software. On the websites of the companies leading in this field, there are special sections designed for the selection of drivers.

If a manual search does not return any results, then use one of the many driver databases. Take Driver Pack Solution as an example. Database updates for this utility appear quite often, therefore it is recommended to download the programs after each OS reinstallation.

Run the program and wait for the hardware scan to complete. Check the box next to the "Expert mode" item. Go to the "Drivers" tab, select those devices for which you want to update the software, and click the "Install" button. Restart your computer if prompted to do so.

The final stage of installing the operating system is to configure it and install drivers. Sometimes it takes a long time to find the right drivers, but this process can be made much easier.

You will need

• - Sam Drivers;
• - Internet access.

Instructions

Find your sound card among other hardware. Click on it with the right mouse button. Select Update Drivers. In the window that appears, select the option "Automatic search and installation of drivers".

You may not be able to find the required drivers using this method. Try to find the files you need on the Internet yourself. Open the website of your sound card manufacturer. Find the "Drivers" or "Programs" section in it. Download the correct driver and software bundle.

Most likely, after installing the program, you will no longer need an additional search for drivers. If you have not found the driver package for this model of the sound adapter, then download the programs suitable for similar models.

If you could not find the required driver, or it is simply not available on the site, then download the Driver Pack Solution or Sam Drivers. Run the downloaded application.

For Sam Drivers, run RunThis.exe. Select Driver Installer Assistant. Wait until the scan of the installed hardware is complete and the search for suitable driver kits is completed.

Check the boxes next to the drivers that you want to install or update. Click the Run Job for Selected Driver Packages button. Wait for the update or installation of the drivers.

Reboot your computer. Make sure your audio adapter is stable.

Sometimes you don't have a disk with drivers from a video card at hand just at the time when you devilishly need it. For example, after reinstalling the operating system. You can get out of this difficult situation by having access to the Internet.

You will need

• - Russified trial version of the AIDA64 program

Instructions

When you open the program, you will see that its main part is occupied by two areas. You want the left one, select the Menu tab on it, and then click Display and GPU. You should now be interested in the right area. If the program has multiple video cards or that your system allows the use of SLI technologies or, this will be indicated in the upper part of the right pane. So make sure you choose the right device. If there is only one video card, then you should not worry.

Find the "Field" column and the line "Video adapter" in it. On the right side of the line, you will see the name of your video card, for example, nVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS (Samsung) or ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5. Remember this name, or better write it down. Half the battle is done.

Now head over to the video card manufacturer's official website. To find the correct driver for NVIDIA devices, go to www.nvidia.ru/Download/index.aspx?lang=ru... Based on the information found with AIDA64, fill in the appropriate fields. For example, if your video card is named nVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS (Samsung), in the Device Type field, specify GeForce, in the Product Series - GeForce 9M Series (Notebooks), Product Family - GeForce 9600M GS, Operating System - the type of your OS and its bit depth, "Language" - Russian. When finished, click Search. If the system finds the driver you are looking for, a Download Now button will appear, with which you can download the driver.

To find a driver for Radeon graphics cards, head to http://radeon.ru... Hover your cursor over the Downloads button, which is in the center of the site. In the menu that appears, select the type of your operating system. On the next page, select from the proposed options the one in the description of which the name of your video card is indicated. Then click the Download button to the right of each option.

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Often the same electronic device is produced under several brands at once for delivery both to different markets and to the same market. But there are identifiers that allow you to recognize "familiar strangers" from the world of electronics.

Instructions

If device It is also produced in a version intended for the American market, it must have a special identifier called FCC ID (Federal Communications Commission Identifier), even on copies intended for delivery to other markets. In this case, try to identify its real manufacturer (OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer) by entering the appropriate code into the form located on the following website:
http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/.The code can be located on a sticker placed on the device body, in the battery compartment, etc., but it must be in a place accessible to the user without disassembly. The exception is embedded devices such as WiFi modules in laptops. Without the appropriate skills, it is not worth disassembling the devices that they are part of.

Any GSM mobile phone has a special unique identifier called IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier). You can find it in three ways: by entering the USSD command # * 06 # (without pressing the call button), looking at the sticker located under the battery or on the package. If the box really belongs to the same phone, and the IMEI has not been changed in the device itself (this is legally prohibited), then in all three places the identifiers must match. This way you can determine if the phone is stolen when you buy it (after all, they steal it without a box). Note, however, that a non-stolen phone may have had a new case.

The so-called MAC address belongs to any network card. It is unique and does not repeat itself for any two cards in the world. It is printed on a sticker on the card. To find it out without opening your computer, in Linux, enter the ifconfig command; in Windows, enter the ipconfig / All command for the same purpose.

