Driver Updates for a Laptop

12/29/12

[mdittmar]

Need some advice,have 7 drivers on my Laptop that could be updated,should I bother?

[Lou L]

Absolutely. It should be fast, painless, and will ensure devices continue to operate correctly.

[The Iceman Cometh]

If things are working well, leave it alone. Only upgrade if you are having issues or if the new driver has new features you find useful.

[mountainlion]

HP.com has the latest updates for their products along with lots of goodies. Cnet.com has lots of free stuff and almost anything you could ever need. Get a good antivirus program. Cnet has them.

[Blood of Tyrants]

You are an evil little person.

[RightOnline]

Your question was specifically about drivers. The simple and definitive answer is: Yes. Do it. Always keep your drivers current.

One handy tool you should download (free; www.download.com...the CNET site) is Belarc Advisor. It will take a heavy-duty “snapshot” of your entire system and display the results in a browser tab: hardware, software....versions, etc.; anything and everything you have on that system. It’s a wonderful tool and you can immediately check driver versions, firmware versions, etc. for your entire system. Windows update is fairly good at identifying available driver updates for your particular system (not perfect, but it’s still pretty good).

[mdittmar]

Just don't want to turn the Laptop into a paperweight,looks like most updates are for gamers or Windows 8 users.

I'm neither,but I like speed and up to date stuff on my Laptop.

[Kirkwood]

The driver updates may have nothing to do with your system or your use of the device. Find out what the upgrade does and act according to your needs. Not all new drivers are stable so you may want also wait a few months before installing. Be sure to keep the old drivers in case you need to roll back.

[jdsteel]

IF you have any programs that are illegal Belarc advisor will make sure they don't work anymore. So, use with caution if that is the case.

[mdittmar]

Thanks for the info.

[RightOnline]

No, it doesn’t. I’ve been using it for many years; never had a problem. It is not invasive; it “reports” only.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

If things are working well, leave it alone. Only upgrade if you are having issues or if the new driver has new features you find useful.

Exactly.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Updating drivers can possibly cause devices to NOT work.

[FredZarguna]

What’s an “illegal” program?

[GreyFriar]

Is on the special “back seat mother-in-law driver”? If so, it never needs updating.

[Springfield Reformer]

Ping for later

[waynesa98]

Updated drivers usually help resolve conflicts and can increase security. That said some will prevent you from booting normally. Always have the old driver handy. I use drivereasy, it will tell you what drivers are available. Not perfect, but quite good. On occasion you will need to manually install, and some special built drivers wont install.

[The Cajun]

I've only had one problem with driver updates on my wife's Win 7 machine.
It disallowed the Toshiba Bluetooth mouse from communicating.
Went back to the previous driver using touch pad.
Microsoft eventually fixed their screw up and was able to reload fixed driver with no further problems.
This was over a year ago.

[PAR35]

If the device works now one of two things will happen if you update.

1. The device will still work.

2. The device will stop working.

[mdittmar]

Guess that sums it up;)

Gonna error on the side of "the device will still work".

[The Iceman Cometh]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Updating drivers can possibly cause devices to NOT work.

Yep. I've screwed myself over and wasted hours fixing driver upgrades before.