BleepingComputer.com: Device Drivers

Hi Everyone.

Burning question in my mind....

I am going through all my hardware devices to see if there is an updated driver. The issue is this.

The hardware manufacturer's site has newer versions then my OEM (Dell Computer) so I'm inclinded to go with the manufacturer. However, I've heard that, whenever possible, use the OEM's since they often "modify" or enhance the drivers to work with your system. Problem is that the DELL versions posted on the website are over a year old!!

Has DELL not bothered to update them? Should I go with generic manufacturer's version (which are very recent) but may or may not match my particular system or should I go with the old DELL versions which may missout on "bugs" that the manufacturer has already corrected? Does it really matter?

Any thoughts into this, would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hello,

Is always best to go with the same place you got the system from, having said that, Dell never have an up to date driver solution for the product that you want. You could go to the individual components webpage, and see if they have an updated version. If you want to do that, do one at a time and backup before you make changes.

What drivers...and why do you want to update them if they work satisfactorily?

Does WinUpdate reflect these "updates"? Don't misinterpret that comment...I do not advise anyone to use the WinUpdate site for driver updates .

Louis

I generally recommend that you update your video drivers from the manufacturer of the video chipset - NOT from the manufacturer of your system. I make this recommendation based on several instances that I've had or have seen with system manufacturer's video drivers not working (and that's what they supply to Microsoft for Windows Update, so I don't use that either).

For other drivers, it really depends on what functions you're using - and how those functions differ between the system manufacturer's drivers and the device manufacturer's drivers. In general I suggest using the system manufacturer's drivers - unless you're having problems that can't be fixed in other ways.

The system manufacturer's are generally of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" school. That means that the drivers that they do have on their website are the one's that they know will work with their systems.

In general I don't advise updating drivers UNLESS there is a problem with them. (obvious exceptions are for those interested in the new features that may be in the newer drivers - or those interested in performance).