subject: Using Device Drivers to Keep Your Computer Running Optimally [print this page] A device driver, or a software driver, is a specific type of computer software that helps higher level computer programs function correctly with a piece of hardware. Each driver is designed to work exclusively with a specific application installed on an equally specific piece of hardware. What this means is that even if you find a device driver that's supposed to make your program work it also has to fit your computer and operating system, or it will likely as not fail to work properly.
The programmers who write driver software have an in-depth knowledge of how the software and hardware function on a given platfrom. Drivers are granted privileges that users don't get and can cause untold damage to computer systems if they are improperly programmed. There's nothing that stops a device driver from overwriting important system files if safeguards aren't built into the driver software from the start. Even if a driver is executing in user only mode it can crash a system all by itself. Therefore you should try to install only drivers that are signed and verified by vendors and operating system manufacturers.
Most drivers are written by software engineers that actually work for the company that has developed the hardware that the driver will control. Everything else being equal, these engineers will have access to much better information than outsiders when it comes to the hardware design. If they don't know their own hardware, what chance is there that independent software designers will produce a good device driver?
Drivers are used in many ways on modern hardware and operating systems. They are needed to operate, for example:
Printers
Audio cards
Network adapters
Video cards
Storage devices, such as hard drives
Wireless cards
CD-ROM and DVD Players
Basically, a modern computer needs hundreds of drivers to operate. To function optimally, all these drivers need to be kept up to date as well. You also run the considerable risk of interference between different device driver makers, so it's not a bad idea to enlist the help of a computer program to keep tabs of them all.
Using Device Drivers to Keep Your Computer Running Optimally
