If you notice that you’re suddenly having problems with your computer, especially when you connect with a piece of hardware that’s attached to your computer, you could be experiencing a Windows driver problem.

Driver Problems Come In Many Shapes And Sizes

Drivers are files, so they’re subject to the same limitations that other files are. They can get corrupted, misplaced or deleted. When this happens, the computer is unable to access the related hardware properly. A corrupted driver may partially function, which will cause your hardware (or your computer) to behave erratically when you try to use the device. In other cases, the corrupted driver won’t work at all, meaning that you have no access to your device.

Driver problems can also occur when you install system updates that overwrite a portion of the driver software, or that don’t interact properly with your old driver. In this case, the driver usually stops functioning altogether. Attempts to access the driver can cause the computer to freeze or crash.

Last but not least, manufacturers may issue new drivers to correct problems with an existing driver, enable new functions, or improve compatibility with the operating system. You may not notice any behavior problems with your device or computer, but you won’t have the benefit of the updates, either.

In the distant past, users were responsible for locating, downloading and installing the correct driver for their hardware. Windows came with a few “generic” drivers for required hardware like displays, mice and keyboards. More recently, Windows has been redesigned to locate and install driver updates, and comes with a large collection of drivers.

Unfortunately, these additions don’t reduce the amount of time it takes to do driver maintenance. Sometimes, Windows doesn’t have the updated driver, or doesn’t know about it. Windows also occasionally downloads and installs the wrong driver for your hardware. (This can cause a number of problems for you, including functions that don’t work or devices that are inaccessible.)

When this happens, you can plan to spend extra time troubleshooting the problem, locating the correct driver, uninstalling the wrong driver, and installing the correct driver. Doing driver maintenance is an unpleasant prospect, to say the least.

I have turned all of my driver maintenance tasks over to Driver Detective. Driver Detective locates, downloads, installs and backs up the correct driver for your device. Driver Detective also monitors the operation of your drivers and replaces drivers that have gotten corrupted or gone missing. Once Driver Detective is configured, you don’t have to do anything except enjoy working on a well-maintained computer.

Photo Credit: jaqian, via Flickr