Driver Guide

Where can I find drivers?


Always check the original manufacturer's website first for the most up to date drivers. Some manufacturers will remove a driver when a product is discontinued or no longer supported, in which case you should try one of the sites below.


Driver Guide
WinDrivers
Download.com
Driver Zone
Help Drivers


I am not sure which driver I need.


There are several ways to find out the name of the product for which you need drivers.

You can use the Microsoft System Information tool provided with Windows XP. Press 'Start', click on 'Run' and type 'msinfo32'. Use the hives down the left hand side to find your product. Use that information in a search engine and see what else pops up.

A quick visual inspection of the hardware usually yeilds the answers. In the case of motherboards, video cards and soundcards, the manufacturer is not really important. Rather, you should be looking for the 'chip manufacturer' name, usually imprinted somewhere on the chips.



My drivers are out of date. Should I upgrade?


Generally speaking, the answer is yes. The updated driver will likely have bug fixes and more features. Read the release notes to find out whether the update benefits you

Upgrading drivers does come with it's risks, so be sure to make a 'system restore point' before proceeding with the upgrade. Always check the release notes that come with the driver for known bugs or problems that may arise.

In the event that a driver upgrade does not work, you should use 'Driver Roll Back' to resolve the issue. Go into the Device Manager and double-click the troublesome driver. Click the 'Driver' tab and choose 'Roll Back Driver'.

If your computer will no longer boot because of a bad driver, you should use the 'Last Known Good Configuration' option from the bootloader. You can access this by pressing 'F8' just before Windows starts to load.