Note: As of March 24th, 2012 this how-to is no longer the most complex one available on the Web. This is due to the release of The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers (which is available for free) where you can find 23 pages of text on how to install and update drivers the most safe and secure way. It also provides step-by-step guide to installing and updating drivers in multiple scenarios (depending on what kind of computer you have, what brand it is, etc.), and more than 30 pictures of various procedures you will have to perform in order to install/update your drivers.
Please note that this article is still the most valid and complex how-to available; installing drivers in a way described below is still safe and easy. BUT IT CAN BE SAFER!
You can grab your FREE COPY of The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers simply by typing your name and e-mail address into the box on the right. The Guide will be delivered straight to your Inbox!
Updating drivers can be a really tedious job. Just like installing them. Unless you have “a system” that’s “working” you might get lost when doing it. Or you might even be unable to start.
But updating drivers is really not that hard. Or, it usually is not that hard. Here I present three easy-to-follow ways to update drivers, depending on the situation you’re in. It’s not going to be the easiest thing to do but it’s certainly doable. Depending on your computer skills and luck (I’ll talk about it later) it can take you from half an hour to three or four hours. But don’t worry, you’ll make it, eventually.
I am going to present few situations and answer the question how to update drivers for each and every one of them.
So, let’s get started!
- Let’s get started!
(If you don’t have time or just don’t want to waste it on updating drivers, you might want to try a tool called Driver Detective. It’ll update your drivers for you, all you need to do is click left mouse button few times. It reduces time needed from a few hours to like five minutes and makes it really effortless to update drivers.)
Before we begin
(Please note: this whole process is described in greater extent step-by-step –with pictures– in The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers, so if you get lost trying to do that on your own, simply grab your free copy of the Guide by subscribing in the box on the right.)
Before we even start thinking about how to update drivers we’ve to make sure that if anything goes wrong and you download a wrong driver or something, you’ll be able to reverse to the last working Windows state. In order to do that, create Windows Restore Point.
Having that done, you don’t have to worry about anything for “everything’s gonna be alright”. Even if you screw something up, we’ll be able to fix it.
Situation #1
You’ve a laptop computer
Now, if you own a notebook, updating drivers might be just a piece of pie. Some of the laptop manufacturers’ have released some free tools which update your drivers for you. Literally. Great example here is Fujitsu’s DeskUpdate which downloads AND INSTALLS all drivers automatically. No interaction needed.
The manufacturers who provide such a tool are Fujitsu, HP and Lenovo. Unfortunately neither Samsung, nor VIA, Sony, Dell, BenQ, Asus, Acer, NEC and not even Toshiba provide their customers with such a tool. (MSI does this only partially. For details read on.) Here’s the full list of all driver update utilities.
If you’re so unfortunate that you don’t own a laptop of neither of these brands (or you just don’t know laptop at all), then updating drivers is gonna be a little bit harder. OK, a lot harder. But still simple and easy.
Little Treat For Everyone
Or how to update drivers which are very common, automatically and for free
The truth is, not only laptop manufacturers issue update utilities. Some hardware producers do that too. Great example here are MSI, Intel and AMD for ATI graphics cards. They provide users with apps that will install automatically drivers for their devices. There’s only one trouble here — some of those tools prove to unsuccessful when looking for drivers for older hardware. If you own older or exotic hardware and still want to update drivers automatically, you’ll need a paid app.
But remember(!) — that’s not necessary. Updating drivers manually takes just a little bit of effort and is absolutely free!
OK, let’s get back to the topic: how to install drivers situation #2 is coming up…
Situation #2
You don’t have all of the drivers installed
(Please note: this whole process is described in greater extent step-by-step –with pictures– in The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers, so if you get lost trying to do that on your own, simply grab your free copy of the Guide by subscribing in the box on the right.)
This is the part where I could simply direct you to How to Install Drivers article, since you won’t be updating those drivers but installing them. If you want you might take a look at that post for more detailed information.
