As a professional PC technician, I have to admit that I’ve spent hours searching for, downloading, installing and managing Windows drivers. I also have to say that I have better things to do with my time. Looking for Windows drivers isn’t fun. Sure, Windows says it can find drivers, and in some cases, that’s true. In many other cases, however, the search for a new driver begins and ends with the user rather than the OS.

Manufacturers Don’t Always Come Through

Hardware manufacturers are ultimately responsible for providing hardware drivers, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get much satisfaction from them. Manufacturers are notorious for dropping support for old (and not-so-old) devices, simply by not issuing new drivers for their existing hardware.

It’s frustrating for the user, but this is the manufacturers’ way of prodding users to buy newer hardware, even when the old hardware is working just fine. Windows 7 users may find themselves in a particular bind. They’ve upgraded their OS based on the positive reports from other users, only to discover that their hardware has been deemed “obsolete” by the manufacturer. Likewise, a manufacturer may never have issued a Vista driver based on the users’ “strong preferences for Windows XP.” The unavailability of a Vista driver might just be the best predictor of whether or not your device ends up on the long, slippery slope to oblivion. If a manufacturer hasn’t made a Vista driver, there’s a great chance that you won’t be seeing a Windows 7 driver, either.

You may still be able to find Windows drivers that will talk to your hardware, but the real value of having the right driver is that all of the device’s “built-in functions” will work. Without the correct driver, the device may have limited operating capabilities, or may not work at all.

If you’ve upgraded to Windows 7 and you can’t find a driver for your device inside the OS, the first place to check is with the device manufacturer. Some manufacturers have already identified the devices they support (or plan to support), so verify that your device is on the supported list.

If your device isn’t on the supported list for Windows 7, check the vendor’s site to see if they’ve issued a device driver for Vista. The Vista OS is remarkably compatible with Windows 7 in many areas, including hardware drivers. A Vista driver may work just fine with your Window 7 installation. Failing that, there is a possibility that a Windows XP driver will work. (You’ll need to watch out for 32-bit v 64-bit versions.) The XP driver is far less likely to be a perfect fit, though.

You can always do what I do, which is rely on Driver Detective to locate, download, install and manage drivers. It saves me a great deal of time, which makes Driver Detective worth its weight in gold.

Photo Credit: John Trainor, via Flickr

ATI has released new Catalyst 10.4 drivers designed to correct some issues including long load times and display issues that some users reported following the company’s last driver release. The new drivers are designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, though the company says that the latest hardware drivers will not work for netbooks manufactured by Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic.

Downloading Drivers Can Be A Hassle

Some users, notably gamers, reported problems with the company’s previous driver releases. Some issues included extended wait times and display glitches that caused the computer’s mouse to appear larger than normal on the screen. Users also reported problems with Adobe Flash Player and the driver’s support center. ATI made a portion of the new release available for download in April for users of the Radeon HD 5000 video card. The latest release covers the Radeon HD 2000, Radeon HD 3000 and Radeon HD 4000 series video cards. ATI had released the Catalyst 10.3 drivers in March.

Downloading the new drivers should improve performance on some specific games, most notably Bad Company 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky, Napoleon Total War and Shattered Horizon. Users can download the new drivers by visiting the ATI Web site.

Downloading and replacing drivers can be time consuming. For users who simply want to use their computers without spending a lot of time on maintenance, I recommend Driver Detective. Driver Detective is a driver management program that monitors the hardware drivers your computer has installed. On schedule, Driver Detective checks for new or updated drivers and if a new driver is located, Driver Detective downloads the new driver and installs it while maintaining a backup of the old driver.

Users never have to worry about their drivers being out of date. Driver Detective knows when new drivers are available and can also detect when an existing driver has gone bad or is missing. Driver Detective will download a fresh copy of the correct driver for your computer system and you’re good to go. It’s a great way to avoid problems that might otherwise be allowed to sneak up on your computer. Regular driver maintenance doesn’t get ignored and you avoid the hassles and headaches that old, bad, missing or incorrect drivers can cause.

Unlike Windows, Driver Detective doesn’t download the wrong driver and works hard to ensure that your computer always has fresh, functional copies of all of the hardware drivers you need to make your system run right.

