Drivers can be very confusing to most people so here is and explanation of what drivers are, where you get them, don’t get them and why.


What is a driver?
A driver is software that allows your computer to properly communicate with your hardware. As you might be aware, if you’re reading this, sometimes hardware will not work at all so you can just as easily understand that having the most current drivers will not only make sure your hardware is working, but working at its best.

Where do I get the latest drivers for my computer?
This used to be a complicated question, but it has become easier with modern software. Here are the places you can get your drivers and why you don’t want to do it.

Windows Update – While Windows Update may provide drivers, don’t download from there. They usually work, but this is one place I have had problems with older and incorrect drivers. While I appreciate Microsoft’s attempt at providing drivers, they should abandon the whole idea or get it right.

Computer manufacturers – If you have a computer made by Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Acer, Emachine, Lenovo, Toshiba or any other brand name, these companies provide driver pages. They are always complete but have 3 different problems:

First, they offer a list to choose form of as many as 20 drivers. If you want to download them one at a time, sometimes there are different versions because the computer you bought comes in different configurations so you need to know your hardware. In other words, you need to know more about your computer then most people want to know.

Second, they typically offer driver updates for about 1 year after the computer is released. If your computer is over a year old, odds are you’re downloading old drivers and that defeats the purpose of updating your drivers.

Third, they almost always offer the same drivers that hardware manufacturer provides. By the time the hardware manufacturer releases the driver and the company gets the driver and posts it, odds are it’s already out of date.

Using driver updaters – Oddly enough, most of these all-in-one programs used to be scams. They would scan your computer, tell you that everything is out of date and charge you $30 or more! After the frustration of searching for drivers as explained above, $30 might seem worth it. Those days are over and there are a couple of free programs you can use to update your drivers easily and for FREE! Majorgeeks used to try to post new drivers on our driver page, and still does with some, but why bother anymore when these programs get it right for you?

1: Driver Booster – 5 Stars
This is the one I use at the time of this article, as recently as a couple days ago. I like the batch install that allows you to scan, download and update all your drivers in one click. Here is a video on how to use it:



http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/iobit_driver_booster.html

2: SlimDrivers – 4 Stars
My second choice, if you don’t like Driver Booster. Why yes, there is a video:



http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/slimdrivers.html

If you liked this article, please support Majorgeeks by using the share links right below this text. Facebook, Twitter or whatever. We all have a friend or two who can use the help

If you click the plus on the far right, it offers even more sharing options.