Driver Detective » Windows Vista drivers

Avatron Releases AirDisplay Windows Driver For iPad

paul — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 07:00:15 +0000

Avatron Releases AirDisplay Windows Driver For iPad

If you have a Windows PC and and iPad, you may have spent some amount of time wishing you could connect the two. Thanks to Avatron and AirDisplay, an iPad app, now you can. AirDisplay has released a Windows driver for the iPad, which can turn the iPad into a wireless second display for your Windows-based PC.

Two Displays Are Better Than One!

The AirDisplay app was originally released for the Macintosh and enabled Mac users to use their iPad as a second, wireless display for Macintosh computer. The iPad functions as a second display. The Windows version of the driver hasn’t yet been deemed “ready for prime time,” but the display driver is in beta. Being able to use an iPad as a Windows display device isn’t new. MaxiVista, another iPad app, will allow you to do the same thing.

Chances are good that if you have an iPad, you also have at least a relatively up-to-date OS’s, but in case you don’t, AirDisplay won’t won’t work with a Windows dinosaur. Minimally, the app requires Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. On the plus side, if you’re running the 64-bit versions of Vista or Windows 7, you’re in luck. AirDisplay will support these operating modes. It can also support the 32-bit versions of these systems. The app supports only the 32-bit version of Windows XP.

The wireless connection between your PC and the iPad is Wi-Fi only. Once the driver and Air Display utility are installed on your computer, and the AirDisplay app is installed on the iPad, your iPad will appear as an extended display on your PC. Select it and you’re good to go.

The AirDisplay app probably isn’t the ideal choice for very heavy-duty display responsibilities. (In other words, don’t expect much if you’re planning to run Left4Dead 2 on it.) It can, however, act as a pretty good monitoring device for certain applications and utilities that you might want to run continuously, but not otherwise take up desktop real estate. It can also help you run apps that traditionally require two displays, like graphics programs and programming shells.

It’s also a fun way to get some extra cycles out of your iPad when it would otherwise just be sitting there. The app is low-cost – about $10 and is available through Apple’s iTunes app store. You can also download it from Avatron.

Photo Credit: Rego Korosi, via Flickr

Windows XP To Windows 7: Should You Make The Jump?

paul — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:42:19 +0000

Windows XP To Windows 7: Should You Make The Jump?

If you’re a Windows XP diehard, you’re probably not making any quick moves to update your operating system to Windows 7. Windows 7 hits the market on October 22, 2009. You may or may not realize that Windows XP hit the market on October 25, 2001. Eight years ago. Eight years is a long time to run an operating system. A lot of things change in eight years. If you decide to celebrate Windows XP’s birthday by retiring it, you’ll be in for some changes yourself.

You Can Still Use XP Drivers Virtually

First, there is no direct upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7. You’ll need to do a complete install, which means that you’ll need to back up all of your files and re-add them to your drive once your upgrade is done. You may also need to find and install new drivers for your hardware. That may not be the most pleasant task, but it doesn’t have to be difficult, either. You can manage all of your drivers with a third-party driver manager like Driver Detective. Driver Detective will locate all of the appropriate drivers, download them and install them. You don’t need to do anything. It will even take care of the drivers that are installed, and replace them if they get corrupted or go missing.

If you have Windows XP software that you don’t want to (or can’t) upgrade, you can still run it using Windows 7′s virtual XP environment. (As I said, some things have changed.) You can also still use the XP drivers in the virtual XP environment. Under the new license for Windows 7, you can purchase downgrade rights to Windows XP for a short period of time (about six months), after which, you won’t be able to purchase computers that come with XP loaded. You’ll also have to pay for the privilege of downgrading. Only certain premium editions of Windows 7 come with downgrade rights.

Sooner or later, (and sooner, if Microsoft has anything to say about it), Microsoft is going to drop support altogether for Windows XP. Once you start using Windows 7, you may find that it changes the way you think about XP. Windows 7 is more stable than Windows Vista and Microsoft has addressed some of the issues Vista users were most critical about. In short, Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should have (and could have) been. To borrow a phrase from a very old TV commercial: “Try it! You’ll like it!”
Photo Credit: Randen Pederson

The Hunt For Drivers Continues, Even With Windows Vista

paul — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:38:29 +0000

The Hunt For Drivers Continues, Even With Windows Vista

If you’ve been around computers for a long time, the prospect of an easy OS upgrade (or even an OS update) can seem grim. It’s a story heard ’round-the-world, so to speak, and it goes something like this: new OS doesn’t like old drivers. Another variation on the story is that an old piece of hardware that’s critical to the operation (or still in perfect working order or required for a legacy function) isn’t made anymore and there’s no driver support for the device beyond what the manufacturer abandoned, etc.

