What is a Device Driver?

A device driver, also known as a computer driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer. It simplifies programming by acting as translator between a hardware device and the applications or operating systems that use it.

A driver typically communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a calling program invokes a routine in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device. Once the device sends data back to the driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program. Drivers are hardware-dependent and operating-system-specific.

Why do I need to keep my device drivers updated?

If you have a computer that is at least a few months old, chances are you might be having drivers dating back to the time of manufacture of your computer hardware or much earlier. Critical drivers like audio drivers and video drivers, may require the latest updates to address various glitches, bugs, performance and other reliability issues.

With older drivers, there is always the question of reliability and its failure to keep up with the expected performance levels. This is one of the main reasons why computer hardware and device manufacturers keep releasing updates to the original device drivers, so you can make the best of your computer hardware and not have to worry about the reliability.

Older computer devices can experience a fresh lease of life with the latest device drivers; making sure the hardware performs to the expected levels.

With today's computer hardware progressing rapidly and offering supreme capabilities, you might also find that your drivers are too old to enable useful features on various hardware devices.

Therefore, to make sure your computer hardware components are operating smoothly and deliver the performance expected from them, it is essential that you update your computer drivers to the latest versions available from various computer hardware manufacturers.

How do driver updates help the computer?

1. Fix bugs and other known issues with older drivers
2. Address reliability related issues
3. Enhance the performance of the device
4. Unlock and make use of specialized features supported by the hardware
5. Support newer hardware and software available today
6. Compatibility with newer Operating Systems

The Windows operating system tells me that my drivers are up to date, so how come Driver Reviver still lists driver updates for my computer?

Windows primarily works with a driver database that is a collection of original drivers released by various computer hardware manufacturers. They are the initial releases of drivers that pass the WHQL Testing and are certified for Windows.

As the testing and certification process is stringent and time consuming, most hardware manufacturers choose to release drivers updates directly off their websites. However, manufacturers of critical hardware components like CPUs and video card, also choose to send in their driver updates to Microsoft for testing and certification purposes. While this only accounts for a small percentage of driver updates being made available through Windows, the majority of driver updates, across various computer hardware and devices are not offered to the users by the Windows operating system.

On the other hand, Driver Reviver connects to an ever-growing driver updates database that is directly sourced from various computer hardware manufacturers, thereby ensuring that you receive all the updates you need, as and when they are released by the respective manufacturers. No speculations, no waiting times, just follow the 3 step process to scan, download and update your drivers!

If you have any other other questions or concerns, please get in touch with us.

The ReviverSoft Team