Device Driver What is it?

A driver is a small software program that helps your computer identify and run particular types of hardware. You need drivers for onboard video, an agp video card, or even a usb storage device. When you purchase a new computer it should always come with a device driver or system disk and Windows usually takes care of the common and generic drivers.

Where to find your drivers

1.If you bought a computer but lost the driver disk. Drivers can be downloaded from manufacturer's websites for free as you already own their product. Like, Http://www.acer.com All you have to do is type in the model number and name of your computer. For Example: Acer desktop T310.

2.If you built the computer yourself, a driver disk should have been supplied with your motherboard. Store this disk in a safe place.

3.If you have a second hand computer with no disks and all components are onboard, then you must search for the motherboards model number in Google. However if you have a separate sound card, you need to find the device driver for its model number and not for onboard sound on the motherboard.
4.If you have a restoration disk for your computer then everything you need should be on that disk, including the operating system. It also doesn't hurt to ask for some free computer help from a friend.

Some Example of Devices that require drivers

* Monitors, keyboards, mouse
* Video cards, Sound Cards, PCI Cards
* Usb, Ethernet, modems, flash drives
* CD/DVD Roms
* And the list goes on....

Notes:

* If you upgrade your operating system from Windows XP to Vista, for example, you will need to upgrade your drivers as well. For a particular device there is sometimes 5 different versions, depending on the age of the device. A new modem would have drivers for Windows Xp and Windows Vista. They have phased out drivers for Windows 95, 98, and 2000.

Posting Id4_dani