Missing Hardware Drivers Can Ruin Your Day
The lack of drivers could certainly ruin your day. Microsoft has received more than an earful of complaints regarding driver availability and driver quality and tried to build in an automated driver update process. The thinking was that whenever the OS updated, Windows would go out and find the right drivers and send them along to your OS.

Good thought. Bad execution. Many Windows users found that Windows was downloading the incorrect drivers, replacing drivers that didn’t need replacement, missing drivers that should have been passed along in the critical updates, and other driver mishaps. They also found out – often too late – that they didn’t know how to configure their computers correctly for the automatic updates to take place, and that the auto updates often slowed the computer down to a crawl at critical times, like shutdown. If that weren’t enough, many hardware vendors never released updated drivers after an OS update, leaving plenty of users sitting in the dust.

The result: users who were still unhappy about the driver situation in Windows on top of the same never-fully-addressed driver situation in Windows. Now, to be sure, the automatic updates work sometimes. Most computer users don’t want a computer that works sometimes, though. I know I don’t. Although computer techs don’t like to admit it, most computer users just want to sit down at their computers and work. They don’t want to worry about driver updates, or OS updates. They don’t even want to worry about their anti-virus updates!

For those users, one of the best solutions – at least in the foreseeable future – is a product like Driver Detective. It’s a top-selling driver manager that automatically finds, loads and checks the status of each driver each time the computer starts. Driver Detective will find missing and broken drivers, apply driver updates and generally keep things flowing smoothly. It’s ideal for the millions of users who just want their computers to work.

Photo Credit: Angie Lauw, via Flickr

Is Vista Microsoft’s “Do-Over?”

paul — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:17:23 +0000

For many Microsoft Windows users, Vista will fade into the obscurity reserved for other misbegotten products like Windows CE and ME. Good riddance to bad rubbish, right? Not so fast. The much-awaited Windows 7 is built on the Windows Vista chassis, and will likely be around for awhile. The biggest complaint that Microsoft heard regarding Vista was its lousy, mangled driver support for common hardware.

Microsoft Has Heard The Complaints About Drivers

Cynics may find this hard to believe, but Microsoft heard the complaints. As in, did something about them. Microsoft has toughened up its standards for hardware manufacturers. This stance should improve things not only for Windows 7 adopters, but also for Windows Vista users who won’t be upgrading right away. In order for manufacturers to keep their Vista-compatible logos, they’ll need to demonstrate that their drivers also work with Windows 7.

Microsoft is also spending its summer vacation cleaning up the drivers that will be released with Windows 7. Microsoft can’t afford two OS disasters in a row, and it’s going the extra mile to make sure Windows 7 doesn’t get clotheslined with the same issues that brought down Vista.

Microsoft thought enough of the development it put into Vista to rework it into Windows 7. Though few people have seen the actual product yet, the Windows 7 Release Candidate has been exceptionally stable – a considerable improvement over early Vista implementations. You won’t find a lot of new development in Windows 7, but you will find that many of the services Microsoft built into Vista have been improved.

The difference between Vista and Windows 7 reminds me of an adage an old teacher of mine used to drag out regularly. “If you can’t find the time to do a task correctly, how are you going to find the time to do it over?” Microsoft seems to have taken this to heart. Windows 7 is more than a “do-over” for Windows Vista. Provided that Windows 7 has learned to make nice in the networked environment, you can correctly think of it as a proper evolution of the operating system, though incrementally, it’s not a major shift from Windows Vista.

For its part, however, Microsoft must consider its user base and the costs they incur to upgrade to a new operating system. Many costly enterprise-level applications are at the center of a business. Expecting these businesses to chase after a half-baked OS at their own peril is asking too much. Hopefully, if a lesson has been learned in Redmond, it’s this: when you introduce a new OS, make sure it represents your “A-game.”

