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What is Driver Support?
Driver support is a third party application. Driver Support provides an innovative way to diagnose issues with your PC, resolve those issues through support and driver matching technology, and optimize your PC’s performance. Using cloud-based technology, all of your device’s drivers are available, including when they’re no longer available from the original manufacturer.
Using Third Party Software, including hardware drivers can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Third Party Software can be solved. Using Third Party Software is at your own risk.
We pride ourselves on providing top level support for the software solutions we provide to our customers.
Our aim is to help with all PC and Mac issues, through providing information and support in our PC/ Mac Resources Section and links to downloads to help keep your PC working well.
Our software Driver Downloader, provides an automated, safe and effective Driver Update solution for users of Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Drivers are critically important components of your computer, but knowing how and when to update drivers isn't as easy or as obvious as we might like.
Update drivers in Windows
Driver updates for Windows, along with many devices, such as network adapters, monitors, printers, and video cards, are automatically downloaded and installed through Windows Update. You probably already have the most recent drivers, but if you'd like to manually update or reinstall a driver.
Update the device driver
1. In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager.
2. Select a category to see names of devices, then right-click (or press and hold) the one you’d like to update.
3. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
4. Select Update Driver.
5. If Windows doesn't find a new driver, you can try looking for one on the device manufacturer's website and follow their instructions.
Reinstall the device driver
1. In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager.
2. Right-click (or press and hold) the name of the device, and select Uninstall.
3. Restart your PC.
4. Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver.
How do you update drivers on your computer?
How Do I Update Drivers on My Computer?
Drivers are another one of those “computer things” that are just so much confusing magic to the average computer user.
I’ll touch on what they are and my philosophy about how and when to update them.
Drivers
The best way to update drivers is to let Windows Update handle it for you. If you need something more current or different, use the computer or component manufacturer’s tools or support sites. Aside from letting Windows Update update drivers automatically, there is rarely cause to update drivers yourself, unless you’re tracking down a problem.
Windows doesn’t know about every possible piece of hardware. For example, it knows about network cards, but not how to make every possible network card function. That’s the job of what’s called a device driver, or just drivers.
Drivers are software that translate Window’s generic instructions into specific commands to make the hardware do what it does. Each piece of hardware attached to your system requires a driver for this translation.
Some confusion comes from the fact that there are a ton of drivers included with Windows. When you install Windows, or when you add new hardware to your computer, Windows will frequently notice the change and automatically install the drivers. That’s what “plug and play” is all about: you install new hardware, Windows installs corresponding drivers, and things just work.
However, not all possible drivers are included with Windows. When you have hardware whose drivers are not supplied with Windows, the manufacturer may supply them — typically with a setup program accompanying the device — or Windows may search online to find them.
How to update drivers ?
There’s no single approach to updating drivers. The most common approaches are to let Windows Update handle it, or run installation or update programs supplied by either your computer or device manufacturer.
Here’s what I do.
• Back up. Depending on when my most recent automated backup was, I may create an image backup before I begin. If anything goes wrong with the update process, I can always revert to this backup. This is a case where only an image backup will do, since it includes all of Windows, including your current drivers and everything else on the machine.
• Check Windows Update. In the Windows Update settings app, be sure to look at “optional updates”, which is often where driver updates will be. Then just use Windows Update to install them.
• Check with the computer’s manufacturer. If I’m running Dell equipment, for instance, the Dell support site does a good job of leading me to the latest drivers for my hardware. In most cases, downloading and running an installer automates installation.
• Check with the hardware component manufacturer. Even though a component may be supported through Windows Update or the computer manufacturer’s site, there’s often a delay before the updates make it to those locations. The component manufacturer is the first place a driver update will typically be made available.
You’ll note that I did not list driver update services.
How not to update drivers ?
Keeping drivers updated, or even just knowing when and what to update, is not a simple task.
As a result, there are a number of tools claiming to do it for you. They supposedly scan your system, tell you what’s out of date, and offer to update them for you.
Note that I said supposedly. Many are scams. They often:
• Load your machine with malware.
• Lie about what you need to update.
• Claim important updates are necessary, tell you what you need for free, and then require a fee to proceed.
Even when legit, I believe driver updates are too important to trust to third-party tools.
I strongly recommend you avoid driver update services and utilities. Period.
When to update drivers ?
Unlike the rest of the software on your machine, when it comes to device drivers, I’m a firm believer in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
That means I don’t update drivers just for the sake of updating drivers. I need a reason.
The catch is that it’s not always obvious a driver might need updating or that something is broken and in need of fixing.
The reasons I update drivers, presented in the order in which they most commonly happen, include:
• I’m experiencing a problem that appears to be related to hardware, and a driver update might help. For example, if my network card is acting flaky and there’s an updated driver available, then updating the driver might be my first repair or diagnostic step.
