What are drivers?
Every computer has two components: the software and the hardware. Hardware is the physical components of your computer that you can hold in your hand. The motherboard, RAM, mouse, keyboard are examples of hardware.
Software is the programs that help the hardware do its job. Examples of software would be Windows, Google Chrome, and Media Player. The hardware and software on your computer cannot communicate with each other without a driver. They speak different languages. It’s like the hardware speaks Chinese, and the software speaks English. They need a translator, and that’s where the drivers come in. They translate the information so the hardware and software can understand one another.
What kinds of errors are caused by drivers?
What kinds of errors could be the result of a new or updated driver? There are a wide variety of issues that could be a result of the latest software. These include
An application that freezes and crashes System stability and performance issues Software conflicts and incompatibilities Security issues Hardware that will not function Inability to access new hardware features that the update provides.
How to check for new drivers
If you have any of the problems listed above with your computer, a recent update of one of the drivers may have caused it. Start your troubleshooting by checking for recently updated or installed drivers. The Windows Update information in your settings shows you not only the recent updates to Windows but also lists the recently updated or newly installed drivers.
Open settings. You can use the keyboard shortcut Win + I or click on the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner and click on the gear icon.
Click on “Updates & Security.”
Select Windows update at the top of the list on the left.
Click “View update history” to view all the recently updated drivers.
You may have to scroll down to find the menu for Driver updates. Click on the arrow next to Driver updates.
You may also want to check the Other updates list to see if any driver updates are there.
You will see the most recent updates for the drivers, the names, and the version number.
To get more information about the driver that was updated or installed, click on the name of the driver. A Windows web page with more information will open. If the name is not clickable, you can search the name of the driver and the version number.
Stopping automatic updates
Windows 10 automatically downloads updates for your hardware, and it’s usually the most convenient way to keep your machine up to date. However, if you don’t want the drivers to update automatically, avoiding unexpected issues in performance, you can turn this option off. You can find it under System properties. Automatic updates of the drivers on your Windows machine are handy. They keep your computer running well and take little to no time from your day to complete. On those occasions when a new driver does not work like it’s supposed to, try checking the drivers as shown in this article. If there is a new driver and it could be the culprit, you’ll need to uninstall the update or roll it back to its previous version.
