driver updates.

[mbam daz.]

Hello,

just a question regarding device drivers.

is it absolutely essential that these are updated?

I know its a strange thing to ask but if the physical state of your computer hardware doesnt change then why update the drivers.?

I bought a brand new laptop about 3 months ago and it works fine.I make no changes to the hardware at all so why do i need to update drivers.?

Personally i dont trust 3rd party driver installation software,i would sooner use the manufacturers website to update if i have to at all.

The best program wpuld seem to be drivermax although again i dont trust these programs.

"if it isnt broken then why try to fix it!!"

many kind regards.

[CWB]

does this have anything to do with your "my comp won't see the keyboard and mouse" topic ?

in some cases the driver updates are for security hole plugging and actual compatibility/performance issues .

in all cases though ... the BIOS is the last thing you ever want to think about "flashing/updating" . it is a last resort for the average user .

in my opinion , this is the one area that "if it aint broke ..." applies readily .

[mbam daz.]

hi CWB,

yes lol they are very much related.

i have two laptops one 64-bit and the 32-bit machine.

I used drivermax and installed a logitech driver and an adapter driver and now the mouse and keyboard wont work.

So much for trying to do the right thing,I can see a re-install of windows happening.

if i could bypass the login screen i would be fine.

many thanks to you.

[DarkSnakeKobra]

I would only check the vendors site for driver updates. DriverMax screwed up my system so I don't trust it. Plus only 2 drivers per day for free edition(added). If you have a dell, you're in bad luck. They rarely update them.

Edit: If you can, pull it in safe mode and open Device Manager then try and roll back the driver to the previous version.

[Alex_computer]

I've used DriverMax a couple of times and everything has worked fine for me. You just have to make sure that you only download and install the drivers that are Digitally Signed by the makers.

[DarkSnakeKobra]

True. Didn't know much back then. Probably would be fine now.

[mbam daz.]

Hello

yeah i only install digitally signed drivers.But i have heard from various sources regarding drivermax that even those cant be trusted.

I have been lucky with drivermax so far in regards to my 64-bit computer but im going to just use the vendors website from now on.

personally i dont trust 3rd party driver software.

im only going to install drivers when absolutely needed.

Im re=installing windows on the 32-bit as i cant think of any other way around.

many thanks.

[DarkSnakeKobra]

You're welcome.

[CWB]

to add to this :

i have found logibleck stuff to be *sort-of* sketchy .

as for driver updates (et al) ... the driver update in windows updates will pretty much take care of what needs to be done .

i do manually check for updates to applications not covered by going to the manufacturers site .

as was mentioned ... i have seen those "ohhhh pleeease let us update for you" programs cause more harm than good .

ps ... along the lines of superfluous software and smooth/fast running of a machine :

one should take a hard look at what is really needed ... i have used whiz-bang keyboards (etc) and found them to really not do much other than add more load on the wagon .

i can open my own email , adjust my volume , etc ... by opening the panel for each of those functions .

take a look at task manager ... it will show how much ram/cpu is used by some of those cutesy programs .

most of this stuff is "eye-candy" and can fall into the "WOW" category (wonder if it works) .

[Haider]

Im re=installing windows on the 32-bit as i cant think of any other way around

You could have avoided a reinstall, had you followed this post

[Jagst3r15]

daz, you should really only update drivers from either the windows update or by downloading them manually from your pc manufacturers website...I personally try to avoid driver updates for large scale things unless something is really wrong with my computer (i.e. I install the updates for Dell QuickSet, but usually avoid Chipset updates if I am not having any issues). It is indeed tempting to update all the drivers, but I go by the simple motto "if it ain't broke, it don't need fixin'."

~I hope you have fixed your problem

P.S. I read all the posts and some of what I said may be repetitive, but just wanted to give my input

[AdvancedSetup]

I would highly suggest not downloading or using hardware driver updates from the Microsoft Update site myself unless you're very certain of what you're doing. They often have the wrong or old driver that they will install and it will end up causing more trouble.

If Microsoft offers a driver and you're not certain then check the MFG site for an update instead or ignore it. If you're not experiencing any issue and it's not security related then ignore it or check with the MFG.

[Jagst3r15]

Ah, sorry AdvancedSetup I wasn't aware of this (not that I use the Windows Update method for updating drivers, it was suggested to me on the Dell website -- which is to say that they are usually wrong ). Either way though, it's probably a good idea not to update a driver unless you absolutely have to I suppose

[AdvancedSetup]

Nothing to be sorry for or apologize for at all

I was just posting to make sure that others reading don't try driver updates from Microsoft as it often can cause issues, and yes, unless it's a security issue - no sense in doing a driver update if you're happy with how your computer is working.

Though often drivers are updated to improve performance or correct bugs - so that is not to say that all driver updates are bad, just that if you're not experienced, sometimes driver updates can be problematic and if you're not experienced it might be difficult to undo the damage if the update does go wrong.

[screen317]

I ensure that things like my video card's driver are up to date, since nVIDIA releases technological improvements for (I think) all of their cards all the time. Other things such as my network card I also keep up to date. Everything else is hit or miss. Depends on what I need at the time and if a particular device is failing, since often driver updates are bug fixes as well.

[mbam daz.]

Hi

i often find that windows itself does indicate when a device is not working properly notably with an exclamation mark and does give the opportunity to update the device driver in device manager.

Im a bit weary of updating them especially on the 64-bit machine which is fairly new.

Sometimes you have to take a chance in life and ive been fairly lucky so far but the next update may kill my machine.

"if it isnt broke theres no way in hell im fixing it !!"

many thanks.

[DarkSnakeKobra]

I usually only install a Linksys driver(old PCI card that still works good) to avoid using the disc(have several cards).

[CWB]

""if it isnt broke theres no way in hell im fixing it !!"

good idea .

something you might want to print and hang on the wall :

"yessir , he done engineered it right off the air"