How many Driver updates are available for your computer?

Compare Top 3 Driver Update Tools

1. Driver Detective (Tech Jocks Pick!)
2. Driver Genius
3. Driver Agent

Did your CD-ROM drive stop working? Is it time to upgrade to a rewritable drive? Either way, installing a CD-ROM on a computer isn’t as difficult as you might think.

In fact, if you’re comfortable with opening up your computer case, this is a do-it-yourself job!

But, before you run out and buy a replacement CD-ROM drive for your malfunctioning unity, do yourself a favor and download CD-ROM drivers first. You may be able to revive your failing drive with new drivers. By doing so, you’ll save the cost of a new drive and the efforts of installing it.

Why would a CD-ROM drive suddenly need you to download CD-ROM drivers? Device drivers, including CD drivers, can get damaged like any other file on your system. In fact, device drivers often include entire sets of related files including DLL files. If just one of these gets overwritten or damaged somehow, the device can fail or generate annoying errors. In addition, the manufacturer’s original driver may have bugs in it that have been fixed with recent driver updates. Because updates address known problems and oftentimes add functionality to the device, it’s best to download CD-ROM drivers rather than using the original installation disc.

To download CD-ROM drivers, you’ll need to know exactly what type of drive you have installed and then go to the manufacturer’s website to obtain the related driver. Use the Device Manager to identify your drive by going to Control Panel, clicking System, and then clicking Device Manager. Find the category called DVD/CD-ROM Drives and expand it by clicking the plus sign. Your CD-ROM device should be listed right there. Double-click and go to the Driver tab.
Here, you’ll see all of the pertinent details including the device name (in this case Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-K17A ATA device), driver provider, date, and version. Use this information to go to the manufacturer’s website in search of updated drivers. You can also click the Update Driver button to perform an automatic search. If you already have downloaded the drivers, use the Update Driver button to browse your computer for the downloaded CD-ROM driver.

Updating the driver can solve problems that you’re having with the device. The General tab also will help you in troubleshooting the CD-ROM. It may say that the device is disabled or that drivers are missing. Oftentimes, a button will appear that launches the Troubleshooting Wizard. This wizard will offer suggestions for troubleshooting the device.

What if you simply want to install a new CD-ROM? You can do so though it takes a little time. You may still need to download CD-ROM drivers or use the installation disc as part of the installation, especially if the drive is not Plug and Play.

Installing a new drive requires physically unplugging the PC from its power source along with all of its peripherals, removing the cover, sliding out the old drive, inserting the new drive, connecting the drive to the computer’s internal power supply, putting the computer back together, and then installing the device drivers. These drivers often come on a floppy disc. They are also sometimes preloaded with Windows. Once the installation is complete, everything should run smoothly.
However, if you find that the new driver isn’t giving you the results you expected and you want to revert to the old driver, once again, you can use Device Manager. Go into the Driver tab and click Roll Back Driver. This rolls back the changes you recently made.

Not all device drivers require going into Device Manager. Some are installed by Windows automatically; others are installed by an executable file. Whether you need to download CD-ROM drivers to troubleshoot a failing drive, update an existing drive, or as part of a new installation, knowing how to use Device Manager for this task helps. Once you know how to use Device Manager, you’ll find yourself coming back for routine tasks like updating your drivers periodically.

How many Driver updates are available for your computer?

Compare Top 3 Driver Update Tools

1. Driver Detective (Tech Jocks Pick!)
2. Driver Genius
3. Driver Agent

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:

http://www.microsoft.com/

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.

Check it out! - Quickly see how many Driver updates are available for your computer?

Updating Device Drivers

Computers need several basic things in order to function including power, an operating system, hardware, and software. In order for all of the operating system to know what’s installed in the machine and how to work with it, device drivers are required.

Each piece of hardware from keyboards to processors has device drivers which tell the operating system, “Here I am. This is what I can do. Here’s how to use me.”

But what if a device driver suddenly disappears? The operating system won’t know what to do. The device itself may be physically perfect but its means of communicating has been broken. Many computer users mistakenly think that the hardware is damaged and must be replaced. This isn’t always necessary. Instead, you can download device drivers to repair the communication problem and fix the hardware issue.

For example, if your sound card suddenly stops working, you may think you need to buy a new one. Sure, buying a new one could solve your problems but it’s the more expensive option. Before going to the expense and hassles of getting a new sound card, download device drivers first.

Manufacturers of hardware regularly release updated drivers for their products. They do this as they discover problems. For instance, a particular sound card may conflict with a certain brand of graphics card. When the manufacturer learns of this conflict, they then correct it and issue a new device driver. So, if you upgrade your graphics card to the one that has known issues with your sound card, you’ll find yourself with a malfunctioning sound card. By downloading the updated driver, you will solve your problem!

Now, think of this same scenario. What if you had downloaded the updated device driver long before upgrading your graphics card? You would have solved the problem before it ever had a chance to occur. For this reason, it’s smart to download device drivers as part of your regular computer maintenance routine. Not only can you repair existing problems, you can prevent future ones.

Where can you find device drivers? There are several ways to go about getting updated device drivers. One of the easiest ways is if your computer manufacturer has a portal for your particular model. Many manufacturers such as Toshiba and HP let you go to their website, select your computer model and operating system, and download device drivers specific to your system. With this option, you don’t have to know the individual hardware brands and models.

Another option is to go to the hardware device manufacturer’s website and search for updated device drivers for your device. This is tricky because you need to know exact details about your device including its current version information.

Microsoft’s website is also loaded with device drivers for various devices. If you’re not finding what you’re looking for on the manufacturer’s website, try Microsoft.

Whenever you download device drivers, you must also make sure to download the version designed for your operating system. With so many operating systems out there, a single device could have dozens of different options to choose from. For example, in Windows Vista alone, you may a choice of drivers for the 32-bit version of Vista or the 64-bit version. Downloading the driver for the 32-bit version of Vista Home Premium when you have the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium could make matters worse.

Several third party software companies make utilities that automate finding and updating device drivers for you. These work by scanning your hardware and identifying your devices. Once discovered, they refer back to their vast databases of updated device drivers. If the software finds an updated device driver, it will give you an option to update it. For a simple way to manage your device driver downloads, these utilities are a big help.

You can also do the same thing manually using Device Manager which comes built into Windows. Be warned that doing so is time-consuming and tedious. Device Manager has its place for the occasional update but for regular updates on all devices, this isn’t the most efficient option.

If you want to get the most out of your computer, plan to download device drivers for all of your devices periodically. You’ll solve current problems and prevent future ones.

• List of Driver Update Tools
• Recommended Driver Tool

How many Driver updates are available for your computer?

Compare Top 3 Driver Update Tools

1. Driver Detective (Tech Jocks Pick!)
2. Driver Genius
3. Driver Agent

We are going to look into this further but so far I dont see any higher than driver detective which claims over 200,000 drivers! As per your request we researched driver tools and posted desriptions with download links to 6 reputable device driver update systems.

UPDATED: May 9th, 2008

Actually Driver Detective has about 15,000 drivers in their hosted database (they only host the drivers if device manufacturer download speeds are too slow or if the manufacturer no longer hosts the device driver on their site) and over 1.4 million drivers referenced in their application. Really to the user this means at least 1,415,000 drivers. We also checked Touchstone and Radarsync driver products - they dont even come remotely close!! Our recommendation is to stick with Driver Detective for sure!