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Want to update your computer’s hardware drivers? Get your driver updates from Windows Update or your device manufacturer’s website. Here’s how.
To manually install your Intel® Graphics Driver in Windows® 10 and Windows. 8/8.1: Download the graphics driver from Download Center or from your computer manufacturer. If the file driver was contained in a zip file, unzip the file to a designated location or folder.
RELATED:Never Download a Driver-Updating Utility; They’re Worse Than Useless
Hardware drivers are the bits of software Windows uses to communicate with your PC’s hardware. Device manufacturers create these drivers, and you can obtain drivers straight from the manufacturer of your devices. Manufacturers also submit drivers to Microsoft for testing and signing, and you can get many drivers from Microsoft through Windows Update. Often, you won’t need to bother with updating drivers, but you may sometimes need to get the latest version—especially if something isn’t working right. While they are tempting, we recommend that you don’t use driver-update utilities.
Should You Update Your Drivers?
RELATED:When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers?
In general, we don’t recommend updating hardware drivers unless you have a reason to. The driver for the SD card reader that came built into your computer is probably just fine. Even if the manufacturer does offer a slightly newer version, you probably won’t notice the difference. There’s no reason to obsess about having the latest hardware drivers for every component in your computer.
There are some good reasons to update drivers, though. In particular, gamers generally should keep their graphics drivers as up-to-date as possible to ensure the best graphics performance and the fewest bugs with modern games. In other cases, you might need to get the latest version of a hardware driver if the current one is causing problems with your computer.
If you do want to update your drivers, skip the driver-updating utilities. We can’t repeat that enough. Go right to the source for your hardware drivers. This means downloading drivers from the hardware manufacturer’s individual websites, or letting Microsoft’s Windows Update do the work for you.
Update Your Hardware Drivers With Windows Update
RELATED:What You Need to Know About Windows Update on Windows 10
Assuming you’re using Windows 10, Windows Update automatically downloads and install the latest drivers for you. Windows 7 and 8 provide driver updates via Windows Update, too, but Microsoft is being much more aggressive about this in Windows 10. It all happens automatically. Even if you install your own hardware drivers, Windows sometimes automatically overwrite them when a new version is available. Windows is pretty good about not overwriting things like graphics drivers, though—especially if you’ve got a utility from the manufacturer that keeps up with updates.
Using Windows Update in Windows 10 is the automatic, set-it-and-forget-it solution. You don’t need a driver-updating utility because Windows has one built-in.
On Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, hardware drivers appear in the Windows Update interface as an optional update. If you want the latest hardware drivers, be sure to go open Windows Update, check for updates, and install any available hardware driver updates.
Update Your Graphics Drivers
RELATED:How to Update Your Graphics Drivers for Maximum Gaming Performance
For graphics drivers, you can use the control panel included with your graphics drivers to check for updates them. NVIDIA, AMD, and even Intel provide control panels that automatically check for and download the latest graphics driver updates for you.
Just open the NVIDIA GeForce Experience application, AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson Edition, or Intel’s Graphics Control Panel—whichever is on your computer. These often appear in your system tray, and you can usually find them with a quick Start menu search.
You could also just go straight to the source here. Head to NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel’s website to download the latest graphics driver package for your hardware and install it.
Even if you’re using Windows 10, you’ll probably want to do this — at least, if you’re a gamer. Windows 10 won’t be automatically updating graphics drivers every time NVIDIA or AMD releases a new version. These updates are really only necessary for people playing PC games, after all.
Use the Manufacturer’s Website
For other drivers, go straight to your hardware manufacturer’s website. If you have a laptop or a prebuilt desktop PC, go to its manufacturer’s website and look up the driver-download page for your specific model of computer. You’ll usually find a single web page with a long list of drivers you can download. New versions of these drivers are posted to this web page when available, and you’ll often see the dates when they were uploaded so you know which are new.
RELATED:How to Check Your BIOS Version and Update it
This is also the place you’ll generally find BIOS and UEFI firmware updates, but we don’t recommend installing these unless you have a really good reason to do so.
If you built your own desktop PC, you’ll have to download drivers from the manufacturer of each individual component. For example, go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and look up the specific model of motherboard to find your motherboard drivers. Repeat this process for each individual hardware component.
The good news is that you don’t have to do most of this. Windows—especially Windows 10—automatically keeps your drivers reasonably up-to-date for you.
If you’re a gamer, you will want the latest graphics drivers. But, after you download and install them once, you’ll be notified when new drivers are available so you can download and install them.
For other driver updates, you can simply check the manufacturer’s website for new versions. This isn’t usually necessary, and you don’t need to do it unless you have a specific reason to do so. Windows keep your hardware drivers up-to-date enough.
Image Credit: Quasic on Flickr
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How a driver is saved and packaged determines how it is installed. Below is information about each of the methods developers use to distribute their drivers, as well as how to install them in Microsoft Windows. Additionally, there are some general insights to help prevent frustrations during the process.
