A "free" scanner said a USB controller driver on my XP Pro SP2 Thinkpad
T42 system is outdated. It lists a long name from Intel. System settings
and the internet show it with several different suffixes:
24C2
24C4
24C7
24CD
I note that just the 24CD download is almost 4 mb long.
I have yet to find the specific one (24C2 declared to be outdated) for
download. Is it likely that each and every one of these drivers is a huge
file, or might the latest one (24CD specified as for USB2) have them all?
I'm a little hesitant to start applying these things willy nilly.
Do not use drivers from "free scanner" sites. If everything is working,
leave well enough alone. See below for general drivers information. Pay
particular attention to the introductory paragraph. In your specific case,
you would *only* get drivers from Lenovo for your specific model Thinkpad
anyway.
*****
The First Law of Driver Updates is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Normally if everything is working you want to leave things as they are. The
exception is that heavy-duty gamers will usually want to update their video
and sound drivers to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the
hardware to get the fastest frame rates. If you're not one of those people,
you don't need to update your drivers if there are no problems you are
trying to solve.
Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:
1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM computer
(HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).
Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the drivers.
To find out what hardware is in your computer:
1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific model
machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor or System Information for Windows.
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows
*****
If you can't stand *not* to tinker or find a non-computing-related outlet
for this urge, then purchase an external hard drive and Acronis True Image.
Image your system when it is working and before you give into your
uncontrollable urge to tinker [trash your operating system]. Store the
image on the external hard drive and you will be able to restore your
system in minutes.
Malke
