What are Device Drivers?

Device drivers are the files and codes used by an operating system to access and communicate with all hardware attached to a computer.

Without those device drivers, such as CD ROM or hard drive drivers, they would fail to be recognized by the operating system and not run.

Almost all computer hardware and peripherals come with a driver installation disk or CD. If not, it will be up to you or your operating system to find the correct device drivers. Usually this is a simple process.

Either the operating system will search for a generic device driver to run the hardware, or you will need to search for the drivers on the manufacturer’s website.

There are instances where new hardware has been put on the market before the company has created the device drivers which are compatible with your operating system. There is also the problem of old devices not having updated device drivers for a new operating system. An example of this would be when you are running an older Pentium 2 computer, and are running Windows 98. You attempt to upgrade to Windows XP, and discover that your sound and video cards were only supported in Windows 98.

In some cases, the new operating system will find a device driver which will run for system devices, but they will only work in a limited capacity. Your old CD r/rw will only read, but not write for example. When this happens you will usually have to buy a new CD r/rw drive which is supported by your operating system.

It is recommended that you look for updated device drivers for your system every three to six months. If you are unsure of how to do this, there are programs to Download which will automatically do this for you. We recommend this Driversupdate tool which you can download below for free.

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