The only safe way to update drivers on Windows
Most of the time, you won't need to worry much about updating your computer's drivers. Except for some situations where it's necessary to install the latest hardware drivers - especially if you've recently started having a lot of problems and suspect that your laptop or computer is no longer working properly.
But to save time, most computer users resort to these programs that are widely available on the Internet and that claim to update the drivers to the latest version safely and easily.. and they may do so, but this is not the correct method that you should follow.
When you want to update your computer drivers , you should take it seriously because they are a performance factor. Therefore, we do not recommend using programs in this process as they may install an older version of the driver currently installed, or a version that is not compatible with the operating system. In general, such types of programs will not perform their service equally efficiently on all computers; they spoil more than they fix.
The only safe way to update the drivers is to go to the direct official source where you can download the latest version and install it yourself. It's not as difficult as you might imagine, so let's explain everything in detail from the following lines.
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First of all, it is important to know that installing the latest version of the drivers is not something that everyone should do, and there is no reason at all to care about installing the latest version. Even if the manufacturer provides a newer version, you may not notice the difference after the update.
So leave the drivers alone as long as your computer is working fine. In fact, we have already prepared an article on this very point, so I suggest you check it out if you are still not convinced. " When Should You Update Computer Drivers? "
But this does not mean that updating the drivers is unlikely and useless. If you are a fan of video games, for example, you will need to update the graphics card driver constantly to ensure the best graphics performance and reduce the problems that occur with modern games.
In other cases, it is necessary to update the definitions if the current version is causing problems with the computer or has a security flaw that puts your data at risk. Here are the safe ways to follow in such a situation.
First: Update the drivers through Windows Update
Perhaps many of its users do not know this, but the Windows system actually contains a utility to update basic computer definitions through the Windows Update service, which is basically designed to download and install all types of Windows updates that Microsoft releases continuously.
If you are using Windows 10 and it is discovered that there is an old version of one of the drivers installed, this service will take over the task of downloading and installing the new version automatically.
Even if you install a driver for a component connected to your device yourself, Windows will replace it with the latest version if available. But this does not apply to the graphics card driver - Windows recognizes that the graphics card is up to date through the manufacturer's utility that is installed by default on the device (we'll cover this point later).
On older versions of Windows like 7, 8, and 8.1, hardware drivers also appear in Windows Update but as an optional update. Meaning if you want one of the driver versions, you'll need to open Control Panel, go to Windows Update, and check for new updates. While on Windows 10, new updates are checked and installed automatically in the background.
In general, this is one of the safe ways to update drivers easily, but it is not practical and does not guarantee updating all the hardware components in the device, but rather the basic ones such as the sound card, network card, etc.
Second: Use official programs to update the graphics card
As we mentioned, if you are interested in running modern games and want to get the best possible experience and take advantage of the power of the graphics card used in your device, always make sure to install the latest version of the graphics card driver.
This is very easy to do through the control panel included with your graphics card driver. Nvidia, AMD, and even Intel all provide control panels that automatically search for the latest available version of the graphics card driver and install it without any complications.
All you have to do is launch the NVIDIA GeForce Experience, AMD Radeon Settings, or Intel Graphics Control Panel program - whichever one you have on your computer and can access it via a quick search in the Start menu. Then look for the "Check For Updates" button and click it to check for a new version of the graphics card driver and select Download to start the download.
Alternatively, you can also go directly to the official Nvidia , AMD or Intel website and download the latest driver compatible with your graphics card and install it manually.
See these topics: - " Update Nvidia graphics card driver - Update Intel graphics card driver "
Third: Use the manufacturer’s website to update the drivers.
For other driver updates, the only safe way to get the latest versions is to go directly to the manufacturer's website where you will find a dedicated page for your device that packs the latest version of all components individually such as the sound card driver, network card driver, BIOS driver or update ...etc.
If you're using a laptop, go to the manufacturer's website, whether it's Acer , ASUS , Dell , HP , Lenovo , MSI , Samsung , Toshiba , or Sony , type in your laptop model, and then press Enter to go to a single webpage with a long list of drivers that you can download. New versions of drivers are posted on this webpage when they're available, and you'll often see dates when each new version was released.
But if you are using a desktop computer, you should know what type and model of motherboard your device has and search for it on Google, and you will often find that the first search result is linked to the manufacturer's website such as ASUS or Gigabyte, so click on it to find the definitions of other components in their latest versions.
That's all, if you have any queries feel free to ask us through the comments below.