The Nokia cell phone, besides the IMEI, has another code called the Product Code. It characterizes the combination of the name of the model with the color of the body of the device and the region of its delivery, and therefore, unlike IMEI, it can be repeated. To find out, either look at the sticker located in the battery compartment (the information you are looking for is located between the two barcodes), or go to the following site:
http://nokiaproductcode.blogspot.com/.On this website, find your phone model, click the corresponding link, and then select a color / region combination from the list.

Sometimes, when installing Windows, an unpleasant situation is possible: the system cannot find a driver for some device. Of course, this device may not work correctly or does not work at all.

Instructions

However, this problem is solved by means of Windows. To open the context menu, right-click on the "My Computer" icon and select the "Manage" option. Find "Device Manager" in the list and click on it. A list of installed components appears on the right. Devices that the system was unable to identify are marked with a yellow question mark.

Right-click on the questionable device to bring up the context menu and select the "Properties" command. In the properties window go to the "Details" tab. The item "Device Instance Code" appears in the list window, and an alphanumeric code appears in the lower window.
Let the code be like this:
PCI \ VEN_10DE & DEV_002C & SUBSYS_00000000 & REV_15 \ 4 & 384EA2E1 & 0 & 0008
VEN stands for Vendor, DEV stands for Device. The numbers next to these abbreviations are the digital code of the manufacturer and model of the device, written in hexadecimal form.

Go to the site http://www.pcidatabase.com/vendors.php?sort=name

and in the Search vendors field, enter the vendor code, in this case 10DE.

The program searches and gives the result: Nvidia.

Click on the name of the company. In the new window, in the Search devices field, enter the device code 002C. The program reports the search result: NVIDIA Vanta / Vanta LT. Thus, the unknown device turned out to be a video card.

To find a driver for it, go to the website www.devid.info, paste the device code into the search box and click the Search button. The program displays a list of drivers indexed by release year in ascending order.

Very often, the reason for minor problems, such as the lack of sound or the inoperability of certain devices, is the lack of necessary equipment, so you periodically have to check the system for their presence.

You will need

• Personal Computer
• Specialized programs:
• Driver Updater
• Driver checker
• Device Doctor

Instructions

The easiest way to check your computer for installed drivers is to do so using Device Manager. To do this, hover the mouse over the icon, right-click on it and select the Device Manager item in the context menu that opens. In the window that opens, you can see a list of all installed drivers, in the same place where you need to update or reinstall the driver again, there will be a yellow question mark.

You can also check the operating system for drivers programmatically. To do this, you can use the very popular Driver Updater program. This program will not only scan the entire system for installed drivers, but also download the missing ones from the Internet. Driver Updater supports more than 230,000 devices and manufacturers, has a Russian interface, but also has a significant drawback: it is not free.

To detect damaged or outdated drivers, you can use the equally popular program of this type - Driver Checker. This program will automatically update and fix all drivers, remove corrupted ones and create a backup copy of existing drivers in case of problems. Unfortunately, like Driver Updater, Driver Checker is not free software.

There are many benefits to using paid programs, but if your choice is budget products, then you should be interested in Device Doctor. This software has the same functionality as its paid counterparts, but has a number of significant drawbacks, for example, the almost complete lack of information about the installed drivers. It is also a big inconvenience that the program does not provide information about the compatibility of the loaded drivers with the operating system installed.

Sources:

• Driver Updater official website
• how to check which drivers

To set up a mobile computer, you need to install the correct drivers for many of its devices. This process can be carried out in several ways, the choice of which completely falls on your shoulders.

You will need

• - Internet access;
• - Sam Drivers.

Instructions

First, try to find suitable file kits on the official website of your manufacturer. Most often, you can find drivers for the motherboard, video adapter and central processor there. But some companies, for example Samsung, try to put out as many drivers as possible, which allows you to select the necessary files for almost any device.

After downloading the appropriate drivers from the official site, open the properties of the "My Computer" menu and go to the device manager. Right-click on the name of the equipment for which you downloaded the appropriate set of files. Select Update Drivers.

When a new menu opens, click on the "Install from a specified location" item. Select the folder where you saved the downloaded files. Please note that it is recommended to extract them from the archive before installing the drivers.

If you have not found suitable file sets on the official website of the manufacturer, then download and install the Sam Drivers utility. If you downloaded a disk image containing this program, then install the Daemon Tools application. Run this utility. Right-click on its icon in the system tray and select the "Virtual drives" menu.