• I need a feature the Windows-supplied driver doesn’t support. Hardware might be supported by the Windows-included drivers, but on occasion, the latest drivers from the manufacturer include additional capabilities or provide additional management utilities.
• The driver (or related software) notifies me an update is available. Many devices now include periodic checks for updates. They then give me the choice of installing them when available. This technically violates my “if it ain’t broke” statement, but I’ll allow these updates, particularly for non-critical devices.
• Windows Update notifies me there’s an updated driver. Windows Update doesn’t update as many drivers as you might think, or as quickly, but they do update some. When the Windows-supplied drivers are updated, I always take them.
• I’m alerted to a security issue relating to the driver. This is rare, but occasionally I’ll run across information indicating a driver has a potential security issue. I’ll consider updating, depending on the hardware and the issue.
Risks of updating drivers
Microsoft takes a lot of heat for releasing software that isn’t quite ready. Without debating that, it’s often due in part to the reliance on the drivers and software created by others, such as hardware vendors. As you might expect, there are vendors with good reputations for producing quality software, and others without.
Unfortunately, driver problems often manifest to users as “Windows problems”.
Driver problems resulting from an upgrade are not unheard of, and the symptoms aren’t always as dramatic as a blue screen of death. I updated drivers for my wireless network some time ago, and suddenly the network would drop whenever I left a Remote Desktop Connection. It was annoying, but I lived with it until I had time to reinstall Windows from scratch.
Hence my “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Driver updates should be painless, and should result in things getting better. Most often they do. Sometimes they do not.
To answer another part of your question: a driver update will replace the previous software, but if the update happens properly, settings and configuration information will be preserved. Sadly, that too is at risk if the manufacturer does a poor job of providing their updates.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I purchased Driver Downloader by Drivers.com but am being returned to the website to purchase the product again.
Please activate Driver Downloader by Drivers.com:
1. Open Driver Downloader by Drivers.com (if not already open).
2. Click About.
3. Click Register Driver Downloader by Drivers.com
4. Enter your name where indicated.
5. Enter the License Key you received via email.
6. Click Activate Now.
License key does not work.
Make sure you are entering your correct license key. Receipt numbers are sometimes mistaken for license keys. Please re-check your order information email for your correct license key. Some helpful tips regarding your license key:
1. Copy (Ctrl + c) and paste (Ctrl + v) of your license key is recommended.
2. The correct license key format for Driver Downloader by usasupportonline.info is:
XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (four series of four characters).
3. If you’ve checked the above and your key still does not work, please contact
Customer Service on support@usasupportonline.info
How do I uninstall Driver Downloader by usasupportonline.info ?
1. Close Driver Downloader by usasupportonline.info (if open)
2. Click Start > Programs >Driver Downloader by usasupportonline.info
3. Click ‘Uninstall Driver Downloader by usasupportonline.info’
4. Click ‘Yes’ to continue with Uninstall and ‘OK’ when complete
How do I find the drivers on my computer?
Normally, you shouldn’t need to find the drivers on your computer, as they’re stored in many different places and exposed in several ways. The simplest approach is to open Device Manager, locate the device you’re interested in, and check the properties for that device. You’ll find the version of the driver software listed, as well as the location of the specific files.
Do I need to update drivers on my computer?
You generally do not need to update drivers on your computer unless you’re experiencing a problem for which drivers might be a solution or diagnostic step. Windows Update updates drivers for you automatically. Some hardware may include additional monitoring software that will either do the same, or notify you when an update is available.
How do I check if my drivers are up to date?
It’s surprisingly difficult to be sure if specific drivers are up to date. The best way is to let Windows Update check. For additional or more current updates, the most common solution is to visit the computer or manufacturer support website and manually look for updated drivers.
Do drivers update automatically?
Most device drivers will be updated automatically by Windows Update. Some hardware — most commonly hardware for which you had to separately install drivers — may include a utility of their own to automatically update drivers, or at least notify you that they are available. It’s rare these days, but there are occasionally devices for which drivers do not automatically update.
What happens if I update my graphics driver?
When you update a graphic driver (or a driver for any device), the software installed on your computer is replaced with the new version. The device may have to be restarted in order for the new drivers to take effect. In the case of graphics or video drivers, this can result in a momentary flash. In the case of network drivers, it can result in a brief drop of your connection. In rare cases, updating a driver will not be complete until your computer reboots.
What is the best software to update drivers?
The best software to update drivers is Windows itself, followed by the utilities provided by your computer’s manufacturer, and then any utilities or updates provided by the manufacturer of the specific hardware component. Third-party utilities that offer to check for driver updates are generally not a good idea because too many of them are ineffective or outright scams.
