If you’ve upgraded to Microsoft Vista, or you have purchased a new computer with Vista already pre-loaded, you may find a few features that can help you locate and download the drivers you’re looking for. Of course, you can also use the Driver Detective to find, download and keep the correct drivers for your system up-to-date.

Windows Update will allow you to automatically download and install updates to the operating system, as well as new drivers that may be available for your computer hardware. Some users are suspicious of automatic update, but unless you’re absolutely rigorous about checking on the update status of the operating system and your hardware drivers, Automatic Update can help you keep on top of the additions and changes to your operating system.

Old Drivers Can Cause Problems!

Missing and old drivers can cause problems with your computer. Sometimes, updates to the operating system inadvertently break existing drivers, too. If you’ve recently downloaded an update to Windows Vista and installed it, and later find that something isn’t working right on your computer, the first suspect in my book would be an out-of-date driver.

Automatic Update can help your computer find the driver updates it needs for your hardware, and again, if Automatic Update doesn’t find your driver problem, or you don’t want to use Automatic Update, Driver Detective is highly recommended to find and download the drivers your computer needs to work properly.

To set automatic update, go to Start > All Programs > Windows Update. Choose Change Settings, then look to see whether Install automatically (recommended) is checked.

You can choose to have Windows download and install the recommended updates, or notify you about the availability of updates. If you want Windows to locate and install the drivers for your system, check the box at the very bottom of the Windows Update panel under Recommended updates. If this box isn’t checked, Windows won’t download any new drivers it finds.

Again, some users are leery of allowing Windows to update itself automatically. If this sounds like you, check the “notify” option and allow Windows to inform you that new drivers are available. You can check them out yourself and download them if you think they’re necessary.

Installing drivers like this can be time-consuming, especially after a new service pack or security update has been installed. Driver Detective is a great option for managing all of your drivers. You can set up Driver Detective, and once it’s configured, it will do all the work when it comes to locating new and updated drivers for your system.

In either case, you’ll be surprised by how well the system works and how few interruptions you’ll experience when you have the correct drivers available!

Photo Credit: Konstantin Merenkov