In the past decade, hackers and malware engineers have used Windows drivers as an attack vector against the Windows operating system. By exploiting some weaknesses in the OS design, and other weaknesses in the implementation of Windows drivers, malware engineers have been able to defeat security measures designed to prevent or limit the damage a malware infection can do.

Windows 7 First To Require Signed Drivers

As one way to address this issue, Microsoft began to require the use of digitally signed drivers when it introduced Windows 7. A digitally signed driver identifies the author of the driver and generally “vouches” for the source code as being authentic. Sounds like a good way to ensure that only legitimate drivers are installed, but there are two ways around the signed driver issue.

First, users can load unsigned drivers but must agree to do this at boot time. This means each time the OS loads and encounters an unsigned driver, the user must authorize the installation of the unsigned driver. The boot process stops until the authorization is received. Naturally, this gets to be a pain pretty quickly, but it does draw attention to the fact that the user is authorizing potentially unsafe behavior.

There are also some “non-standard” ways to self-sign a driver that will satisfy the Windows UAC complaints regarding unsigned drivers, but we will not address that here. Again, the fact that a user “self-signs” the driver is a good indicator that the action is risky and should only be attempted if the driver software is known to be good, and has not been violated or corrupted by malware.

Second, malware engineers can “hijack” signed drivers, which is what’s happened in the case of Stuxnet. Stuxnet, as you recall, is a worm that uses a stolen driver authorization and has the ability to fool both system software and anti-virus software. The target of Stuxnet isn’t your PC at home, though this worm might indeed infect your computer. As of now, the true target of Stuxnet is thought to be major infrastructure systems like power plants and other industrial targets.

Don’t get too comfortable with Stuxnet, though. While your computer probably isn’t running a nuclear power plant or controlling traffic lights, Stuxnet is also a “proof-of-concept” for other malware authors who have a different set of goals in mind for your unused processor cycles. The issue of stolen driver signatures must be addressed in current and future versions of Windows because clearly, relying on the presence or absence of a digital signature on a Windows driver is simply not enough.

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As a technician, I can say that the most valuable tool I have is my time. Most computer problems aren’t easy to solve, if only because it takes time to figure out what’s going on with a computer. The actual problem may be simple, or the solution may take no more than a minute or two to apply, but getting to the point where you know what’s wrong can take a lot of mental effort. That’s why I appreciate time-saving tools like virus scanners, defragmenters and driver management software. Driver Detective is the driver management software package I use and recommend.

Driver Detective Does What You Don’t Have Time To Do

Driver Detective saves me a lot of time. Whether I’m troubleshooting a driver problem or just performing routine maintenance, I need to spend some amount of time with the computer. With Driver Detective, however, I don’t need to check on the status of the installed drivers, because Driver Detective does that for me.

I don’t need to figure out whether a driver has gotten corrupted or deleted because Driver Detective watches the installed drivers and can tell me whether something has gone wrong. I don’t need to spend even one minute going out to a manufacturer’s Web site and checking for driver updates because Driver Detective does that, too. When a driver update is released, Driver Detective automatically downloads it and installs it.

I don’t need to back up a copy of the installed driver because Driver Detective will take care of that for me. I also don’t need to back up the registry before I install a new driver because Driver Detective has that covered, too. In fact, I don’t even need to install new driver updates because once again, Driver Detective takes care of that.

If you’ve ever performed these steps manually, you already know how much a driver management program like Driver Detective can help. If you’ve never downloaded drivers for your hardware, I invite you to spend an afternoon searching for the correct drivers for your hardware, downloading them, and installing them. It’s not fun, but it is time-consuming. You also run the risk that one or more of your driver downloads will goof up something else on your computer. Then you can have the experience of rolling back a driver update and restoring the backup copy of your registry. (You did remember to back up the registry, didn’t you?)

After spending an afternoon on this little project, you’ll understand why I like, use and recommend Driver Detective.

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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.

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Looking for Windows drivers can be about as fun as looking for your car keys when you’re late for work. It can also seem a lot like searching the desert for water. If you’re lucky, you might find it, and if you fail, you may be in big trouble.

Drivers Abound, Just Not Always In The Right Places

Windows drivers are available by the millions. That’s right; over time, there have been literally millions of hardware drivers written for the Windows operating system. That’s because there have been millions of peripherals designed to work with windows. Everything, from printers to keyboards to specialized hardware, requires a driver to allow the hardware to communicate with the computer.

Drivers don’t just happen and Microsoft isn’t responsible for writing drivers; hardware manufacturers are. When hardware manufacturers don’t write updated drivers, they’re essentially walking away from one of their products. Without a driver, the hardware won’t work properly, if at all. Older drivers might suffice, but chances are good that when an operating system changes radically – like the difference between Windows XP and Windows 7 is – there’s a good bet that a new driver is in order.

There’s no income involved for the manufacturer in writing a new driver for old hardware. Drivers are given away at no cost. Ongoing driver support represents the commitment a company makes to a hardware product, as well as an acknowledgment by the company that hardware can function admirably well past the manufacturer’s desire to continue supporting it.

Many peripheral manufacturers took a flyer on writing drivers for Vista, largely because Vista wasn’t a big commercial success. That approach is now causing problems for consumers who want to upgrade to Windows 7, and who still want to use their older hardware. Many manufacturers haven’t done the legwork needed to write a Vista driver, and the absence of a Vista driver significantly lessens the chance that a Windows 7 driver will be forthcoming.

For its part, Microsoft attempted to head off this problem by including a virtualization mode in Windows 7 that will enable the computer to run Windows XP. In virtual XP mode, the old XP drivers will still work. Unfortunately, the computer’s BIOS must support virtualization – a trick that many aging computers don’t.

If you’ve got an older piece of hardware that you don’t want to – or can’t – replace, and your computer can run Windows XP virtually, you can still access your older hardware and enjoy the benefits of Windows 7. (Just not simultaneously.)

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