[franca]

Just about every component hooked up to your computer has a driver. These drivers help your computer talk to your monitor, printer--even your mouse! If something is not working properly, perhaps an updated driver is the fix.

Drivers HQ searches your computer and let's you know if there's an updated driver available. If there is a newer driver available, go to the manufacturer's Web site and download it. It could potentially speed up your PC! There's also a pay version that automatically downloads the newer driver for you. Remember the golden rule: You don't want to update drivers just for the heck of it. If it's working, ignore the new driver.


http://www.drivershq.com/

[GoJoAGoGo]

Originally posted by franca:
Remember the golden rule: You don't want to update drivers just for the heck of it. If it's working, ignore the new driver.

That's a good rule to follow. I ran the scan and it came up with an update for all my drivers. I'll just wait and see if the drivers begin to fail, before I do any update.

Good link to know updates are available if needed.

Thanks...

[AngryClip]

I am sorry to disagreee but I find updating the drivers even if they are working good practice. As long as you keep regular back-ups of essential files etc.

Keeping my drivers upto date adds extra functionality and compatibility with future develoments.

[mobo]

I do like the program as well but i have to agree with GoJoAGoGo on this one. if it isn't broken don't fix it.

[McTimson]

That's usually the case with most things....however, with others, like video cards, it can improve performance. nVidia's Detonator drivers improved performance a lot, but that doesn't mean the old drivers were 'broken'.

[pyritechips]

Very strange!

I ran the driver test in W2K and it ran on and on for 12 minutes so I stopped it. I rebooted into W98 and it ran only a few seconds (with a reboot required) before giving results. Hmmm...

[AngryClip]

http://www.driverguide.com/ is a good website to get drivers from

[GoJoAGoGo]

Hi:

Just to add a few more comments, I ran the scan at drivershq.com and they found an update for all my drivers. I ran a scan at Microsoft Windows Update and they said no Driver Updates are available for my System at this time.

Who do we believe?

[mobo]

Mine found 6 updates and mocrosoft found zero.

[JohnWill]

I have to come down on the side of updating the drivers when there's a reason. It's usually not a good idea to fix things that aren't broken.

[pyritechips]

I agree completely with johnwill.

Also: (from MCSE world )

"Note: Download whatever you want from Windows Update, but never, never, never ever download and install any driver from that site! Drivers supplied through Windows Update are either old and obsolete or are simply the wrong version of driver for your hardware. There have been too many reports of drivers from WU causing problems, especially with XP users. This is a known fact. If you think you need a driver update try to go to the hardware's manufacturer's site instead (just because YOU haven't had a problem doesn't mean that others haven't. Maybe it's an urban legend, maybe not, but I will stick to vendor websites rather than WU for my driver updates.)"

[AtreideS]

I had a annoying problem with a HP Scanner and WindowsXP. The scanner did not have any winXP drivers, and so HP reccommended installing the Win2000 ones. So I did, and the scanner worked fine. Then I ran Windows Update one day, ooh it found a lovely new driver for my scanner! One for WindowsXP, so I downloaded and installed it, now the scanner wouldn't run. Finally rolling back to the Win2000 drivers the scanner works. Its also strange that when I run Windows Update 9 out of 10 times it won't tell me to download the 'new driver' for my scanner. Yet occasionally it does. So I have to agree with pyrite chips, I'm not a fan of drivers from Windows Update.
As for downloading new drivers, I always wait a few weeks before updating. Just to make sure all bugs are ironed out. It's always a good idea with nVida Detenators, as there are always millions of hungry gamers hungry for new drivers to install, regardless of testing. I should point out that the latest detenators are not always the fastest for older video cards. Each new version has newer tweaks, some which speed up some cards, and some which slow some. There are many different websites which list a speed comparison for all nVidia cards with various drivers, which can be helpful.

[McTimson]

Yes, definitely don't download their drivers. One time, it told me there were modem drivers available for me...big mistake. I don't know what it did, but I couldn't go online at all, called Tech suport places, didn't help, tried everything I possibly could. Couldn't revert back to the old drivers, or reinstall it, the modem would not work at all. In the end, I had to completely reformat my computer to get it working.

[bassetman]

I am a bit reluctant to let them install their stuff on my PC when I am not having a problem.

[AngryClip]

I must admit most of the windows update drivers are dodgy... but occasionly some of them are gems

Take my modem for example, I installed the most modern drivers from the manufacturer and they worked fine, except if I rebooted the modem would not work until I shut down my computer, turn my modem off, turn my computer back on and then turn my modem back on before windows started to boot.

It was very odd indeed but the windows update drivers fixed this problem.