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 What are Device Drivers and why do I need them for my computer?
Many people are unaware that you actually need
device drivers to run your computer smoothly. This could include display
drivers, network, audio, and chipset drivers. Every device that is on your
computer has a driver for it. Even a mouse, keyboard, and a monitor have
drivers, however windows usually installs those ones for us.
What is a Device Driver
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.
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Where to find your drivers
- 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.
- If you built the computer yourself, a
driver disk should have been supplied with your motherboard. Store this disk
in a safe place.
- 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.
- 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.
Browse Tips4pc.com for
more free computer help
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About the Author
Mitz Pantic wrote this article
and others for
http://www.tips4pc.com Browse Tips4pc.com for more articles
that are written in an easy to understand interface and FREE computer help.
You can also visit her
Australian Ebay store
Fantastic Bits 24_7.
This article is free to re-produce providing
that the author's bio is included and the website links are still
clickable...
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