Drivers Missing or Outdated?
How missing or outdated drivers negatively impact your PC, and what to do about it
September 2010
by Robin Wark
Device drivers are something many computer users do not think about. Unlike your printer, sound card or even software, such as your Windows Media Player, they are not seen. However, device drivers have a major impact on your hardware devices' performance.
What are drivers?
Drivers are small software programs. They act as translators between your hardware, software and operating systems. Software provides instructions – such as to print a Microsoft Word document – in high-level, device-generic commands. However, printers, scanners, graphics cards and other hardware devices do not recognize these. Device drivers are needed to translate the program's command into lower-level, device-specific instructions and vice versa for feedback sent to the software.
What If The Driver Is Missing?
Each piece of hardware you have requires a driver to act as a translator. Your Windows operating system (whether it is Windows 7, Vista or XP) comes with many drivers. Sometime you are able to "plug-and-play" without worrying about drivers. This is not always the case. As drivers are specific to their hardware devices – even different models require their own version – it is not possible for all drivers to be included with your Windows operating system.
When you plug in a new device, Windows will notify you that it has been found. Then the operating system will attempt to find the correct driver. In some cases, it will not have the right one.
In these cases, your hardware might not be able to communicate at all with your software and operating system. This renders it useless. Some hardware will operate in generic mode if the correct driver is not installed. For example, a video display might only work in low resolution mode. This means your expensive equipment is not performing to its full capacity.
Why Update Drivers?
So, you have all the drivers for your equipment. Why would you ever want to update your drivers? There are a few reasons:
- Bug fixes: While hardware devices and drivers are tested before they are released, problems can occur. Stability issues, driver conflicts and other issues sometimes are identified after the product is on the market.
- Security issues: At times, it is found that drivers have a vulnerability that can cause security issues. This is relatively rare, but can happen.
- Performance Increase: New versions of drivers, including ones with bug fixes, can increase how well they perform and interact with your hardware devices, software and operating system.
- New Features: The latest drivers can provide access to new features. For example, you might receive new program keystrokes for a gaming keyboard.
How To Get Drivers?
As mentioned before, some drivers come with your operating system. However, it cannot possible have drivers for every possible device. Some hardware comes with CDs that contain drivers. However, these are easily lost. Also, by the time you install them they might already be outdated.
You can search the Internet for drivers. This can become time consuming and frustrating. Online searches could also accidentally lead you into downloading the wrong driver or malware. Cybercriminals are known to use the promise of drivers to trick people into installing malicious programs and spyware.
There are driver update programs, such as ParetoLogic PC Health Advisor. It can determine which drivers you need and make sure you have the latest ones. As well, PC Health Advisor sets a system restore point in case you prefer to revert to previous drivers.
As you can see, drivers are important to the operation of your PC and hardware. Without the correct drivers your hardware, such as your printer, could just become a big paperweight. Companies often release new drivers more than once a year. Upgrading to the latest version can bring you increased performance and security.
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