Photo Credit: Ernie Bello, via Flickr

Microsoft Releases Deployment Kit For Windows 7

paul — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:00:24 +0000

Microsoft Releases Deployment Kit For Windows 7

Microsoft released the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) Beta 2 this week, in another sign that the company is ramping up for the release of Windows 7. Earlier this week, the company squashed rumors that the OS was being released to manufacturers. In a statement, the company said that while it is eager to get the OS to manufacturers, final development work on the new OS has not yet concluded. A spokesperson for the company hinted that the RTM ship date for the OS could fall within the next two weeks.

The MDT is designed to help enterprise-level users deploy the new operating system. The MDT contains tools that standardize installations, verify the availability of compatible drivers, and supports automated deployment. The MDT supports the deployment of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. The toolkit is available at the Microsoft Web site.

For most small organizations and single users, the MDT won’t be of much use. The kit is meant to support a mass rollout of a Windows operating system. Organizations that use a uniform disk image, or that wish to do a complete, simultaneous rollout will get the most use out of the MDT.

The appearance of the MDT is more confirmation that Microsoft will meet its October 22 general availability release date. Although the kit is listed as beta software, enterprise level users will have time to familiarize themselves with the kit as they prepare their rollout plans. Microsoft may be somewhat disappointed by the tepid response that Windows 7 is expected to receive from the enterprise user community.

Most IT directors had no immediate plans to incorporate Windows 7 into their operating environment. Many IT directors cited lack of a compelling reason to upgrade and internal upgrade cycle conflicts as the primary reason for not pursuing an immediate upgrade to Windows 7. Most enterprise level users are expected to migrate to Windows 7 within 18-24 months of the OS’s October release.

Microsoft’s volume licensing program allows those users to load any Microsoft operating sytem they choose, including those that are no longer supported. Microsoft has said that it will drop downgrade installation rights for Windows XP approximately six months after Windows 7 is released.

Most enterprise level IT departments say they prefer Windows XP because it supports a wide range of hardware drivers and is exceptionally stable in a networked environment. Since the introduction of Windows Vista, the company has encountered strong resistance from users to its plans to drop Windows XP.

Photo Credit: Microsoft

Windows 7 Set For October 22 Release

paul — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:57:25 +0000

Windows 7 Set For October 22 Release

Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to release Windows 7 on October 22, and that final development on the product will come to a close by the end of July. Earlier, Microsoft had said that it was aiming for a Q4 release and indicated that Windows 7 would be on store shelves prior to the December holidays. For users who purchase a computer loaded with Windows Vista shortly before the Windows 7 release, Microsoft will offer either a free or low-cost upgrade to Windows 7. The company will also offer an upgrade path from Vista Home Premium. The company does not plan to offer an upgrade path from Vista Home Basic.

Windows 7 To Follow Vista’s Version Path

The company does plan to offer a number of Windows 7 versions, including Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate, taking essentially the same approach it did with Windows Vista. Drivers for Windows Vista should be largely compatible with Windows 7 but the availability of drivers for Windows Vista is still causing some headaches for Microsoft.

Driver Detective can help you manage your Windows drivers. The utility will locate, download and install the correct drivers for your installed hardware. This is a major improvement over Windows’ automatic install program, which often chooses the wrong driver for a piece of hardware. Driver Detective can work in conjunction with Windows Update, however, to ensure that you always have the latest drivers for your computer. Driver Detective will also ensure that you don’t miss critical driver updates, something that can happen with Windows Update.

Driver updates are monitored automatically as well. When a new driver is made available, Driver Detective will locate, download and install that, too. You never need to worry about your drivers being out-of-date. Driver Detective can also recognize those times when a correctly installed driver becomes corrupted, or is accidentally deleted. No worries. Driver Detective will find and replace the non-working or missing driver.

Knowing that your drivers are properly installed, functioning and up-to-date eliminates one potential problem spot for your computer. Having a reliable driver monitoring program can be especially helpful if you’re not technically savvy. Driver problems can occur as the result of a security or operating system update, incorrect driver selection, corruption or accidental deletion.

Driver Detective protects against all of these issues seamlessly. You’ll always have the most up-to-date drivers for your hardware. When problems do occur, you can quickly eliminate driver errors as the source. Consider Driver Detective to be low-cost, always-available technical support for your Windows computer.