In the window that opens, select the "Drive (no data)" item and select the "Mount image" option. Select the desired disk image file. Now run the DIA-drv.exe file from the Sam Drivers folder. Wait for the automatic hardware scan to complete.

Now select the checkboxes for the driver kits you want to update or install. Click the Run Job for Selected Packages button and select the Typical Installation option. Reboot after completing the driver update process. Check the functionality of the devices.

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Choose the right one yourself driver to most devices is difficult enough. Usually it is recommended to use special programs or Internet services designed to find and install the necessary driver ov.

Windows operating systems provide the ability to automatically search and install driver ov. Open the Device Manager menu. It can be accessed by opening the properties of the My Computer menu. Find the equipment you want to search for driver... Click on its name with the right mouse button. In the menu that opens, select the item "Update driver s ". Select the automatic mode of the service and wait for the completion of this process. Visit the official website of the company that developed this device. Find the downloads section and use the search bar to find driver s for your equipment. Download the files suggested by the system. Return to device manager and select "Install from a list or specific location" after opening the update menu driver ov. Specify the folder where you saved driver s. The system will automatically select and install the required files. If you didn’t find the required driver s, or the files offered by the system are not suitable for working with your operating system, then use special utilities. Download the Sam Drivers utility. This program is a database driver s and a system of automatic selection of the necessary files. Run the RunThis.exe file. Go to the Install driver ov ". After opening it, the process of analyzing devices will automatically start and driver ov. After a while, you will be prompted to install or update driver s for certain devices. Highlight the required items and click the "Install" button. Wait while the installation process of the selected driver ov. Restart your computer after the program terminates. Remember that these utilities sometimes install incorrect driver s. Create a restore point before starting Sam Drivers.

Greetings to all of you, my dear readers and PC users!

Not everyone knows what drivers are needed after installing windows 7, and this is very important! That is why I decided to write this article, in which I will tell you not only what software you need, but also in what order it is better to put it. I will also tell you how to simplify the process of installing drivers so that you do not sit for hours at your computers!

What you need to know first

Before reinstalling Windows, you must take care of all the necessary software in advance. You never know what may be, the Internet will be turned off, there will be a broken media with the necessary software, or something else. In this case, it will be very difficult to fix such problems. For example, you will demolish the OS on a laptop, and the drivers for the network card or wi-fi will be broken or simply will not be installed. And that's it, you are offline. Therefore, it is better to take care of the necessary software in advance.

Download drivers, check them for viruses using Comodo Internet Security, then write to a USB flash drive, or even better copy them to a logical drive separate from where the operating system is located. Let them always stay there. Even if you are installing the maximum edition Windows distribution, you still have to install new drivers.

Driver installation sequence

There is no particular order. Whether you have a laptop for gaming or work, all the software you need should still be installed. I would advise you to first install firewood for the network card and the wi-fi module. This will give you internet access. If suddenly any files fail, you can already download them from the network. They are already built into the OS distribution, even if it is a home base OS. But you need to understand that at the time of the creation of the operating system, the firewood of the first versions was put into it.

Next, I recommend that you take care of the software for your audio devices. At least it will be possible to listen to the music while the work continues. Moreover, it is often necessary to install not only the drivers themselves, but also additional software that helps to adjust the sound, adjust it for yourself and your laptop.

Next, you can put software for the processor, video card, and so on. A list of all devices without the necessary software can be seen in the task manager. Anything marked with a yellow question mark requires software installation.

After installing everything you need, you must restart your laptop. Otherwise, the system will do it itself later, but it is not a fact that you will have time to save the data that you will be editing at that time.

I want to give you one valuable recommendation. If you have problems installing drivers, it is better to install them using special programs. For example, DriverPack Solution, you can download it from here.

It is easy to install, it will scan your PC itself, find the necessary firewood and install them.

Conclusion

These are all the simple truths you need to know before you decide to reinstall your operating system. Working with the drivers is actually simple, just long and tedious. If you want to be confident in every device of your laptop - put everything manually. We decided not to waste time - use special programs. There is a good video on this issue.

On this I will say goodbye to you! Share this article with your friends on social networks, because sooner or later they will also have to reinstall the operating system.

Subscribe to blog updates to keep abreast of new useful articles! Until next time in my new materials!

I would like to touch upon a rather important topic, the topic of drivers. Because, as without understanding, what is a driver, a novice user may run into problems. It will not be possible to start a printer, for example, or a scanner, a copier, and any device connected to a PC. In general, in this post, read about where to download, how to install and uninstall drivers.

What is a driver and why is it needed

A driver is a link between a computer and an external device. Driver (from English driver) - a computer program with the help of which the operating system gains access to the hardware of a device and subsequently has the ability to control it.

