Important Tip: When Should You Update Your Computer Drivers?
| Important Tip: When Should You Update Your Computer Drivers? |
When should you update your computer drivers is a very important question. If we try to arrange the components of the computer according to their importance, the power supply should come first as it is responsible for supplying power to all the components of the computer. Then comes the operating system in second place, and in third place come the software drivers because they are what allow you to get the most out of all the components connected to the motherboard. In this article, we will tell you what a prominent role software drivers play and when you should update your computer drivers.
When should you update your computer drivers?
Before we answer the question of when you should update your computer drivers, let’s first explain what computer software drivers are in case you’re not familiar with them. What happens when you meet someone for the first time in your life at any occasion? You should introduce yourself to them, and they should introduce themselves to you, right? Well, drivers work as their name suggests, they are programs responsible for providing compatibility between software and hardware.
Without it, the operating system will not be able to recognize the hardware components and benefit from them or run them at their maximum capacity. To illustrate this with a simple example, buy a new graphics card such as the RTX 4060 or RTX 7700 for example, then install it in your device, and try to run any game, and you will be surprised that you are unable to run the game perfectly. This is because the operating system does not recognize the presence of the graphics card yet.
Fortunately, newer versions of Windows can automatically recognize most components and hardware that are connected to the motherboard or via USB ports. Windows will start searching for the appropriate drivers for your device components in Microsoft's database servers, downloading and identifying them automatically.
However, Microsoft's drivers are not the ideal source because they do not guarantee that you will find the best drivers for your components, and they may install some incorrect and incompatible drivers with your device. For example, they download the driver for the Radeon RX 7700 card even though you have a Radeon RX 7700 XT card, and thus the wrong "driver" will stand in your way to get the full benefit of your graphics card.
■ When should you update your computer drivers?
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| The importance of computer definitions and hardware parts |
So, in most cases, the basic Microsoft drivers will not be enough to get the full benefit of your computer's components. We have another very important example. If you try to connect a multi-function printer to your computer, Windows will start installing the drivers for that printer.
However, the only function you will get from the printer is to print papers only. If you want other functions of the printer such as scanning documents, you will not be able to achieve this unless you download the “printer driver” available on the official website of the printer manufacturer. So, in simple terms, the software driver for the printer you have is the only solution to operate it at its maximum capacity and benefit from all its functions.
If we talk about graphics cards, the drivers developed by companies such as NVIDIA, AMD and INTEL for graphics cards are responsible for improving the performance of modern games released on the market and ensuring their compatibility and perfect operation. Without these drivers, you may not be able to run the game well, or you may not be able to run the game at all.
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| When should you update your device drivers? |
Now we come to the most important part, which is the question of when you should update your computer drivers, and the answer to this question is very simple. Obviously, in order to take full advantage of your computer components, you will have to search for the drivers for your device components, download them, and install them manually. However, among all the computer components, the graphics card is the most important part of all, and you should take care to update it regularly and whenever a new update is available, especially if you are excited to try out the latest game titles that are released in the market.
Because it is so important to ensure your computer works perfectly with new games, companies like NVIDIA and AMD have started notifying you when a new driver is available via the graphics card software that comes with it, whether it is the NVIDIA GeForce App or AMD Adrenaline Edition. Once a new update is available, you may notice an exclamation mark () on the graphics card icon in the taskbar next to the clock and date. This is a notification from the company that a new driver is available for your card and you should download it. If you don’t see the exclamation mark, you may find a notification that a new driver is available in the main interface of the graphics card application once you open it.
Therefore, graphics card drivers ensure that you are able to run new games perfectly. Without them, you should expect to encounter many errors and performance issues. Sometimes, you may not be able to run the game at all. The same applies to all other components of the computer. When you start encountering strange problems that are difficult to explain or justify their causes, many error messages, and the inability to run some programs, then there may be new drivers required for your operating system that you should download manually, especially if you have disabled automatic updating of Windows drivers.
■ Don't give it more importance than it deserves.
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| How to download computer drivers |
That said, this doesn’t mean that you’ll have to check for new updates every hour or two. In fact, NVIDIA, AMD, and INTEL don’t release new drivers every day or every other day. They release new drivers when there’s a real need for them. In other words, in most cases, you’ll find a new driver available when a major game title is released. However, this isn’t a requirement. It’s possible for a major triple-A game to hit the market and the graphics card manufacturers to not release any new updates because they’re sure the current drivers are capable of running the game perfectly.
■ When should you update your computer drivers?
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| The best source to download your device drivers |
The most important question is where to get the new computer drivers from. Simply put, you should download the drivers from the official websites behind your computer components. If you own a LENOVO laptop, you should search for your laptop model on the LENOVO website and check the “Support” or “Download” window for any new drivers. Some companies also offer you an “Auto Download” tool that you can download and install on your device and it will search for new drivers available for your device and download and install them automatically.
The same goes for Dell, ASUS, MSI, Acer, Hp, etc. If you have an assembled computer, you should look for new drivers on the official website of the motherboard manufacturer in your computer.
Unfortunately, depending on the age of your device, manufacturers may stop supporting it if it is a few years old. In other words, you should not expect to find new drivers for your device after 5 years of its life because manufacturers start paying attention to newer devices. In that case, you should be satisfied with the latest updates available on the device page on the manufacturer’s website.
However, you can also check for new drivers for your device using the external programs we talked about in the article The best programs to update computer drivers online and offline . Programs like Driver Booster and Ashamoo Driver Updater will help you update your device drivers. But when it comes to the graphics card specifically, you should download the new driver regularly from the website of the graphics processor or graphics card manufacturer - they are both the same.
In conclusion, computer drivers are very necessary to ensure that modern programs and applications run perfectly. The good news is that Microsoft is doing a good job of automatically providing the new drivers required for hardware compatibility with the motherboard and Windows. But there is no guarantee that it can provide all the drivers required for your device perfectly. So, when should you update computer drivers, you wonder? Whenever you encounter problems or errors that you cannot explain or justify their causes, there is likely a new driver available for some of your components that must be downloaded and installed to provide optimal compatibility.