But if you’re too lazy to click that link, here’s the shorter version: what you need to do is download a tool that identifies hardware, like ID HW or AIDA64, run this app and note down the names of hardware you don’t have installed drivers for. Then proceed to the next step. It’ll be about updating drivers, actually.
Situation #3
You’ve got all of the drivers already installed and just need an update
(Please note: this whole process is described in greater extent step-by-step –with pictures– in The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers, so if you get lost trying to do that on your own, simply grab your free copy of the Guide by subscribing in the box on the right.)
This is gonna be easy. Really. All you need to do is open Device Manager and write down the names of all the devices you’ll need drivers for.
To access Device Manager in Windows Vista or 7 just open menu start and start typing “Device Manager”. Alternatively, you might right-click on Computer, from the menu choose “Properties”. In the window that’s just popped up you’ll notice in sidebar position “Device Manager”.
In Windows XP and earlier right-click on My Computer, go to Properties, then Hardware. Then where to click will be obvious. 
- Here’s how it looks like in Windows XP
Now, write down names of hardware you’ll need drivers for. The most common selection here would be:
- Video Card; e.g. ATI Radeon 4660, or NVIDIA GTX280
- Sound Card; e.g. Realtek HD Audio or Realtek ALC269
- WiFi Module; e.g. Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
- Fingerprint Reader; e.g. Authentec AES1610
- Camera Driver; e.g. Logitech HD Webcam C525
Of course the list is not complete. If you need driver to some other piece of hardware, just jot down its name, too.
Locate and download drivers
OK, so let’s move on with this how to update drivers thing.
Now you need to locate those drivers. There are few ways to do that.
- Locate manufacturer’s download center. That’s a great way of finding drivers. Just go to your manufacturer’s download center (that’s a site where you can find virtually all of the drivers producer’s ever issued), locate yours and download. There’s one problem with that, though: there might be times when you’ll find it quite difficult to navigate such a site. And you might have a hard time looking for some of download center’s, too. But there’s a complete list of download centers, here on HowToInstalDrivers.com, so you can save some time. But the best thing is, you’re always sure you’re downloading the latest version of the driver.
- Type the name of a piece of hardware followed by word “driver” into Google. That’s another proven way of finding driver updates. It has some flaws, too. It sometimes proves less efficient than browsing download centers (since you’re provided with a whole list of those, so you don’t have to look for them.) Another flaw is that sometimes you might stumble upon a fake installer that might be infected by viruses. It’s a rare problem but it does exist. But this method has one advantage: you might also find forums or blogs where people write about their problems with drivers, etc. So you’ll know more about what you’re installing.
Pre-Final Step: Install drivers
Now you need to install all of those drivers.
Remember that despite what many people think, it is actually not true that the order in which you install your drivers is irrelevant. It’s actually highly important and I don’t recommend installing drivers no particular order.
What you need to do is, simply install drivers from the most important to the least important. Should you look for a proven driver-by-driver list, simply grab your free copy of The Ultimate Guide to Installing and Updating Drivers from the box on the top-right.
Post-installation stuff
After the whole process and last reboot, it’s good to test your computer in order to see if everything’s OK. It doesn’t happen often (but still — it does happen) that drivers might screw up your OS. You might notice some instability and/or some BSoDs or simple reboots. So it’s a good idea to sacrifice half an hour in order to make sure that nothing’s changed for worse.
The Easier Way
I’ve mentioned it earlier but I believe this tool deserves more than just a short info. This tool is the ultimate answer to the question: “how to update drivers?”
There is a tool called Driver Detective which does whole work for its user — it identifies hardware, then it download drivers, then with just a few clicks you can install them. It also creates a Windows restoration point in order to ensure its user that if after installation something goes wrong, he can easily revert to the last working version of the OS.
I recommend it to everybody who needs to update his drivers and doesn’t have time to get through the whole process.