Why Update PC Drivers?

What Is A PC Driver?

A PC Driver is a small programming file which allows your operating system to communicate with your devices. These are internal devices as well as external devices. Your operating system, no matter which one it is needs something to tell it exactly how to communicate with components attached to the system or it's like someone speaking another language.

Why Do I Need To Update Drivers?

When a device is released, a driver is usually released with it for installation on your computer. Over time, the manufacturers usually create new drivers that allow more functionality with the device. Or perhaps, it's less coding that allows the operating system to communicate faster with the device and the device becomes faster.

Another reason could be that you upgrade your operating system or computer and operating system and need device drivers for the new operating system. For example, a device driver you used with Windows XP for your printer may not work with Windows Vista and require updating the drivers for the new operating system.

How Do I Update My Drivers?

There are a couple of different ways to update drivers that I will cover in this article. One way is the way it's been done for years. The other way, is a newer simpler way to update drivers with very little computer knowledge.

The Archaic Way of Updating Drivers

I call this the archaic way of updating drivers because this is the way it's been done for many years.

You either visit the manufacturers website and go to the support area to find the drivers for your specific device. Doing this can prove to be rather difficult. They archive older drivers and make it difficult to find on their website and show you plenty of ads to get you to purchase a new updated device! However, it is possible given enough time. Since you may have over 20+ outdated drivers, you will have to visit several sites in most cases to find the most updated drivers. Some manufacturers of PC's have device drivers listed on their website, but many times, you'll find these drivers to be more outdated than going to the manufacturers websites themselves.

The other way is to search on Google for your device drivers and find millions of results and weed through until you find the appropriate device drivers that you need. Sometimes, this could mean crawling through virus ridden sites and mistaking viruses for device drivers.

The Simple and Effective Way To Update Drivers

Now, I'd like to introduce Driver Detective. This software is awesome! You simply download the software (for free I might add), and scan your system for outdated drivers. If it finds that you have outdated drivers, it will scan against a database of over 1.5 million drivers to find the most updated driver for your hardware. If you like the product, you can pay a fee and then, it's as simple as clicking "Update" and it will update not one, but all your drivers.

As if that isn't time saver enough. Have you ever had to re-install your operating system and then go out and find all the drivers for your hardware again because you didn't have them backed up and you've lost the original CD's (which are outdated about the same time as they're released)? Driver Detective can backup all your drivers for you where you can store them on an external media such as a CD, External Hard Drive, Flash driver, or whatever you choose. Then, if you have to re-install the operating system, you simply install Driver Detective and it will restore your drivers for you. Once that's complete, you can scan for updated drivers and get the latest ones again.

This product has millions of drivers in their database and they're adding new ones all the time.

HP Printer Drivers
Brother Printer Drivers
Epson Printer Drivers
Lexmark Printer Drivers
A list of printer drivers

Resolve Driver Conflicts by using the latest drivers.
Resolve Driver Errors

This is a very effective application that I use on a daily basis for my clients.