Photo Credit: Daniel F. Pigatto

Better Performance From Vista? You Bet

paul — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:03:30 +0000

Better Performance From Vista? You Bet

There’s no way around the perception that computers slow down over time. Sometimes, the perception is real and sometimes, performance turns into a gray area. There’s no debate about the fact that users find a slow computer annoying, and yes, there are ways to get better performance from Vista.

If You’re Starting From Scratch…

Having a brand new computer is an advantage, and if your computer is just coming out of the box, you’d do well to spend a few minutes configuring the computer according to your needs and preferences, rather than leaving the configuration as-is by the manufacturer.

Generally speaking, new computers come with a lot of software, some of which you’re not going to use. These software packages are “freebies” that the vendor negotiated with the publisher, or that are demonstrations of software packages you may want. Before you start adding your own programs to the computer, take a good long look at exactly what’s already there. If you can’t ever envision yourself playing a certain game or using a specific utility, uninstall it. You’ll clear disk space and reduce the chance of conflict between the unwanted program and an application you do want.

Take a look at what’s configured to load automatically. Remove any startup items you won’t use every time you run the computer. This includes email and Web browsers, demonstration programs, or utilities that don’t fit your computer usage style. As a rule, don’t disable virus checkers, anti-spyware or anti-malware programs. These should run at startup and should remain operational whenever your computer is on. Remember to update these, or configure these programs to update automatically. Many A/V programs that come with a computer are subscription-based. You’ll need to pay for updates at some point. Don’t assume that because your A/V program was included on your computer’s hard disk, it’s being updated regularly. Chances are good that it’s not.

Don’t overlook the desktop theme. Some themes, particularly Aero (you know, the one with the semi-transparent window frames), are resource hogs. Aero and certain other themes will slow your computer down noticeably. Desktop backgrounds, depending upon their file type, can also slow down your computer’s performance. If your desktop background is a bitmap (.BMP) file, pick something different! Windows can handle .JPG background images, which are much less resource-intensive. If you’re truly worried about resource usage, switch to the Windows Classic theme to see if you get a performance boost.

Once your new computer is free from the programs you don’t want, add the extra hardware you may need or want. Be sure all of your hardware drivers are updated. Add your hardware items one-by-one and verify that your computer is operating properly before moving onto the next hardware piece. Last, add the programs you do want very judiciously.

Load only what you’re going to use, and don’t just reload old software; go out and find the program updates. As with hardware, load software one at a time and verify proper operation after each addition. Once your computer is configured, back up the system configuration including the registry and all drivers.

Photo Credit: Collin Allen

Driver Problems With Windows Vista

paul — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:56:47 +0000

Driver Problems With Windows Vista

If you’re new to Windows Vista, you may experience problems with your existing hardware or software. You may also experience problems with a wireless network. Some of these issues can be traced back to driver problems, and Windows has a number of known driver problems.

Meeting Driver Problems Head On

If you’re upgrading to Windows Vista and have a wireless network already in place, you may find that you need to download new wireless drivers for your computer. Often, you’ll need a driver that was made specifically for Windows Vista. You can find these at the Web site of the company that made your wireless network equipment. Driver Detective can also be configured to download and install all of the drivers you need for your wireless network connection. You can revert to older drivers if you need to for some reason, so you won’t lose anything by trying a new driver.

Windows Vista’s driver updating service doesn’t always load the correct driver. You may find that you have a video display from one manufacturer, and Windows Vista recommends that you use another driver from another manufacturer. My best advice: don’t do it unless the manufacturer for your specific equipment doesn’t have a driver specific to Windows Vista and you’re stuck for other options. If you find that a recommended driver doesn’t match your hardware, you can go to the manufacturer’s site to get the proper one. Again, Driver Detective will automate the process of finding the correct driver, downloading it and installing it.

Third-party software sometimes works. In the Windows arena, third-party tools have gotten a bad rap because some of these tools turn out to be malicious software. You can find good third-party products that will get your system running, but you’ll need to do some research on the third-party tool as well as the source you intend to download it from. Some sources are notoriously rife with malware. You can usually find information on good third-party tools versus malware by reading recommendations from other users. Before you download or install anything, make sure that your anti-virus and anti-malware software programs are up-to-date.

