The endless quest to update drivers
Created | Updated Nov 11, 2002
What is a driver?
A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer. There are device drivers for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers, diskette drives, and so on. When you buy an operating system, many device drivers are built into the product. However, if you later buy a new type of device that the operating system didn't anticipate, you'll have to install the new device driver. A device driver essentially converts the more general input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device type can understand. When the term is used generally (as in devices), it can include keyboards, mice, display monitors, hard disk drives, CD-ROM players, printers, audio speakers and microphones, and other hardware units. Some devices such as a hard disk drive or a CD-ROM drive, while physically inside the computer housing, are considered devices because they are separately installable and replaceable. In Windows operating systems, a device driver file usually has a file name suffix of DLL or EXE. A virtual device driver usually has the suffix of VXD.
Drivers come in a couple of forms. When you get a device you get a set of drivers on a CD, which are usually referred to as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) drivers. Then there are the reference drivers. Depending on the device, the company which designed the core components like a graphics processor or an audio processor, comes out with a universal driver which any version of their device can use. Finally, there are third party drivers, which are written from a driver development kit (DDK, more on this later)
OEM Drivers
These are the drivers that the company decided were best to use with their version of the device you purchased. There is really not much to say here. These drivers work most of the time. The only time they tend not to work is when an operating system is released after the driver. When this happens, new versions of the drivers are put online for the new operating system.
Reference drivers
These drivers tend to be the best and updated the most often. These are the universal chumpies you can count on in a pinch. You can usually find reference drivers for video and audio, if a device has a chipset. A chipset is a group of microchips designed to work and sold as a unit in performing one or more related functions. We will use the Voodoo2 cards as an example here.
Each company who makes video cards produces their own set of drives for their cards. For example, with GeForce4 cards, you have Asus, PNY, VisionTek, etc. Each one produces drives for their own cards.
Each one of those cards are based of the GeForce4chipset by NVIDIA. NVIDIA has what they call reference drives that will work on any GeForce4 card that is based off of their design. So, no matter what GeForce4 based card you have, you can either use the drivers that came with the card, or you can use the NVIDIA reference drivers, which sometimes work better.
Third Party drivers
These drivers are written by geeks, programmers, and small companies who can do it, or think they can do it, better than the originals. They use the driver development kit, which is created by those who create the reference drivers. A driver development kit (DDK) is a set of programs and related files that are used to develop a new software or hardware driver or to update an existing legacy application driver for an operating system. (A driver is a relatively small program that addresses the unique requirements of a kind of hardware or a special software application.) Typically, device manufacturers and software application developers use DDKs. Some DDKs can be downloaded from the maker of the operating system. Others can be purchased from a third party. A DDK typically includes sample drivers, source code, a debugging utility, a compiler, testing tools, other utilities, and documentation.
The reasons for third party drivers range from devices needed to perform special applications to a device no longer being supported by its OEM. Some enthusiasts, for the lack of a better word, create these drivers because they think things should be done their way. Other times people will buy these new games and get them home, mouth drooling and fingers twitching. They get the game installed then they start crying because the game, for some reason, does not work with their current card. Sometimes, instead of buying a new video card, you can update the drivers which most likely will have what is needed to make the game run. Third party drivers are “at your own risk” and the OEM’s usually tell you to stay away from them.
Being on the cutting edge
No matter how you look at it, what it basically comes down to is being on the cutting edge when it comes to your device. Pushing it to its limits and/or trying to create new limits for the device. It is generally up to you how you want you device to work. And there is a driver out there for everyone.
Backing up Old drivers
A big problem a lot of people run into when updating their drivers is not backing them up. They basically load the driver and go “oh (expletive of choice)” when it does not work correctly, wishing they had not destroyed their OEM disk and wishing they did not totally uninstall the last set of drivers they had installed. ALWAYS back up your stuff. It’s only your fault if you don’t.
Problem solving
Sometimes you run across a program that does not work just right. Sometimes these problems can be solved just by updating the device drivers. Sometimes a particular device driver can have certain bugs, or a program can require particular instructions to run properly. With proper research, a person can find what they need to make everything work correctly
Video Games
For gamers, updating drivers is a spiritual thing. You seek greatness from your computer at all times. When you have the best drivers possible for a game, you can truly see and hear everything to give you that extra edge in a game (or just fix a problem that bugging the hell out of you!) It’s all a point of view thing, basically. When it’s your passion you must have the best at all times. As more and more features come out in games, most time the version of the driver you are using can make all the difference in the world.
In the end, keeping your drivers up to date is up to you. If you are happy with what you have, so be it. If you want to be at the cutting edge, so be it. It’s all up to you. There are tons on sites where you can download and research drivers for your devices. All you have to do is look, or ask. On Ninjamicros, there is bound to be somebody with a similar device to answer your questions. Feel free to look and ask!
