If you’re on the hunt for Windows drivers, either as a maintenance task or because you’re attempting to rebuild a non-functional (or malfunctioning) system, you’ll need to know some information about your computer and your installed hardware. But if you’re not familiar with the process, where do you find this information?

The Driver Hunt Starts With The Operating System

You’ll need to know a few critical pieces of information, which I’ve outlined here. Since this entry is written for beginners, some readers may take this information for granted, but the number of users who don’t really know much about their computers might actually surprise you.

First, know your manufacturer. Normally, this information is on the outside of the computer in the form of logos or labels. Was your computer made by Dell? Toshiba? Hewlett-Packard? Acer? Find the manufacturer and model information. You’ll need this if you’re looking for updated drivers from your hardware manufacturer.

Second, know your processor. What kind of processor do you have, and what is its speed? You may need to know whether your processor is a single core, dual core, quad core, etc. You can use the built-in Device Manager to tell you about your processor. The Device Manager is located in the Control Panel, which is accessed from the Start Menu. Within the Device Manager, you’ll see a special entry for Processors. Click on the arrow icon next to Processors to open up this section. You’ll find one entry for each processor core that’s installed on your computer. For example, if you have a dual core processor, you should see two entries in this section. The entries will also tell you what kind of processor is installed and its operating speed. That information may be important in the hunt for drivers.

Third, know your installed hardware. The “installed hardware” you’re most likely to have on a standard desktop or laptop configuration includes a video or graphics adapter, a network adapter, a mouse or other pointing device, (like a track pad), a keyboard, a sound card, and USB controllers of some sort. There are other “standard” hardware devices, but this gives you an idea of the basics. If your computer has a special purpose, you may have additional hardware installed that is unique to your needs. A laptop will also have batteries, and there will be some hardware and software used to manage the connection between the batteries and the computer.

Knowing who made your network adapter, for example, is a requirement for downloading new or updated drivers. Some manufacturers use a single type of adapter, while other manufacturers use whatever adapter happens to be available. Two computers that come off of the assembly line in succession may have different network adapters!

The “mix-and-match” nature of computer hardware is one primary reason I recommend Driver Detective. Driver Detective tracks the hardware you have installed on your computer, and locates the exact drivers you need for your hardware and operating system. You don’t have to fiddle with looking up model numbers on installed hardware. Driver Detective does this for you.

Millions of users have downloaded Driver Detective and use it to monitor and maintain their drivers. It saves work, and you can be sure that you get the drivers your computer needs as soon as they’re available.

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Windows 7 has been on the shelves for about a year and a half. Prior to that, Windows Vista was the current operating system. While Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a lot in common, not everything about the two operating systems is compatible. One of the standard pieces of troubleshooting advice for Windows 7 drivers is to look for a Windows Vista driver for the same piece of hardware. While that can work at times, there are instances where you’ll need to find a working Windows 7 driver to get the features and performance you’re looking for.

Same Idea, Different Operating Systems

Sometimes a driver made for Windows Vista will indeed perform well in Windows 7. And if you can find a Windows Vista driver for a piece of hardware, there’s at least a decent chance that your hardware will also have a Windows 7 driver available. That doesn’t always mean that the Windows Vista driver and the Windows 7 driver are interchangeable.

The best approach is always to look for the driver that was written for your operating system and for the specific version of your hardware device. Generic drivers for some pieces of hardware – like displays – may be helpful for initial setup or for troubleshooting purposes, but ideally you always want to use the latest driver that was designed for both your operating system and your device.

Failing that, you can look for older drivers, or drivers that were written for earlier versions of the OS or your device. They may not always work well or completely, but they may enable the functions you need.

Having said that, older or out-of-date versions of the operating system can cause problems, including device misbehavior and system crashes. If you begin to experience these symptoms when you use a particular device, or if your device begins to exhibit behavior it didn’t experience previously, your device driver could be at fault.

Go to the manufacturer Web site and download the current version of the driver. Reinstall your driver to see if that corrects the problem. The installation process should disable the existing driver. Even so, some users prefer to uninstall the old driver before installing the new one.

If this happens to you, first attempt to install the new driver. If you still experience problems, you can uninstall the old driver and re-install the new one.

