Saturday, February 11, 2017

How to Automatically Update Your System Drivers

How to Automatically Update Your System Drivers
Computer technology is constantly evolving with improvements and updates daily. Keeping your system current helps keep your computer stable, secure and helps decrease compatibility issues which often leads to system crashes. This also extends to your drivers.

What is a Driver?

A driver is a piece of software that informs the hardware on your computer how to run a particular operating system.

You most likely have a number of drivers already installed and working on your computer.  This hardware includes the DVD drive, video card and the PC card to make sure their systems work.

Why Should I Update My Drivers?

If you are experiencing hardware issues such as your Ethernet connection periodically drops or your printer stops printing properly, updating your drivers will mostly get them back on track.

Updating your drivers can also improve your gaming experience. When you update your video drivers they often lead to a huge performance boost, especially in new games. According to research, a recent Nvidia update produced a 45% boost in Skyrim performance, and the update following that increased its performance by 20%. So if your video driver has a new driver update available, you'll definitely want to upgrade rather than keep the current drivers you have.

Where can I Find Drivers?

There are a number of places to update or install a driver on your device. Windows often automatically installs its own version of drivers on your computer; however, you'll often find that downloading the drivers directly from the manufacturer's site offers loads of extra features. For example, sound drivers usually include an entire control panel of options so you can customize your sound and graphic experiences as you'd like.

How to Automatically Update Your System Drivers

It is easy to update your drivers. Simply, open up the Device Manager on your device and right click on the hardware you wish to update.

To access the "Update Driver" from Windows, open the control panel, then select "Device Manager". Locate all hardware with a yellow icon next to it. These are the components that are not installed properly. Click on them to update. This method can also be used to update components that are not working properly. Right click on a component, and then select "Update Driver Software". Lastly, select "search updates automatically" to update your drivers.

Updating Windows Card Drivers

For AMD, download the AMD Driver Auto detect tool. This tool automatically finds the AMD graphics card and Windows version that is on your computer. Select the AMD Driver Auto Detect to scan your device for automatic updates. If an update is ready, select "Download Now," then wait for the download to finish. Select "Install" when the driver is done downloading. Follow the commands to install the new driver.

For Nvidia, find the "Nvidia GeForce Experience" program from the start menu in the Nvidia folder. If the program is unavailable, simply download it from the manufacturer's website. Select the "Driver" tab, then select "Check for Updates". If an update is ready, select "Download and Install". Follow the commands to download the installer to your device.

Updating OS X Drivers

Select the Apple Menu. Click "Software Update". Apple will display a list of available updates. Select the "Update" button next to the drivers you wish to update. Select "Update All" to install all available updates.

Updating Your Drivers Using a Disk

There are disk programs that scan your computer for driver updates. However, these disks send you directly to the manufacturer's site to install the updates, which is an extra step as opposed to directly checking the manufacturer's site yourself.

Generally, whenever Windows and Mac have an update, driver updates are usually installed along with them, so you don't need to fret about driver updates. If the automatic update doesn't work, check the driver's version number then go to the manufacture's web site to update it. If the driver version number on the manufacturer's web site is newer than the one you have, then an update is available. Read up on the installer, then download it. Run the update like you would all other programs. When you are finished, your hardware will be running like new.


Dominick Rivoli is the owner at A1 Rivoli, top office equipment and computer service and repair specialists for the Long Island, NY Nassau, and Western Suffolk areas. Visit the website at www.a1rivoli.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment