May 31, 2007

Now that Windows Vista is the mainstream operating system, keeping your drivers updated is more important than ever.  The drivers for you sound card, video card, modem, etc. tell Windows how to operate the device.  Since Vista is so new, and there are so many problems with compatibility issues, updating drivers is very important.

The best thing to do is make up a list of all the hardware in your computer.  Find the manufacturer's web sites, then find the drivers update page.  Check monthly for updates.  If you find an updated driver, download it to a directory on your hard drive.

Many of the driver updates will be a program which will automatically update the driver, or in some cases, will put the drivers in a directory.  In this case, you will go to the start button,  right-click on the My Computer, or in the case of Vista, Computer, then left click on Properties.  Go to Device Manager, find the item in the list, then right-click on Properties.  Click on the Update Driver button, browse to the directory the new drivers was downloaded into, and then install the new driver.

New drivers will increase the speed and quality of the device and, in many cases, will solve some problems with the device working properly.  This has always been an important issue, but with all the Vista related problems, it is more important than ever.

You can also check out my February 4, 2003 driver discussion.