How do I make sure all of my drivers are correct/up-to-date?

[theDUDE124]

Hello, I've often had this problem in the past where I will format my hard-drive or custom-build a new computer, only to find out months later, that one or more of my device drivers are not up-to-date or compatible with their current driver software...

When starting from scratch, what's the best way to ensure all your device drivers are updated/compatible? Like, for example, how do you personally ensure all your device drivers are up-to-date and compatible when starting anew? Go to the manufacturer's website for every driver? Or what? Are there any software tools out there that can help in this process?

Just curious, because I've always just kind of methodically and tediously gone to every manufacturer's website but I always seem to end up down the road with driver conflict problems...

Any advice here would be useful.

 

[dividebyzero]

The best option as you have already surmised is to go to the manufacturers websites.
Commonly there aren't a great deal of driver updates to check, but the ones that should be updated, especially if you are planning on migrating to Windows 7 are:

Motherboard manufacturer for:
Chipset driver, LAN driver, audio driver (if onboard), video driver (if onboard).

Video card driver (if discrete/seperate):
nVidia : from manufacturer preferably if GeForce 7xxx series or earlier, or direct from nVidia if unavailable, or 8xxx series or later.
ATI Radeon: Direct from ATI

Soundcard (if discrete/seperate) from manufacturer, also peripherals (printers, camera's, (some) keyboards and mice, scanners, copiers etc.)

To minimize driver conflicts I would only download one driver per component and use the correct procedure for updating drivers (i.e. close down all other applications before installing).

BEFORE updating drivers I would strongly recommend that you create a System Restore point and check for the drivers functionality, and repeat the process for each driver.

If you are unsure then please post back with your system information.

I would not recommend any all-in-one driver solutions at all.

 

[Punkid]

i agree with dividebyzero....check from manufacturers site...the main thing u want to check is the video card driver...if u dont find those u will have lots of problems...For most devices WIndows 7 will have inbuilt drivers, but still its better to get those from the manufacturer