Loading...This is a guest post by Andy Groaning
A driver’s updating process is not a dreary or difficult task, anybody can do that, it doesn’t require any extra specialist knowledge. Meanwhile to keep your drivers up to date is very important because it brings more stability and safety to your computer.
A. Determine the driver you need.
Drivers are very specific for each device due to the functionality they have. Each driver is suitable only for one particular device, namely for a specific brand and a specific model. If you will try to use a driver for another model even of the same brand, it won’t work. So drivers contain their features which Windows will use after installation to run your hardware or peripherals.
All drivers are assigned a number by their developers. Every following version has a higher number than its predecessor. Before you will start searching for your updated driver you should find out the version of your current driver. You can find this information any time in the Properties section of your driver. If you don’t know how to get in there open the “Control Panel” and open the window “Device Manager”. There you will see on the screen the list of device categories and if you will click the “+” icon next to the one you need you can see the device you are checking the driver for. Right click on the device and choose “Properties” at the bottom of the option list. Then it will show you a window with a number of tabs, you need to go to the Driver tab. There you will find the information about your driver, including the current version’s number.
Then on the manufacturer’s web page you can check what the latest version of the driver you need is. If you discover that there is an updated version of your driver, you can then search for the page you need to download it from.
B. Download the driver.
It’s recommended to search for the updated driver on the manufacturer’s web sites to begin with because it’s the safest place to download the software. However the developers do not always offer the option of downloading driver’s. Sometimes you have to make your research outside of this web site.
If you have to go for it elsewhere, here is some advice for you.
- Find the web sites you trust. Make sure there are no viruses or spyware which malefactors may trick you in to downloading instead of what you need. Usually the web sites with a big collection of drivers (more than 10 thousand) are trustworthy. As an example you can try http://www.bravofiles.com, in this database of more than 80 000 drivers you will find the one you need.
- Stick to the website you trust. Try to avoid downloading from different web sites, it might not be safe for your computer. If you found a good database, keep using it and look for other bases in extremis.
C. Install the driver.
If the downloaded file containing your driver is a compressed file (.zip) it should be extracted first (unzipped). Then you will see an .exe file which you just start running. The installation guide will give you the information and directions you should follow. At the end just click the “finish” button and restart your system if required.
That’s done! Now your driver is updated!