Finally, you may find that some of your “driver” problems are actually compatibility problems. You’re most likely to see this if you’re running old software on a new computer or new software on an old computer. This is very true with game software and game-related hardware. Check with the software publisher to see if there are updates or patches for your software (or your OS) that will help smooth out the interplay between the software and the OS.

Photo Credit: Ross Imlach

Device Not Working? Could Be A Driver Problem

paul — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:33:01 +0000

Driver Detective Will Retrieve Your Driver Updates

Things that work are nice, especially when it comes to computers. In the world of technology, however, that’s often not the case. Just when you think you have everything working properly, something breaks or stops working. As a technician, this is one of the most common problems I face. A user had a working device, and suddenly, the device stops working.
There are a number of explanations, but one of the first things I check is the device itself. I make certain that the device is properly connected to the computer, has power and appears to be ready to get to work. If there’s nothing obviously wrong with the device, and I can see the device in the computer’s file system, the next thing I look for is a driver update.

Windows Vista May Not Find Your Driver Updates

Windows Vista can automatically download and install OS updates. Most people configure Vista to do this and assume that they’re covered for important updates, including drivers. That’s not a good assumption. Windows will install important OS updates, but driver updates may or may not make Windows’ list of must-have updates.

You could download and install all of the “important” updates for your computer, and still end up with an outdated or incorrect driver. That’s because Windows distinguishes between “important” updates and “recommended” updates. If you want Windows to install the recommended updates in addition to the important ones, you’ll need to reconfigure Windows Update.

From the Start menu, choose All Programs > Windows Updates. From the left side of the window, choose “Change Settings.” Don’t get confused about the “Install updates automatically (recommended)” button. That doesn’t mean Windows Vista will install “recommended” updates. That’s Microsoft’s way of telling you that they recommend that you install updates automatically.

At the bottom of the control pane, there is a checkbox labeled “Include recommended updates when downloading, installing or notifying me about updates.” Activating this box will tell Windows Vista to include updates to the OS that are recommended but not considered important to every Windows Vista user.

Future updates will include all important and recommended updates, including any new drivers that your computer may need. If you’re unsure about allowing Windows Vista to download and install drivers automatically, you can also configure Windows Update to download updates, but ask first before installing anything. Driver Detective can also help you locate, install and manage all of your computer’s drivers seamlessly.

Photo Credit: Edward, via Flickr

Removing Old Drivers From Vista

paul — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:37:25 +0000

Removing Old Drivers From Vista

Windows Vista is the most modern operating system Microsoft has released. Having said that, Vista still must maintain compatibility with older applications and hardware. Over time, the authors of these legacy applications and older hardware may update their products or update drivers that may be needed to make their applications and hardware work with Windows Vista.

Windows Driver Secret

Once you install the upgraded driver, you may think that your problems have been solved. The new driver works, the hardware or software behaves like you think it should and life is good. (Except for one small detail that you may not even be aware of.)

Windows Vista keeps the old driver. On the surface, that may not seem like a dirty little secret, and if that’s the worst thing that Windows Vista does behind your back that’s probably OK. Unfortunately, a collection of old drivers can make life tough on your computer. The truly unfortunate thing is that “old driver problems” may not crop up right away, and it can become difficult to trace exactly what might be causing your troubles.
Fortunately, there are ways to manage your drivers, new and old. Driver Detective can automate the task of managing your drivers. It will search for and install new drivers, and remove old drivers so they’re not able to cause problems later on.

If you want to take a look at your collection of old drivers, Windows Vista gives you a way to do that. You’ll need to get to a command prompt to start.

From the Run box, type

devmgmt.msc

This will open the more user-friendly Device Manager. From the View menu, choose Show hidden devices. You’ll get an expandable tree-branch diagram showing the devices attached to the computer. Unused device drivers should be grayed out in the branch diagram.

Select the grayed out driver(s) and right click to pull up a contextual menu. You can either update the driver or uninstall the old driver. Before you decide that every hidden driver is unnecessary, understand that some hidden drivers belong to devices that you may plug into your computer only once in awhile. If you still plug the device in (could be a USB drive or a removable drive, a MP3 music player, etc.) you’ll want to keep the hidden driver! Using this method, old drivers can be safely uninstalled manually, preventing future problems and conflicts.