Today’s drivers are much easier to install. Newer operating systems like Windows XP and Windows Vista can even install drivers automatically. The latest Macintosh works fairly in the same way too.

To update your drivers, the first thing that you have to do is to download the new files that you need. They can be obtained from the manufacturer’s website. Usually, you can get it from your computer maker’s portal, such as Dell or HP. It should be available from the hardware creators themselves too. For such instances, you have to go to NVIDIA if that is your video card or to SoundBlaster if you use that sound card.

Once you have the files that you need, you should be ready to install it. Oftentimes, the downloaded files are EXE files or ZIP files. Either way, if you double click on its icon, it will extract the files needed and then initiate the installer right after. You’ll know that your computer is automatically installing the driver through the windows popping out of the screen. It should say that the drivers are being uploaded into the system and the name of the hardware you’re installing is also showing up. The moment the system is done updating files, it would ask you to restart the computer. After restart, the new drivers should be ready for use.

However, there are instances wherein the drivers won’t install automatically. If this is the case, you have to resort to the manual process of installing the drivers. You should be familiar with this method too. The first few steps as explained above are followed. But after clicking the downloaded driver files and the computer didn’t proceed to install, you might have to check the folder where the files are extracted. See if there are executable files included in there. If there is none, you need to open control panel and the list of your system devices.

Once there, try to spot the hardware that you would like to update. It should be listed in the device manager with a yellow question mark over its name. When you right click that device, you’ll have the option to update its drivers. Do so and browse through the folder where the extracted files were placed. When the system finds the files that it needs, it would proceed with the driver update. After which, the computer would request a restart. On boot-up, the new device is ready for use.