Finding the right device drivers

Device drivers, as we all know, are sets of instructions that allow a computer to recognize and communicate with installed hardware devices and peripherals. Whenever you purchase a new hardware device or peripheral, you get a CD/ DVD containing the device drivers for that device. Once you install the device and load the device drivers into your computer, you can start using the device.

So, you just install the device, load the drivers and start using it. It’s that simple, right? Well, not quite. You see, one hardware or peripheral can support several different operating systems. For instance, the printer or scanner that you have installed in your PC that is running Microsoft Windows operating system can also work on a computer running Linux operating system. When the manufacturers created the device drivers for the devices, they made it that way, so that the devices would support many different operating systems. It gets a little complex from here, but let me try to explain.

When you get a driver CD/ DVD for your new hardware or peripheral device, put the disk in your drive and browse through its contents. Chances are that you will come across multiple folders named after different operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, etc. Again, in the Windows section, there will probably be subfolders for Windows XP and Windows Vista, because these are two different versions of the same operating system, although both of these were made by the same company, Microsoft.

Before you load a device driver in your computer, make sure that it supports your operating system. For instance, if you are running Linux operating system on your computer and you accidentally load a driver made for Microsoft Windows operating system, the device will not work. Again, a driver created for Windows XP may not work on Windows Vista, although these are different versions of the same operating system. If you load a wrong driver for your device on your computer, it can damage either your device, or your computer, or both.

The safest way to ensure that you are loading device drivers of the correct version is to let your system administrator take care of it. Otherwise, you can use some good third party software tool to scan your PC and find out which drivers are outdated. Then, with your permission, these tools can download the necessary drivers from the internet and install those on their own. All you have to do after that is to restart the PC.

However, if you choose to download and install the drivers by yourself, then connect to the internet and visit the manufacturer’s website. Browse through the list of drivers given there to find out the latest driver that supports your operating system. Then simply download the drivers, install those and restart your PC. That’s it.

Keep your device drivers updated to the latest versions at all times. This will greatly reduce the number of problems you run into while using the devices.