Drivers are needed for all external and internal PC devices. Video card, sound card, printer, scanner, etc. need drivers (in slang, they need firewood) For example, we bought a scanner, connected it to a PC, in the lower left corner of the screen a message flies out stating that such a device was found and even the manufacturer was identified. But as soon as we try to scan old photos, for example, nothing happens. The computer does not know how to interact with this scanner. This is where the driver of this scanner comes to the rescue. If the system does not have a sound driver, it will be impossible to listen to music. The video is the same, the screen resolution cannot be adjusted to play games, it will be impossible.

Some of the drivers are already in Windows. We do not need to specially install a keyboard driver; even for simple web cameras, no drivers are required for mice. Well, if you have a fancy mouse with a bunch of additional buttons or a keyboard with buttons for multimedia, then you can't do without additional firewood.

Where are the drivers stored

On Windows, device drivers are stored in the directory C: WINDOWSSYSTM32... Driver files can have the following extensions: * .vxt, * .drv, * .sys, * .dll, also * .inf - the file contains information for installation.

Where can I download

In general, as a rule, a disk is always attached to the device, which contains all the necessary firewood. When buying a motherboard, a disc with the necessary set of these is always attached. The same goes for video and sound cards if purchased separately. If you purchase a system unit, then be sure to check the availability of disks: on the mat. board, video card ( if it is not built into the mat. fee). The same goes for the sound card if it is built into the mat. board, then the necessary driver is on the disk for the motherboard, and if the card is installed separately, then the disk must be separate.

With disks, everything seems to be clear as 2x2, but what to do if the disk gets lost, deteriorated or something else. For example, they presented an old, unnecessary, but working printer, but there is no disk for it. Or there is a need to preinstall the OS, but there are no disks at all, you can't find it. Think about it how to install a sound driver, how to get drivers for a printer, video card or laptop... In this situation, those who have Win7 installed are lucky (my opinion about this system), after installation on a PC, it will automatically connect to the Internet ( provided that there is an internet connection of course) and downloads all the missing firewood. In any case, I have not installed the driver from the driver disk for a long time. Everything happens by itself. But for XP you will have to search for yourself. Although it seems to also have a download function, but how many times I have not tried any sense. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, tell me ...?

To download, you first need to find out all the necessary information about the device. This can be done, for example, using the program ( this is about the video card). Another useful thing is that this program will help you find out information about the motherboard, and about the vidyahu too.

You can also find out by following the path 6 Start - Control Panel - System - Hardware tab - Device Manager. In the device manager window that opens, you can select the required device and get information about the manufacturer and driver of this device.

We get information about the video card.

After receiving information about the device, you can safely go to the Internet and look for the necessary driver.

You can find, download and then install drivers by following these verified links:

How to install the driver

After everything is downloaded you need install the driver correctly. If from a disk, then just insert it and wait for it to automatically start. If the auto start does not work, then open the disk through my computer and look for the setup.exe file. The same goes for the downloaded driver, run setup.exe. It seems that everything is simple. But what to do if not how driver installation fails... I had a case when I could not reset the firewood to sound. At the same time, the message flew out: failed to install realtek hd audio driver .

I also encountered such a dirty trick when the scanner driver did not want to be installed from the disk, or rather did not want to install it in the standard way - this is when I inserted the disk and ran setup.exe. It's just that for no apparent reason the installation stopped in the middle and completely freezes. Requires plugging the cable into USB and at least you crack. A solution to the problem was found, and therefore I share :)

We insert the disc, after auto start, close the installation window and go to the already familiar device manager. An unknown device with a yellow question mark should appear there.

Then click on this device with the right mouse button and select to update the driver, and there you can select automatic search, the system will find it on the disk itself. In general, I read somewhere that all firewood should be installed this way. I don't know how true this is. But this is how I made my scanner friends with a computer.

Driver problems

Drivers are an integral part of the computer software complex, but sometimes there are enough problems with them too. It happens that the drivers conflict. Consequences: Blue screens, device malfunctions. In both cases, you must either reinstall, update the device driver, or, if the problems started after the update, it will roll back, as can be seen in the screenshot above in the text, the button Roll back... Often, blue screens arise due to problems with vidyahi firewood. A subsequent update resolves the issue.

In general, the topic of drivers is quite extensive and I did not stupidly copy texts from other sites. I described what I myself experienced, tried it more than once, so that's all, if I didn't finish writing, I'm sorry, I don't know everything yet, I'm just learning. Bye, good luck and fewer problems with firewood.