As a long-term strategy, try a driver management software product I recommend: Driver Detective. Driver Detective manages all aspects of driver maintenance, from location to installation to backup and restoration. It takes the effort out of driver management and enables you to spend more time doing what you want to do on the computer. It can also reduce the number of driver-related problems you experience.

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You’ll be hearing a lot about Windows 8 in the coming weeks, largely because Microsoft has scheduled the consumer preview of its soon-to-be-released operating system on February 29. While the new operating system is designed to support mobile devices, the key to its success or failure will most likely (still) be third-party drivers.

Is Consumer Success For Windows 8 Critical?

Whether or not the consumer accepts Windows 8 depends largely upon how many of their current devices those consumers can take along for the ride. But even if an operating system isn’t a hit with the consumers, that doesn’t mean the OS will be labeled a flop.

Enterprise systems account for a significant portion of sales among the installed Windows user base, but enterprise licensing does come with some benefits that just aren’t available to consumers. Enterprise clients can choose which version of the Windows OS they use, so many enterprise license customers use that as a way to control, forestall or even avoid a particular version of the operating system.

Enterprise adoption of a Microsoft operating system typically lags behind the consumer migration, often by 18-24 months. In other words, many enterprises may just be ramping up a migration to Windows 7 – so a move to Windows 8 may not even be in the cards until 2014!

Does this deliberate approach to upgrading at the enterprise level interfere with the apparent success of an operating system? While analysts are sometimes quick to point out that Windows XP is still the reigning champion of installed Microsoft operating systems, enterprise IT professionals will readily admit that they have no plans to hold onto XP as their OS of choice.

More likely, the rapid upgrade pace of the Windows product line means that enterprise users may deliberately skip a revision level to suit their own internal needs. Many corporate users skipped the Windows Vista upgrade, largely because it was designed to appeal to consumers and didn’t play nice with the Windows Server 2003 that so many enterprise users had installed.

Will enterprise users skip Windows 7 in favor of Windows 8? Probably not, though Windows 8 will do a better job of supporting mobile computing than Windows 7 can currently pull off. Mobile computing is a consumer darling, but it has strong potential for the enterprise market as well. It’s a safe bet that both consumers and enterprise users will migrate to Windows 8. Eventually.

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If you’re starting to get interested in Windows 8, you’re not alone. The latest version of the Windows OS is getting a lot of publicity lately, mostly about its mobile-friendly designs. If that’s leaving you wondering about Windows 8′s desktop capabilities, fear not. Manufacturers will still make device drivers for your not-so-mobile desktop computer.

Windows 8 Isn’t Exclusively Mobile

Most of the press hype centers around Windows 8′s new mobile device capabilities, but you’ll still get a lot of use out of Windows 8 for your desktop setup. Windows 8 is designed – no doubt – to help users make the most of Windows on their mobile devices, though. Microsoft will be introducing a new mobile broadband framework that will help mobile users get connected to mobile broadband networks using one standard driver. By itself, that’s a big victory. Major mobile broadband hardware manufacturers have agreed to use Microsoft’s uniform driver, which should make connecting to mobile broadband networks a breeze.

It is safe to say that the writing is on the wall when it comes to mobile devices. Consumers love them, and there will certainly be more mobile computing in just about everyone’s future. While Windows 8 is getting prepared to deal with the onslaught of Windows mobile phones, tablet computers and laptops, the “traditional” computer setup will still be around. That means you’ll still see plenty of need for device drivers for these kinds of computer setups – and some mobile devices will also need device drivers, too.

It also means that Windows 8 will represent a significant change in the way the operating system works. It won’t be just an extension of Windows 7, and it does mean that some of your current hardware may not make the transition to Windows 8.

As in the past, Microsoft will carefully shepherd vendors through the process of creating and testing their hardware drivers, and making them available on D-Day, whenever that might be. Microsoft has not yet named a shelf-date for Windows 8, but it’s still rumored to be available for consumer release in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In the mean time, what should you do? It’s never a bad idea to make sure all of your device drivers are up-to-date. I normally use Driver Detective to manage all of my device drivers. Driver Detective seeks out, downloads and installs updates for the drivers that are installed on my computer. It also keeps a fresh copy of the current driver and allows me to roll back to an older version of a driver if an update doesn’t perform the way I think it should.

Driver Detective takes the work out of keeping your Windows hardware drivers up-to-date.

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