There were driver update utilities on GOTD last week & today -- unfortunately the comments on the download page both days had a number of comments with misinformation. I'm hoping that this well help, both with understanding & setting the record straight...
Driver software is the go between that lets Windows [or another OS] talk to your hardware. In Windows drivers can also be used for a service, which may or may not be listed in the Services window you get to through Administrative Tools. Likewise you might not find them in Task Mgr.
Services can rely on software drivers for the same reason as mal-ware -- since Windows has to talk to your hardware to run, drivers are loaded first & always. That's also what can make drivers a huge PITA -- a bad driver or a driver that's conflicting with other software &/or drivers can kill Windows if it's loaded before Windows tries to start. You may not be able to get into Safe Mode, & any of the restore or repair techniques may or may not work -- the only fail-safe really is a full backup.
A backup can be doubly important as it can be difficult to get rid of a driver otherwise. Windows, or any software really, cannot ID your hardware for the most part. If a driver is installed for a different brand or model of a component than what's actually present, you'll need to correct it manually, though installing Windows fresh *may* fix it. And yes, sadly the wrong driver will sometimes install, so there's no real safeguard against it, other than knowing what components are used in your device.
[To update a driver manually follow the prompts in the update driver dialog, pointing it to the expanded driver files on your hard drive or USB stick etc. -- you'll want to expand the files in a .zip file you downloaded 1st.]
Often manufacturers will spell out that info, e.g. on a data sheet you might find alongside things like repair manuals online. Sometimes they'll spell it out as part of the sales promotion materials, & sometimes people will post what they find inside when they take the same make/model you have apart. If it's a desktop PC, you can usually remove the cover yourself to have a look -- components like the network chip will have the brand & model printed on the top of the chip for example. Building our own PCs, the 1st thing I do is write all that info down & stick it in the manual for the motherboard, before I start assembling anything.
If you've got a PC, laptop, or tablet that came loaded with Windows, it really doesn't take long to copy the info you'll find in Device Mgr. to a simple text file. Right click on a device, click properties, go to the drivers tab, & note who wrote the driver, & optionally the version number, date, &/or the files actually used. If the driver was written by Microsoft it's usually a part of Windows & you *probably* won't have to bother with it. If it was written by a company like Realtek, you now know where to look for drivers, & if what you find is newer that what you have.
Removing drivers... If a device is listed in Device Mgr, you can right click the device & select uninstall. Otherwise basically you have to identify which files a driver uses, & remove every reference to those files in the registry, remove the files themselves, remove the driver setup files from the FileRepository folder, & possibly remove the corresponding .inf file. Needless to say don't think about it unless you can restore a full image backup.
Now, should you or shouldn't you update the drivers for your device? There's not one hard & fast rule, & frankly it may depend on your personality type. Some people are more risk adverse than others, and some of those folks might prefer or value the safety of the known above all. And if you don't want &/or need to try & squeeze every bit of performance out of your device(s), that perfectly fine.
There's a chance that someday you'll have to try updating a driver or drivers to cure a problem with Windows, but the odds are against it. Windows is not a static environment, & sometimes updates etc. will break stuff, but by a sizable margin the odds say no, you'll be fine.
There are also more than plenty of folks with the attitude that the "grass is always greener", just like there are plenty who demand every ounce of performance they can ring out of their hardware. Potential fixes &/or improvements, including with newer driver versions, excite them. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either.
Both types [& all those in between] should know that writing driver software is specialized work that's expensive -- no one ever said I'm bored, so I think I'll write a new driver in the next couple of hours. Hardware drivers also require inside info on how the device works internally, so drivers aren't written without the manufacturer's help or participation. If a company releases a new driver version, there has to be a good reason for them to spend the money to create or write it.
That's not to say those reasons apply to you... They might have added recognition for a new model, & if you install it you won't receive any change. And/or they might have fixed something -- coders are human, therefore they screw up, & since companies rarely like to admit their people screwed up, you may never read about those fixes. Because of that change logs or notes *may* be meaningless. And sometimes driver developers figure out how to increase performance.
