best free driver updater

[seajay]

I use driver max but don't know of any others?

[Anupam]

Came across Device Doctor while browsing a download site. The product is fairly new though, and did not had much comments.

A word of advice. It is recommended to download the drivers from the hardware manufacturer's site only. Updates from other sites can lead to undesirable results. So, please use caution when using driver update softwares, or downloading drivers from other sites. Take system restore points before you perform a driver update... to be sure, in case of any problem you can roll back to the previous state.

[bob2345]

3DP Chip and 3DP Net seem to be good as well.

[BuzyBee]

Originally Posted by seajay

I use driver max but don't know of any others?

Would not recommend free version of this software. Only gives you unsigned drivers and its update results are not too reliable.

[Mobidoy]

I am looking for the same thing but, would need to be more user friendly so, probably need a paid version.

The thing is, I have many family/friends who rely on me for anything related to their computer so, I often get there and with usual maintenance and scans, I need to update numerous drivers (now I know why your Call Of Duty 26 is so slow, your video driver is date in 1932) so, something that would automated the process has I would not rely on them to get the proper driver would be more appropriated, if they are willing to pay.

So, any suggestion ?

Thanks

PS: Think of 32 and 64 bits, from xp up to Win 7

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Mobidoy

I am looking for the same thing but, would need to be more user friendly so, probably need a paid version.

If you are looking for a commercial software, you are in the wrong place, because our forum and site is about freeware only. We can only suggest free software here.

Also, as I said earlier, only update the drivers, when its required. Blindly updating all drivers is not recommended, as it can lead to problems. It is also advised to download drivers from the hardware manufacturer's site only, because its where you will get reliable downloads, and the latest versions. In most cases, you won't need to look elsewhere.

[George]

I use drivermax free edition to get a list of drivers that drivermax thinks are outdated. If there is a device in that list that I think could perform better on my system I visit that manufacturers site to get an original download to install. I just feel better when I do it by myself.

However, I used the drivermax free edition update feature on a secondary computer. It always worked great. Most of the updates were ok. When I updated the bluetooth driver using drivermax, none of my bluetooth devices worked anymore. I then used drivermax's revert function to switch back to the previous driver and that also went like a breeze. So I never had any complaints with drivermax free edition.

[jstkel]

I too had the exact same response, sadly it was the bluetooth I tried updating first, I actually had to go back and do some reformatting because it was so messed up. I didn't want to play around all night as I've done before so that was that. However Driver Max does seem like the most preferrable if everything else is working. I too tried Device Doctor today. It only showed me needing ONE update for drivers and I so know better...it's pretty new I think i will wait.
One other program that I found thats kind of cool is software informer or something like that, it checks programs and is very informative though a bit complicated for the average joe or jill....
My first post here so please excuse any inappropriate lingo.
Am from Corvallis OR. Hello all.