What are Device Drivers and why do I need them for my computer?

Many people are unaware that you actually need device drivers to run your computer smoothly. This could include display drivers, network, audio, and chipset drivers. Every device that is on your computer has a driver for it. Even a mouse, keyboard, and a monitor have drivers, however windows usually installs those ones for us.

What is a Device Driver?

A driver is a small software program that helps your computer identify and run particular types of hardware. You need drivers for onboard video, an agp video card, or even a usb storage device. When you purchase a new computer it should always come with a device driver or system disk and Windows usually takes care of the common and generic drivers.

Where can you find your drivers for your computer?

If you bought a computer the discs should come with your computer. If you have lost your disc, drivers can be downloaded from manufacturer’s websites for free as you already own their product. Like, Http://www.acer.com All you have to do is type in the model number and name of your computer. For Example: Acer desktop T310 and then type “driver download” with it.

If you built the computer yourself, a driver disk should have been supplied with your motherboard. Store this disk in a safe place. If you buy a separate video card then you will need a driver disc for this also. 

If you have a second hand computer with no disks and all components are onboard, then you must search for the motherboards model number in Google. However if you have a separate sound card, you need to find the device driver for its model number and not for onboard sound on the motherboard. 

If you have a restoration disk for your computer then everything you need should be on that disk, including the operating system. It also doesn’t hurt to ask for some free computer help from a friend. 

Some Examples of Devices that require drivers

• Monitors, keyboards, mouse (Windows will install these)
• Video cards, Sound Cards, PCI Cards (Rarely will Windows install these drivers)
• Usb, Ethernet, modems, flash drives (Rarely will Windows install these drivers)
• CD/DVD Roms (Windows install most drivers for these)
• And the list goes on….

Notes:

• If you upgrade your operating system from Windows XP to Vista, for example, you will need to upgrade your drivers as well. For a particular device there is sometimes 5 different  versions, depending on the age of the device. A new modem would have drivers for Windows Xp and Windows Vista. They have phased out drivers for Windows 95, 98, and 2000.