Driver Updates

[Picablu]

I'm set up for Windows automatic updates. When I look at my update history, I don't see the word 'driver' anywhere. Can anyone tell me if my drivers are actually being updated, or how I can tell if they need to be updated?

[DennisD]

Hi Picablu.

 

This should throw some light on the Windows Update/Drivers question:

 

Users can get drivers from Windows Update in these ways:

 

Dynamic Update

Drivers can be downloaded from Windows Update through Dynamic Update only if there is no existing driver for a device on the computer. Windows Setup installs the drivers. There is a driver exclusion list to block specific drivers from being downloaded.

•

Automatic Updating

Automatic Updating downloads drivers if there is no driver installed for a device. Installed drivers are not replaced.

•

Windows Update Site

Drivers are offered to download and install from the Windows Update site either as a regular update or as a critical update. The detection process determines whether the new driver is a better match for the device than the already installed driver.

 

Taken from here:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/winup/default.mspx

 

Hope that helps.

[Andavari]

You're better off not getting device drivers (Printer/Scanner, Display Card, etc.,) from Microsoft Update! Unless of course it's an absolute last resort, or if a manufacturer no longer has a certain old driver available.

 

Better off visiting the device manufacturer website if it's an off the shelf purchase. If it's OEM hardware look on your computer manufacturer website because often an OEM device can't use the original device manufacturer driver.

[Picablu]

Hi Picablu.

 

This should throw some light on the Windows Update/Drivers question:

 

 

 

Taken from here:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/winup/default.mspx

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

You're better off not getting device drivers (Printer/Scanner, Display Card, etc.,) from Microsoft Update! Unless of course it's an absolute last resort, or if a manufacturer no longer has a certain old driver available.

 

Better off visiting the device manufacturer website if it's an off the shelf purchase. If it's OEM hardware look on your computer manufacturer website because often an OEM device can't use the original device manufacturer driver.

 

 

 

Thank you for the information guys. I explored both MS and HP.

MS listed several drivers, but I could not tell if they were applicable to my software, and I could not find anywhere whether their automatic updates included drivers.

HP definitely stated their automatic updates included drivers for software on my machine.

[DennisD]

Two schools of thought on the subject of drivers Picablu.

 

Some folk like to have the latest available, and probably for very good reasons as to how they use their PC's.

 

Some folk subscribe to the "if it ain't broke ..." school of thought. If your PC is running fine, and you don't need an updated driver for any specific reason, just leave well alone.

 

I subscribe to the second, as I've had my fingers burnt installing updated drivers I didn't really need. And they were HP drivers which gave me an immediate BSOD.

 

Hope that helps.

[Andavari]

Some folk subscribe to the "if it ain't broke ..." school of thought. If your PC is running fine, and you don't need an updated driver for any specific reason, just leave well alone.

 

I'm definitely in that school of "if it ain't broke," since I've been burnt bad by botched driver updates in the past, and recent unpleasant issues from NVIDIA drivers has reinforced it.

[razz]

Quite some time ago I took some great advice from both Dennis and Andavari - they basically said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and ever since then I never even bother looking for driver updates. My PC runs just fine without them.

[Picablu]

Two schools of thought on the subject of drivers Picablu.

 

Some folk like to have the latest available, and probably for very good reasons as to how they use their PC's.

 

Some folk subscribe to the "if it ain't broke ..." school of thought. If your PC is running fine, and you don't need an updated driver for any specific reason, just leave well alone.

 

I subscribe to the second, as I've had my fingers burnt installing updated drivers I didn't really need. And they were HP drivers which gave me an immediate BSOD.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

I'm definitely in that school of "if it ain't broke," since I've been burnt bad by botched driver updates in the past, and recent unpleasant issues from NVIDIA drivers has reinforced it.

 

 

Quite some time ago I took some great advice from both Dennis and Andavari - they basically said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and ever since then I never even bother looking for driver updates. My PC runs just fine without them.

 

 

I sure appreciate the advice from all, and agree with the "if it ain't broke" thinking. I had three downloads that absolutely refused to be deleted no matter what I attempted. Finally gave up and had a support tech using remote work on it. It was really stubborn, and took over an hour, but finally the files deleted. Everything's working just fine now, but if/when need arises for driver update I'll know where and how. Thanks guys.