Sources used
Whatis.com
A device driver is a program that controls a particular type of device that is attached to your computer. There are device drivers for printers, displays, CD-ROM readers, diskette drives, and so on. When you buy an operating system, many device drivers are built into the product. However, if you later buy a new type of device that the operating system didn't anticipate, you'll have to install the new device driver. A device driver essentially converts the more general input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device type can understand. When the term is used generally (as in devices), it can include keyboards, mice, display monitors, hard disk drives, CD-ROM players, printers, audio speakers and microphones, and other hardware units. Some devices such as a hard disk drive or a CD-ROM drive, while physically inside the computer housing, are considered devices because they are separately installable and replaceable. In Windows operating systems, a device driver file usually has a file name suffix of DLL or EXE. A virtual device driver usually has the suffix of VXD.
Drivers come in a couple of forms. When you get a device you get a set of drivers on a CD, which are usually referred to as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) drivers. Then there are the reference drivers. Depending on the device, the company which designed the core components like a graphics processor or an audio processor, comes out with a universal driver which any version of their device can use. Finally, there are third party drivers, which are written from a driver development kit (DDK, more on this later)
OEM Drivers
These are the drivers that the company decided were best to use with their version of the device you purchased. There is really not much to say here. These drivers work most of the time. The only time they tend not to work is when an operating system is released after the driver. When this happens, new versions of the drivers are put online for the new operating system.
Reference drivers
These drivers tend to be the best and updated the most often. These are the universal chumpies you can count on in a pinch. You can usually find reference drivers for video and audio, if a device has a chipset. A chipset is a group of microchips designed to work and sold as a unit in performing one or more related functions. We will use the Voodoo2 cards as an example here.
Each company who makes video cards produces their own set of drives for their cards. For example, with GeForce4 cards, you have Asus, PNY, VisionTek, etc. Each one produces drives for their own cards.
Each one of those cards are based of the GeForce4chipset by NVIDIA. NVIDIA has what they call reference drives that will work on any GeForce4 card that is based off of their design. So, no matter what GeForce4 based card you have, you can either use the drivers that came with the card, or you can use the NVIDIA reference drivers, which sometimes work better.
Third Party drivers
These drivers are written by geeks, programmers, and small companies who can do it, or think they can do it, better than the originals. They use the driver development kit, which is created by those who create the reference drivers. A driver development kit (DDK) is a set of programs and related files that are used to develop a new software or hardware driver or to update an existing legacy application driver for an operating system. (A driver is a relatively small program that addresses the unique requirements of a kind of hardware or a special software application.) Typically, device manufacturers and software application developers use DDKs. Some DDKs can be downloaded from the maker of the operating system. Others can be purchased from a third party. A DDK typically includes sample drivers, source code, a debugging utility, a compiler, testing tools, other utilities, and documentation.
The reasons for third party drivers range from devices needed to perform special applications to a device no longer being supported by its OEM. Some enthusiasts, for the lack of a better word, create these drivers because they think things should be done their way. Other times people will buy these new games and get them home, mouth drooling and fingers twitching. They get the game installed then they start crying because the game, for some reason, does not work with their current card. Sometimes, instead of buying a new video card, you can update the drivers which most likely will have what is needed to make the game run. Third party drivers are “at your own risk” and the OEM’s usually tell you to stay away from them.
Being on the cutting edge
No matter how you look at it, what it basically comes down to is being on the cutting edge when it comes to your device. Pushing it to its limits and/or trying to create new limits for the device. It is generally up to you how you want you device to work. And there is a driver out there for everyone.
Backing up Old drivers
A big problem a lot of people run into when updating their drivers is not backing them up. They basically load the driver and go “oh (expletive of choice)” when it does not work correctly, wishing they had not destroyed their OEM disk and wishing they did not totally uninstall the last set of drivers they had installed. ALWAYS back up your stuff. It’s only your fault if you don’t.
Problem solving
Sometimes you run across a program that does not work just right. Sometimes these problems can be solved just by updating the device drivers. Sometimes a particular device driver can have certain bugs, or a program can require particular instructions to run properly. With proper research, a person can find what they need to make everything work correctly
Video Games
For gamers, updating drivers is a spiritual thing. You seek greatness from your computer at all times. When you have the best drivers possible for a game, you can truly see and hear everything to give you that extra edge in a game (or just fix a problem that bugging the hell out of you!) It’s all a point of view thing, basically. When it’s your passion you must have the best at all times. As more and more features come out in games, most time the version of the driver you are using can make all the difference in the world.
In the end, keeping your drivers up to date is up to you. If you are happy with what you have, so be it. If you want to be at the cutting edge, so be it. It’s all up to you. There are tons on sites where you can download and research drivers for your devices. All you have to do is look, or ask. On Ninjamicros, there is bound to be somebody with a similar device to answer your questions. Feel free to look and ask!
Sources used
Whatis.com
