How to update drivers?

[Anfurnee]

How to update drivers?
I know this is probably an easy thing to do but I'm new to the PC world and still learning. Thank you all for your help.

[Miz]

My advice is that if everything is working to your satisfaction, leave well enough alone.

The only time I update drivers, or recommend that they be updated, is if the newer drivers for a component offer a new feature that is wanted or needed.

The best method is to find out the make and model of the component, then go to the manufacturer's web site to see if there are newer drivers available for that component.

That said, what components are you wanting to find updated drivers for?

[Anfurnee]

Originally Posted by Miz

That said, what components are you wanting to find updated drivers for?

I don't know.
How do I find out what drivers I have?
Why is there such a problem with updating drivers?
Now I don't want to do anything, since I know next to nothing about computers. But just in case I need the information for the furture, how do I go about finding out what drivers I have and updating them when needed not just to do it?
I have vista on a dell. thank you.

[giradman]

Originally Posted by Anfurnee

I don't know.
How do I find out what drivers I have?
Why is there such a problem with updating drivers?
Now I don't want to do anything, since I know next to nothing about computers. But just in case I need the information for the furture, how do I go about finding out what drivers I have and updating them when needed not just to do it?
I have vista on a dell. thank you.

Miz has already given you great advice, i.e. 'don't fix what is not broken!' - plus, since you state that you know next to nothing about computers, the statement 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' should be heeded -

I have a new Dell Latitude running VISTA - you can go to 'Device Manager' (right-click on 'Computer' in the Start menu, and select 'Manage') - in the console that opens, click on 'Device Manager' - a right panel should open showing your hardware - click & expand the + choice of interest; right-click on the specific piece of hardware & select properties.

There may be other ways to find your device drivers in VISTA, but I'm also 'new' to the OS and am still learning - and the laptop is working fine, so I've not changed any drivers -

[Miz]

Drivers are the software that allows the hardware...video card, sound card, network card, etc...to communicate with Windows. That's all drivers are. So if everything is working, the drivers and Windows are communicating just fine and there's no reason to change anything.

Sometimes a manufacturer...most often those who make video cards and sound cards...will come out with a new set of drivers that add some feature or other. If you're not into cutting edge games that require a lot of power and special features from the hardware, such driver "improvements" are seldom useful.

The problems arise if installing newer updated drivers goes wrong. If it does, that particular component won't play well with Windows anymore. In other words, if a sound card driver installation goes bad, the sound won't work anymore or if a video card driver installation goes bad, not only does it mess up the video (display on the monitor), it can also result in Windows not loading in normal mode until the problem is fixed.

You will run across people who tell you that you "must" update drivers every time the manufacturer comes out with a new version. Those are often the same people who post to a lot of computer help forums like this one because they've installed drivers, messed things up and can't get their computers working right again.

[Anfurnee]

Thanks for your help. I don't know a lot about computers but smart enough to learn when people tell me to leave things alone. I'm leaving the drivers alone.
It all started when I read an article about all the computer company's sending their brand new PC"s to their buyers with outdated drivers. It also said to check out your own PC drivers.
I also wanted to know how just in case I had to do something with the drivers.
Again thanks, Anfurnee