It’s safe to say that the drivers are the soul of a computer system. Generally speaking, it is what makes the devices work. The operating system uses drivers to communicate with the hardware. In essence, it is what links Windows, the motherboard, and the human user all together. And won’t matter if you use Macintosh or Linux – you are going to need drivers to make your computer functional.
When you first bought your computer, everything is packed in. All you really need to do is to attach everything you got out of the box and the computer would work just fine. If it’s a laptop then you just plug it in and it’ll work. All the hardware, drivers, firmware, and software that you need are installed right in it.
But what if you need to update your drivers for one reason or another? If you’re quite familiar with a computer system, this step is not so hard for you. But if all you know is how to use the computer but are clueless when it comes to its operation from the inside, here are the simple steps that you can follow to update your drivers.
1. Know which driver you need to update.
Keep in mind that there could be hundreds of drivers installed inside your computer. Which one of them would like to update? Even if you would like to update all of it, you still have to go through them one at a time. You have to obtain a copy of the latest drivers of your chosen device straight from the manufacturer.
2. In a Windows XP system, go to Control Panel, System, Hardware, Device Manager.
When you click on the Start button in Windows XP, you’ll find the link to the system’s Control Panel in the tab that will pop out. Click on that and on the window that will appear, click on the Hardware tab. Then look for the Device Manager button. This is where you’ll find all the drivers that are installed in your computer. Pick the one you want to update.
3. Expand on the devices. Right click on the exact driver that you wish to update. Then select update driver on the small window that will appear.
4. Load the CD or point to the downloaded file where the updated drivers are contained. Once Windows is done loading the latest drivers, it would ask you to restart the computer. Restart and the newly installed drivers will be loaded upon startup.
Tags: Drivers, Windows Drivers
