[Marquis de Sade]

I downloaded a free trial today for Driver Detective. I ran a scan and it turns out that I have thirty two out of date drivers and four devices with no driver. Driver Detective will fix this, but first I have to buy it. It sounds like exactly what I need, but I don't know jack about computers so I thought I would ask some people that do. Is it any good? Is it the best? Is there a freeware alternative of comparable quality and ease of use?

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

[Elvandil]

Do you have any problems with hardware? Are there any devices in Device Manager that do not have drivers?

Driver Detective told me I needed a new audio driver. I installed it and lost sound until I plugged the speakers into the microphone jack. But then, no microphone. So I went back to the old one that worked just fine.

It's really hard to say how much an app like this is worth. Getting the latest drivers is not even the best idea most of the time. If you are not having driver problems, it's probably best to leave well enough alone. If you are having problems, the drivers available from the manufacturer will often solve the problem.

A good system information application may be just as useful to you. It will give information about your drivers and devices, and sometimes even give a link for the drivers.

PCWizard
System Information for Windows (SIW)
Belarc Advisor
Mitec System Information

[lee85boro]

if your looking for details then you could use everest

[Marquis de Sade]

Originally Posted by Elvandil

Do you have any problems with hardware? Are there any devices in Device Manager that do not have drivers?

I wanted it to update my video drivers so I can run The Witcher, and to see if there is anything else that needed updating as I also think my comps stubborn refusal to run any kind of decent video editing software may be due to a driver issue (but I'm not even close to sure, I barely know what a driver is).

Originally Posted by Elvandil

Driver Detective told me I needed a new audio driver. I installed it and lost sound until I plugged the speakers into the microphone jack. But then, no microphone. So I went back to the old one that worked just fine.

Sounds like it's no good then, and I will have to learn to update my drivers manually.

Thanks for the links, I downloaded SIW as it claims to display it's info in "an extremely comprehensible manner". Comprehensible is a relative term but I'm sure to find some use for it, for example when asking questions in tech support forums. Yeah, you just fed a stray dog.

[lee85boro]

this might sound really stupid of me but what is 'The Witcher'

[Marquis de Sade]

Not at all, it was stupid of me to assume people would know. The Witcher is a cRPG, supposedly a very good one. If you are into that kind of thing you can read about it here.

[Elvandil]

If you can use one of those apps to tell us what display adapter you have, we can check for driver updates.

[DCM1519]

I would not buy it without a free trial and probably would not even buy it then.

[hansmax]

Don't know if this will help, but if you would like to have all your drivers copied in one place for a backup, this is a good little utility:

http://www.soft32.com/download_8412.html

[Marquis de Sade]

Originally Posted by Elvandil

If you can use one of those apps to tell us what display adapter you have, we can check for driver updates.

That's mighty decent of you! It is a NVIDIA GeForce 6600. If you need to know more than that, here is what SIW has to say about it:

Originally Posted by SIW

Property Value
Device ID PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141SUBSYS_98141462REV_A2\411C8B12900008
Status 0x0180200a Started
Problem 0x00000000 (0)
Service nv
Capabilities 0x00000000
Config Flags 0x00000000
Class Display
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Hardware IDs PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141SUBSYS_98141462REV_A2
PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141SUBSYS_98141462
PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141CC_030000
PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141CC_0300
Compatible IDs PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141REV_A2
PCI\VEN_10DEDEV_0141
PCI\VEN_10DECC_030000
PCI\VEN_10DECC_0300
PCI\VEN_10DE
PCI\CC_030000
PCI\CC_0300
Class GUID {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Location PCI bus 1, device 0, function 0
Bus number 0x00000001
Enumerator name PCI
Description NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Driver {4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000
Physical Object Name \Device\NTPNP_PCI0019
Bustype GUID {44203042-2046-4245-2043-382031302042}
Legacy bus type 0x00000005
Install State 0x00000000
Device Address 0x00000000
Device Configuration File c:\windows\inf\oem8.inf
Used Files C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\nv4_mini.sys
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvcod.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvcodins.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nv4_disp.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvoglnt.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvcpl.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvmctray.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvwddi.dll
C:\WINDOWS\help\nvcpl.hlp
C:\WINDOWS\help\nvwcplen.hlp
InfPath oem8.inf
InfSection nv4_NV3x
ProviderName NVIDIA
DriverDateData 00 40 1F 20 F5 96 C5 01
DriverDate 8-2-2005
DriverVersion 7.7.7.9
MatchingDeviceId pci\ven_10dedev_0141subsys_98141462
DriverDesc NVIDIA GeForce 6600
DeskCheckForDuplicates 1
CoInstallers32 nvcod.dll,NVCoInstaller

Class Display
Display adapters
Installer32 Desk.Cpl,DisplayClassInstaller
TroubleShooter-0 hcp://help/tshoot/tsdisp.htm
Icon -1

Originally Posted by hansmax

Don't know if this will help, but if you would like to have all your drivers copied in one place for a backup, this is a good little utility:

http://www.soft32.com/download_8412.html

That sounds like a sensible thing to do. Thanks.

[alwrmc]

Here is my two cents worth.....
Driver Detective says it has found XX number of problems. Did it provide a specific list of those "finds"? The catch in my opinion is this. Who keeps the list of every single driver known to man (or woman) up to date in the Driver Detective program itself? At any given moment it will be out of date itself as a new driver is released. Drivers are released to the world free and are easily downloaded and installed. I would vote a definite "no" on that software purchase, as I believe would most of the TSG users. Still the choice is yours.

[Elvandil]

You can find the most recent driver here:

www.nvidia.com/drivers

[studentoflife]

...just by lurking....

[billveik]

I have a subscription to Driver Detective....I find it accurate most of the time, frustrating part of the time, and invaluable and informative just about all of the time.

You pay once and have it for life. If you work with multiple machines, you can download, log in, and update any machine. Each of the supposed update-available drivers has a link to the manufacturer, allowing you to gather further information, confirm availability/compatability.

My biggest complaint with Driver Detective resides in the fact that if there are chipset updates, many times the website will not show the drivers as updated. But the service is up front, stating that it may happen. I found this site while beginning a search for a workaround to that very problem.

The only problem I have had with a driver update from their service was related was not related to the service itself. An update created a conflict only with certain machines using Realtek Audio software. A quick Google search led me directly to the Windows hotfix created to alleviate the problem.