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Will my Driver Downloads work with Vista?
Whenever a new operating system is introduced, an inevitable problem crops up: your hardware doesn’t work. For example, if you recently upgraded to Vista, you may find that your trusty HP printer won’t print.
This is true of when upgrading an existing machine or buying a brand-new machine with Vista already installed.
The problem is most difficult for those who are upgrading their computer rather than those who are buying a new one off the shelf. Upgraders have far more hardware to find Vista drivers for than new purchasers. For example, the motherboard, video adapter, display adapter, CD and DVD-ROM drives, sound cards, hard disk, USB host controllers, keyboard, mouse, and every other piece of hardware must have compatible Vista drivers in order for the computer to run Vista.
Computer users who are buying a new machine have the basics already taken care of though they will likely run into issues with their peripherals like printers, scanners, digital cameras, and external storage devices.
For those who are considering upgrading to Vista, it’s critical that they thoroughly analyze their hardware for compatibility with Windows Vista and obtaining the required Vista drivers before doing so. Microsoft provides an upgrade advisor to help you determine if your computer is ready for Vista or not here:
This upgrade advisor scans your Windows XP computer and creates an inventory of your hardware and software as well as lists known compatibility issues and advice. Use this report to determine whether upgrading to Vista and getting the appropriate Vista drivers makes sense. In many cases, the hardware won’t have Vista drivers available and you will need to replace the device. Keep this in mind as the costs can add up quickly.
Device manufacturers have been releasing Vista drivers for their products so that users don’t necessarily have to go out and buy all new peripherals just because they bought a new Vista computer. If your peripherals don’t work when you install them on your new Vista computer, you’ll need to check to see if Vista drivers have been released yet.
For example, if you have an HP printer, go to HP’s website and search for updated drivers. When entering your search terms, try entering both your product name as well as Vista. Most manufacturers have specific areas dedicated to addressing Vista concerns.
Once you’ve found the device’s Vista drivers, download them and use Device Manager to install them on your Vista machine. Device Manager can be found under the System icon in Control Panel. It shows a list of all devices (except printers and scanners – those are listed in Control Panel). Double-click the device that you are upgrading to a Vista Driver and click on Update Driver. Browse the computer to the driver’s location and install it following the prompts that come up on the screen. Reboot the computer.
If you’re upgrading your XP machine to Vista, you should download the Vista drivers and burn them to CD so that you’ll have them available after you install the new operating system.
If your devices do not have updated Vista drivers, see if you can find out if the manufacturer intends to release any updates. On older products, they may not. You might be able to try a generic Vista driver and see if that works; otherwise, you’ll need to buy a new device.
When buying new devices, look for either the “Certified for Windows Vista” or “Works with Windows Vista” logos.
constant-content.com | April 7th, 2008
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