Drivers from a CD or DVD
Almost all computer and hardware manufacturers include a group of drivers for different hardware devices and often for each of the supported versions of Windows. For example, the driver CD you receive with your printer likely contains the drivers for dozens of different printers and may not have the printer you purchased. When installing the drivers, make sure you are installing the drivers for your printer and not another printer model. Also, make sure you are installing it for the version of Windows you are running on your computer.
Below is an example of how a file structure may look on your disc.
For example, if you had a PrinterA200 and were using Windows XP, you would find your drivers in the PrinterA200WinXP folder. Once the location of the drivers is found, you must determine how the drivers are packaged. If the folder contains executable files or a setup file, you can install the driver using an executable. If the directory contains .inf files, you can install the driver using an inf or use the 'have disk' option during the install.
TipIf you have a CD with drivers, but the computer has no functioning disc drive, you can also download the drivers. Or, if you have access to another computer, you can copy the drivers from the CD to a USB flash drive.
Installing drivers from USB drive or floppy
After the drivers are copied to a USB flash drive, floppy or another drive, they can also be installed from that drive. Once the drive is connected to the computer, open Windows Explorer and then the drive letter for the computer drive. For example, if you have a USB drive that is assigned the E: drive when connected, you would open the E: drive.
Once the drivers are found on the drive, you must determine how the drivers are packaged. If the directory contains executable files or a setup file, you can install the driver using an executable. If the directory contains .inf files, you can install the driver using an inf or use the 'have disk' option during the install. If the drivers are compressed into a .zip file, you need to uncompress the file.
Downloading drivers
TipIf you have not yet downloaded the drivers, you can find drivers for your computer through the computer or device manufacturer. For links to the websites of prominent computer hardware manufacturers, see our hardware drivers index.
TipIf you are downloading drivers to install on another device, you can copy or extract the driver files to a USB flash drive and connect the USB drive to the other computer.
After the drivers have been downloaded, you must determine how the drivers are packaged. If the directory contains executable files or a setup file, you can install the driver using an executable. If the directory contains .inf files, you can install the driver using an inf or use the 'have disk' option during the install. If the drivers are compressed into a .zip file, you need to uncompress the file.
TipWhen extracting the drivers, make sure to remember where you place the folder containing the drivers since you need to point to this folder as part of the driver installation process. We recommend extracting the driver files to a folder on the Windows desktop, as it is an easy place to remember and locate, and it can be easily removed after driver installation is complete.
Executable
Many computer and hardware manufacturers today are pre-packaging their drivers into executable files or have the drivers installed through the setup file. Double-clicking the executable or setup file should install the drivers to the computer for you.
NoteThe executable may be packaged in a compressed file, which means before looking for the setup file, you need to uncompress the downloaded file. If after uncompressing the file, it still does not contain an executable file, setup file, or does not install your hardware device, continue with the below recommendations.
Finally, if you are successful with installing your drivers and the computer asks to reboot the computer, make sure to reboot the computer after the driver is installed.
Using the 'have disk' option
A computer or hardware manufacturer may place the drivers on a CD, diskette, or folder on the hard drive for Windows to find and use during its hardware detection. Below are steps on how to install drivers for a new device and upgrade a device's driver for this setup.
Installing a new device
- Open Windows Device Manager.
- In the Device Manager, make sure the device you are attempting to install is not already listed from past install attempts. If the device is found, highlight and remove it from Device Manager to prevent any conflicts during the install.
- Once Device Manager looks okay, reboot the computer.
- As the computer is rebooting, an Install new hardware wizard should appear if Windows detects the new hardware. Using this wizard, you should be able to point Windows to the folder containing your drivers located on the CD, diskette, USB flash drive, or the folder containing the files you downloaded.
If Windows does not detect any new hardware, open the Control Panel and double-click the Add hardware icon to run the hardware detection wizard. During the steps, you have the option to install custom Windows drivers from a location on disk. Choose to load drivers, then select the folder containing the drivers for your device.
NoteThe 'Add hardware' icon is only available in Windows XP and prior versions of Windows.
Once drivers have been installed, reboot the computer.
Upgrading drivers for a pre-existing device
- Open Windows Device Manager.
- In the Device Manager, locate the device you want to update.
- Right-click the device and click Properties.
- In the Properties window, click the Driver tab.
- Click the Update Driver button.
- In the Hardware Update Wizard, point Windows to the location of the updated driver files on your hard drive.
Once drivers have been installed, reboot the computer.
Install through the .inf file
Finally, if the above recommendations do not work, the installation instructions for drivers and hardware devices are always contained in an .inf file that is located in the driver files.
Locate the .inf file for your version of Windows. Right-click that file and choose the option for install.
NoteMake sure you are installing the correct .inf file and not an .inf file for another device or for a different version of Windows.
Once you have right-clicked and installed the driver, reboot the computer.
One of the above three recommendations should have installed or updated the drivers successfully onto the computer. If you are still having difficulties getting the device to install, it is possible you are not encountering a hardware issue and not an issue with the drivers. Refer to the troubleshooting steps for your hardware device for additional help and information.
Additional information
- See the driver definition for further information and related links.