subject: Things to Consider before Updating Drivers [print this page] Things to Consider before Updating Drivers
The first things you need to know is what a driver is and what it does. A driver is a program that acts as a bridge for between your software and your hardware. It translates data to and from both sources so that the software and hardware work together and work well.
The reason drivers exist is that each piece of hardware requires a complicated set of instructions in order to perform its functions. Moreover, different manufactures have different designs for different products. This means that there are loads and loads of configurations for each kind of electronic hardware for a home computer or laptop. It would be impractical to program everything in your computer (this would make for bulky desktops and laptops that weigh a ton). Having drivers allow the user to just install the drivers that a computer needs and modify or update it afterwards.
In the case of desktop computers, when a brand new computer is bought from the store retailers usually install generic drivers beforehand and give the buyer CDs with the drivers in case the user needs to re-install them. For laptops, however, most hardware is already built-in. This is convenient until a laptop needs to be reformatted and then each piece of hardware has to be checked so that the right drivers can be installed.
In both cases, there are some things you need to consider before updating your drivers:
Some old drivers may not support features your software offers. For example, the new song you downloaded won't run on your audio player because your driver does not recognize the new file format that it is in. Using the driver updates can solve this.
Drivers become out of date after some time and tend to give deteriorating performance such as slower response time and glitches.
While updating drivers is generally a good idea, some driver updates that manufacturers offer are still in the beta phase of testing and could contain errors. Make sure that you find out if these updates are safe and efficient. (You can usually find out from reviews by other users.)
These are a few things to think about when your considering updating your drivers.
