checking for driver updates

[prairie dog]

anyone know a good place to check for driver updates? Thanks


ps. i was told by an admin on MBAM forum to check MFG website for updates, but cant seem to find the site? Anyone have a link?

[kendall]

If you do a search of our forums for "driver backups" you will find several references. You can also always look here:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...ver-backup.htm

[prairie dog]

Thanks Kendall. Have you heard of Opendrivers.com? WOT gives it the green light

[MidnightCowboy]

I personally would not update any drivers without checking Google first for compatibility issues.

I was forced to reformat myself some time ago because of this very thing. Driver updates are a commercial industry in their own right. Even those which purport to be "free" will often sell your scan details (check the small print in their privacy policy if they have one!).

I've found the best policy is to only update those drivers which have known issues already, providing that the available evidence on the web says this is beneficial.

[kendall]

The driver that I am usually most concerned about is my video card driver; and that's only because I'm a gamer and many games require the most up to date video drivers. I seldom, if ever, worry about other types of driver updates.

Nvidia has a really cool app on their website that will scan your computer specifically for your video drivers and then tell you if there is a video driver update and tell you which one you need; then you can download it. For me, that's the way to go with driver updates--go to manufacturer's website if at all possible.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by kendall

For me, that's the way to go with driver updates--go to manufacturer's website if at all possible.

Yes, this is exactly right, not forgetting that many problems are cause by the use of third party drivers instead of the manufacturers own. Also, by following Kendall's advice you will normally get to see a change log explaining why the driver[s] have been updated. If the issue is limited [maybe a compatibility with other software] and not relevant to you then you can choose to ignore the update and stick with what you've got.

[prairie dog]

Thanks MC and kendall. Thats what I got from the MBAM forum as well. Always stick with manufactures website.

[jim]

Well I read this thread tonight and realised I hadn't checked my drivers for ages so went to nVidia site and did the automatic scan. It strongly recommended an update. Downloaded, installed - blank screen. Took a lot of sorting till I got everything back. (Good job I made a new restore point first). Then I found out my son had done exactly the same with the same results. No mention of this problem on any of their forums. Will be very wary of updating drivers in future.

[kendall]

Interesting. I did just what you did this past weekend (3-4 days ago) with no issues or problems.

However, you do point out an important issue--ALWAYS backup your system and your registry before doing any type of driver backup!

[jim]

Oh yes! Over the years have learned the "backup first" lesson well. (Still forgot and got caught sometimes though ). Anyway, they have responded to an email from me and are analyzing an "msinfo" file from my PC. Will post if anything interesting comes from it.