Late last week, ATI released updated Windows drivers for its Catalyst 10.1 HD2000 series and newer cards. The new drivers support Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The driver release is intended to resolve some issues with the way the drivers interact with other hardware and software uninstallers.

Video Playback Could Be Improved With New Driver

According to ATI, the new driver release will address a host of issues that arose from a variety of common actions, including playing YouTube videos using the Adobe Flash player on Firefox, and problems with video or system response while using certain games. The new drivers are available for immediate download.

ATI is one of the premiere video card manufacturers and it’s no surprise that these drivers contain a number of fixes for nagging issues. In addition to fixing problems, the driver updates also improve the performance of certain cards on specific games, like Left 4 Dead 2.

Not all Windows users are lucky enough to find driver updates so easily, however. For many users, the process of downloading and installing drivers manually is time-consuming and frustrating. Manufacturers often make several different updates available for either a variety of products or different configurations of the same or similar products.

New drivers may or may not be available based on the chipset that your computer or hardware device uses, and users may not know offhand which devices they have installed. This can be a recipe for disaster, or at least a lot of wasted time and poor outcomes. Downloading the wrong driver can be as bad as downloading no driver at all, or working with a damaged driver.

I always recommend working with a driver management software package like Driver Detective. Driver Detective has a database of millions of drivers and can determine precisely which drivers are required for your specific hardware configuration. You don’t have to worry about using the wrong drivers or missing a driver update.

Once Driver Detective is installed, you can trust it to monitor your existing drivers and look for updates. If an update is located, Driver Detective will automatically download it, install it and archive it.

The archiving feature is important because Driver Detective can also watch your system to make sure your existing drivers don’t get corrupted, damaged or deleted. Should this happen Driver Detective will download a fresh copy and you’ll be on your way! You can continue to hunt for new drivers, download them and install them as you always have, or you can automate the process and get back to work on the things that really mean something to you.

As for me, I’m going to try these new drivers on Left 4 Dead 2.

Photo Credit: Tom Francis, via Flickr