Since manufacturers paid for & own their driver software, they're often concerned, or maybe picky about how & if they're distributed. Rarely have they felt it in their interests to give everything to Microsoft to include in their Windows Update databases. Many don't release them for download at all, while others try to prevent downloads from any site but their own, & then they may intentionally or otherwise make it less than clear what hardware the drivers pertain to. The situation can get even murkier when a manufacturer alters &/or tries to improve on the drivers developed & supplied by component OEMs.
If a chip or chipset requires a driver, the company making that chip or chipset provides customers with reference designs for the circuit board & driver so they can test & use it. The companies selling finished products might use those reference designs as-is [e.g. graphics cards], or change them substantially. Reference drivers then may or may not work. A chip/chipset often remains current longer than a finished product that uses it, so reference drivers are often updated, while the company selling the finished product will rarely update anything once they no longer sell that product.
So if you look for a newer driver you'll most often find reference drivers, & those reference drivers may or may not work on your device. So let someone else test them & Google to see what they reported. That's not a bad idea even if/when you know the reference driver will work, because the same coders wrote it that wrote the original, so if the original was messed up, this version might be too, or maybe even be worse.
Microsoft would like you to think it's synonymous with trust. Part of their push involves driver signing &/or certification. Neither are absolutes. It's better to have drivers that are certified & signed, but Do Not believe that they're safe or compatible or even work well because they're certified or signed. The signing part has been beaten [a couple few ways] by those writing mal-ware, & the certified part means that they paid Microsoft to make sure it looks like they followed Microsoft's recommendations when writing their code. Take the same precautions whether a driver is signed or certified or neither.
If Microsoft update presents you with a driver, history over the past decade plus says don't accept it. Some of that may have changed with 10, or not. AMD & Intel provided new drivers for 10 pretty much exclusively via Windows update. Providing a full driverset via Update is a 1st for AMD -- having it available exclusively through Update is a 1st for Intel. The only thing that's clear is that you should do a complete backup 1st -- Nvidia graphics customers had a nasty time of it when Windows Update for 10 forced a bad Nvidia driver on them.
Driver utilities like Drive Booster may make the hunt for newer drivers easier. And/or you could try one of the driver sites. The pro is that they may have tracked down an updated driver that you might never have found on your own. The cons are that they may present an older driver as newer, they may present drivers that a manufacturer has not given permission to provide, & with some sites & apps you have to watch for ad-ware plus mal-ware. That said, the pro is strong enough that if you absolutely need a driver, you might not have much choice. It can sometimes help to Google on the download or the driver included in the download.
That all being said, you should be doing a full backup anyway, so making sure you have a good backup before updating a driver should not be a big deal. With apologies for maybe sounding crass, live with your lumps if you skip backing up because it's too much trouble. Likewise if you voluntarily install any driver without researching it 1st. I'm not saying you shouldn't as much as I'm saying if you take the risk, accept the results if they go against you. You took a gamble, you lost, move on.
OTOH if you're risk adverse, please live & let live.
To the doom sayers on the download page...
I've been involved in maintenance & repair for decades -- I don't have one pleasant memory or recollection of anyone saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Often they weren't risk adverse as much as work adverse, but that's another story for another time.
I believe that everything can be improved -- that nothing is perfect as it is. That doesn't mean I'm a perfectionist, but rather that in everything we do, we should always keep a part of our minds thinking on how we could do it better -- it's part of always doing the best you can, no matter what you're doing. If you don't agree, that's perfectly fine -- I have nothing to do with paying you -- but Please don't tell the rest of the world that they have to adopt your attitude.
If people want to try Driver Boost &/or DUMo, let them. Wanting more is natural, & that includes performance out of our laptops & PCs. If registry cleaners or PC tune-up apps make people happy, cool -- if they've got a full backup they can restore, they've nothing to lose. Not everything, even with aggressive marketing, is a scam, & even if it only helps via the placebo effect, what's wrong with that? The same goes for Driver Boost & DUMo -- if it helps, great, if not, enjoy your coffee or tea while your backup's restoring. The world goes on...