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall, via Flickr

Windows 7 has been on the market for more than six months and to date, there are still no updated printer drivers for many older (and not-so-old) printer models. What gives? Why don’t the printer manufacturers produce the correct drivers? After all, how hard can it be?

So Many Printers, So Little Time

Essentially, printer manufacturers may paint themselves into a corner when it comes to hardware drivers for their product lines. Many printers have a number of model variations. For example, one printer may be designed to plug directly into a computer via the USB port, while another may be designed to plug into an Ethernet network. Although the printers are operationally very similar, the printers may require different drivers.

Multi-function devices (e.g., printer/scanner/copier/fax machines) fall into this category, too. These devices may require separate drivers (or sub-drivers) for each function, and getting all of the ducks in a row might be a very challenging operation. Still other printers are designed to work with PostScript, a printer description language made by Adobe, while other printers use a different description language.

Herein lies the challenge: printing has changed a lot over time but old printers soldier on. Printers have a mechanical life that may exceed the average life expectancy of a computer two or three times over. This means that a user may only replace a printer once every 10-15 years, while a computer may get replaced every three or four years. A printer may be mechanically sound but the manufacturer is much less pressured to create drivers for a 10-year-old printer than it is to create drivers for a printer that is currently on the store shelves.

Even printers that are just a few years old could wait indefinitely for driver rehab, if the manufacturer gets bogged down in testing the new driver for incompatibilities with a seemingly endless variety of other hardware and software combinations. Many printer manufacturers throw up their corporate hands and shuffle relatively new printers off to the “unsupported hardware” list.

Ultimately, the manufacturer is responsible for writing a compatible driver for each legacy piece of hardware they’ve built. In most cases, the manufacturer is the only one with enough knowledge about the device to concoct a stable, working driver.

Some manufacturers have modified their approach to writing drivers by attempting to write drivers generically enough to meet the needs of many of their models simultaneously. In other words, they attempt to write a “universal driver” for their models. This approach has some limited success but a universal driver can often shut out the specialty functions that may have made the printer attractive to the buyer in the first place.

If you’re still waiting for your driver update, the best approach is to contact the manufacturer to see if they have an estimate of when a driver will be available. Persistence never hurts, but ultimately, the task of driver creation is left to the device manufacturer.
Photo Credit: Meg Willis, via Flickr

Perhaps you’ve recently upgraded your operating system to Windows 7, or have come across some older hardware that you would like to use, but can’t find the right hardware driver for it. Locating drivers, especially for older hardware can be difficult and time-consuming – there’s no argument from me about that. But you can sometimes find the drivers you need to make your older hardware work just fine with your newer operating system.

Some Windows 7 Users May Be In Luck

For older hardware, finding the correct driver can be difficult. Many manufacturers have elected not to make drivers for Windows 7. That may not automatically mean that you’re out of luck if you’ve already upgraded your operating system to Windows 7.

There are significant similarities between Windows 7 and Windows Vista. If you can’t find a driver that was released for Windows 7, check to see if the manufacturer made a driver for Windows Vista. This doesn’t work in all cases, but often the Vista driver is sufficient for a Windows 7 installation. Be sure to pay attention to the 32-bit v. 64-bit designations. A driver that was designed to work with a 64-bit OS won’t make much headway with a 32-bit system, so don’t waste your time asking your 32-bit OS installation to figure out a 64-bit driver.

You may also find that the manufacturer has created a driver for a newer, similar product in its line. The newer driver may work with your older hardware, so it’s worth a shot if the alternative is getting rid of your older hardware.

Check the manufacturer’s Web site or technical support system to see if they recommend a solution for your problem. Hardware manufacturers aren’t notorious for being sympathetic to users of older hardware, unless the hardware is a specialty item. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get a lot of help from the manufacturer on this issue.

I always recommend that users load a driver management software package like Driver Detective. Driver Detective makes the process of locating, downloading, installing and backing up drivers much, much easier. Driver Detective will check for new drivers each time your computer connects to the Internet. You won’t have to go out looking for any drivers ever again. Simply let Driver Detective do the searching for you. You can also revert your system to an earlier configuration if you don’t like the way a driver performs. You’ll save yourself time in the long run and you can be sure that you’ll always have the most up-to-date drivers available.

Photo Credit: Image by Kevin Dooley under Creative Commons license