Driver Updates - which method

  • Thread starter Thread starter antioch
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antioch

Hello to All
I hope the cross-post has worked :-)
There are, as far as I know, 2 methods to update drivers.
1. From a manufacturer's site
2. Via Device Manager
I have difficulty identifying a driver on most web sites, so often I have to
ask them which one do I need. The techspeak and warnings like flashing the
bios I find very off-putting.
Are there other ways. If not, why do most people in the groups advise
against the Device Manager method?
Rgds
Antioch
 
Hi

Via the manufacturer's web site.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups
 
antioch said:
Hello to All
I hope the cross-post has worked :-)
There are, as far as I know, 2 methods to update drivers.
1. From a manufacturer's site
2. Via Device Manager
I have difficulty identifying a driver on most web sites, so often I have
to ask them which one do I need. The techspeak and warnings like flashing
the bios I find very off-putting.
Are there other ways. If not, why do most people in the groups advise
against the Device Manager method?
Rgds
Antioch
Click to expand...
Device manage may well look at the Microsoft website, which doesn't always
have the latest drivers.
Always go to the manufacturer's website and get the latest drivers.
Regards Mike.
 
Device manage may well look at the Microsoft website, which doesn't always
have the latest drivers.
Always go to the manufacturer's website and get the latest drivers.
Regards Mike.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mike

Thirty - Love
 
Hi, Antioch. Just passing thru looking for answers myself.

As to your problem, got some advice recently here somewhere but just can't
recall
from whom right at this moment. If you want to check the names for devices
and their drivers, etc., in your system, try the free "Belarc Advisor". Try
via Googlr or
below link:

" Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit.htm "

Alternatively, you might try www.mydrivers.com - though that can get a bit
hairy.
Then there's always "DriverGenius" (try Google).

My own problem was trying to replace a corrupted driver for an nVidia AGP
display card (Asus motherboard). I couldn't find it at nVidia's site, under
that name,
for love nor money - nor via Google.

I'm still not to clear on the concept myself but it seems that nVidia, for
one, puts out a new driver "set" every other day under some weird version
number, that seems to cover a ton of display cards (which they don't actually
manufacture
themselves). The names of the board models covered are contained in one of
the help files also offered for download. Anyhow, that's about as much as I
can figure.
Might keep that in mind if you have a similar problem.

Hope it helps.
 
7:41 AM 5/29/2006

Mfg website.

There WAS a post here recently (last friday or saturday?0 which offered two
websites that claim to extract all device names and driver info from the
machine. To me the only value in this would be to make a "check-off" list to
research the mfg. sites. I would still do the research myself and download--
with lots of conservative discretion-- from the mfg. website. I do this once
a year as normal maintenance.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the info - nVidia are a pain of that there is no doubt - Ati were
very clear and helpful.
Antioch
 
Device Manager can use either drivers from the Windows Update Web Site or
from what you have downloaded and saved.

The drivers from the Windows Update Web Site are seldom the latest
available. Also, if the manufacturer detects problems with a set of recently
released drivers, the problem may be corrected within hours - with a newer
download "from their web site". The Windows Update Web Site may take months
to pick up this change,

Now you know where to download your drivers from. (-:

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
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