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In this guest post, James Ricketts explores the basics of computer drivers. Find out more about James at the end of this post.

Device Drivers – An Introduction

Computer operating systems, such as Windows, Linux and Mac, and hardware components, such as sound cards, memory cards, and video cards do not speak the same language. To communicate effectively, hardware devices and operating systems require an interface. This interface is provided by device drivers. These drivers enable the computer operating system and installed software to communicate with the hardware devices.

In this article, you will learn:

  • Why it is necessary to use only the latest drivers
  • Which is better – manual driver updation process or automatic driver updation process
  • What is Driver Finder?

Read the detailed Driver Finder review to learn how to use the software to update your device drivers.

Need for most up-to-date drivers

Drivers play a critical role in the performance of your hardware devices and computer. In case your drivers are outdated, you may experience frequent performance-related issues and PC errors. Additionally, you may not be able to use your attached hardware devices properly. This is why it is necessary that you always use the latest device drivers.

Manual updation Vs Automatic updation

You can either update your drivers manually or use a reliable driver scanner tool. Let’s have a look at what each process involves, to understand which is the better method.

Manual Driver Updation Process

Driver manufacturers continuously release the latest versions of their software. If you have decided to update drivers manually, you will have to download the latest driver from the manufacturer’s website.

The process of updating drivers manually, however, is time-consuming. Moreover, at times, you may not be able to locate the latest driver on the manufacturer’s website or you may download an incorrect version. If the driver is not on the manufacturer website, you may even have to download it from another source.

The problem in this is that many dubious websites push malware disguised as genuine programs. So, instead of the latest driver that you were looking for, you may end up with a malware infection.

You just don’t need a genuine driver; you also need to make sure that you install the correct version. Incorrect drivers may create problems with the hardware. In more severe cases, it may even make your computer unbootable.

Automatic Driver Updation Process

Today, third-party driver update tools are available in the market. These tools are designed to automatically scan your hardware devices and download new drivers when required. This process has its advantages.

For starters, you save time and energy. As driver update software does all the work in background, your work is not obstructed. Additionally, the process is completely safe.  The following are a few tasks a driver update tool will do for you:

  • Detect all hardware devices installed on your computer and replace any old device drivers with the latest ones in a matter of minutes.
  • Identify and fix instances of corrupt or missing drivers by retrieving the latest drivers for the device.

Most driver-update tools have an interactive interface that makes them quite easy to use. Read our detailed Driver Finder review to learn more about how driver update tools can make it easy for you to maintain up-to-date drivers on your computer.

James Ricketts is a writer whose work can be seen at Instant-Registry-Fixes.org. To find out more about his work or to contact him, please visit Instant-Registry-Fixes.org.

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