How to Update the Drivers

If you want smooth performance of your PC, then you have to keep your drivers updated to avoid disturbances. If you are using your computer or pc with outdated drivers, it causes poor graphics, compatibility issues, sound issues, weak internet, or unresponsive devices.

In this Blog, we will guide you about drivers, why updating is crucial, what problems you will face with outdated drivers, and methods for updating drivers with expert tips to avoid mistakes.

Why Updating Drivers is Important

Keeping your drivers updated ensures your computer works smoothly. Here`s why it matters:

• Improved hardware problems
• Enable Communication 
• Enhance audio and video quality
• Better Experience in gaming 
• Boost performance
• Fix errors, bugs, and crashes 
• Enhance security 
• Solve compatibility conflicts
• Faster connectivity

What are Drivers 

A driver is a piece of software that acts as a connector between the operating system and hardware, helping to communicate with device hardware to retrieve data.

All the hardware components need drivers from internal devices to i.e, graphic cards, to all external devices connected to the computer, i.e, printers, speakers, etc.

Also learn How to connect HP printer to WiFi

Types of Drivers 

• Device drivers
• Kernel drivers
• Virtual device drivers
• BIOS/firmware Drivers
• File System Drivers
• Graphics Drivers 
• Network Drivers
• Sound/Audio drivers

1. Device Drivers 

• Device drivers are the drivers that allow the OS to communicate with hardware.

Example: printer drivers, keyboard drivers, mouse drivers, display drivers.

How to update Printer Drivers, mouse drivers, Keyboard, or      display drivers

In this section, we will show how to update printer drivers, mouse drivers, keyboard drivers, or display drivers in just a few clicks and make your device`s performance smooth 

Step 01:Click on the window icon, then settings 

•  Press the window icon, click on settings

Step 02: Select the device manager 

• The next step is to search for and select the device manager.

Step 03: Expand the device 

• Expand the device that you want to update and right-click on it. 

For example; 

For printers,

• Expand printers or print queues.
• Right-click on it and select Update Drivers.

For mouse drivers

• Expand the mouse and other pointing devices.
• Right-click on your mouse, e.g, HID-compliant mouse, select update drivers.

or Keyboard drivers 

• Expand the keyboard  from the options
• Right-click on it and select Update Driver.

For display drivers 

• Expand the display adapter from the options.
• Tap on any of the drivers that you want for updation, i.e, NVIDIA or Intel.
• Select update drivers.

Step 04: Choose Automatically for drivers.

•  After clicking on update drivers, whether it will be an update of printer, display cards, or mouse drivers, then choose to search automatically for drivers. Windows will automatically install the latest version of drivers if available.

2. Kernel Drivers 

 Kernel drivers are the low-level drivers that work closely with the operating system and allow it to interact with hardware.

How to update Kernel drivers 

 On Windows 

• On Windows, Kernel drivers are usually updated from Windows updates.
• Press Windows+I to open settings
• Go to update and security > Windows Update
• Click check for updates. If driver updates are available, then Windows installs them automatically. 

On Linux 

In Linux, you can update the kernel directly

•  Using the package manager
• In Ubuntu/Debian

sudo  apt && sudo apt upgrade

• In fedora 

sudo dnf upgrade –refresh 

3. Virtual Device Hardware 

Virtual device hardware is used in virtual environments to simulate hardware.

For example:

Virtual network drivers in VMware or VirtualBox.

VMware provides tools that contain all the drivers (graphics, network, mouse, shared folder, etc). 

How to update VMware

Steps to update VMware are:

• Start your virtual machine 
• In the VMware menu bar, go to VM> click on Install VMware  Tools 
• A VM CD appears inside the guest OS.
• Open the CD and run the installer. On Windows guest >Run setup.exe, on Linux>Run sudo./vmware -install.pl.
• Restart your virtual machine. 

4. BIOS/Firmware Drivers

BIOS /Firmware drivers are built into the motherboard firmware 

They allow hardware recognition during boot-up before the operating system uploads.

How to update BIOS /firmware drivers

Steps to update BIOS/firmware drivers are simple

Step 01: Search for the device manager 

• Tap on the settings icon, search, and type device manager

Step 02: Expand the firmware, right-click, and choose Update Driver 

• Expand the firmware from the given options. Right-click on it and click on Update Driver.

Step 03: Choose automatically for drivers 

• Search for choose automatically for It will automatically install the drivers if any updates are available. 

5. File system drivers 

These drivers enable the operating system to read and write different file systems.

For example

NTFS or drivers for Linux EXT partitions.

How to Update file system drivers 

• File systems are updated through a simple Windows update.
• Open Settings, click on Update Security 
• Then click on Windows Update 
• Click on Check for updates. Install all available updates, including file system drivers if released.

6. Graphic Drivers 

Graphic drivers are drivers that allow your OS and applications to communicate with your graphics card (GPU). Graphics cards are responsible for rendering images, videos, boosting performance in gaming, video editing, and 3D designs, and handling heavy graphics by reducing load on the CPU without graphics drivers. Displaying images, videos, or running games affects badly.

Black lines on the monitor, a flickering screen, or distortion happen when there is an issue with the graphics card.

For example

Specialized graphics drivers are NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel.

How to update drivers NVIDIA

• Game drivers are called graphics drivers. A graphics card is crucial for running games. So if you want to make your game perform smoothly or then you need to update graphics drivers.
• For the updation of HDMI same steps are followed because it is a part of your graphics or display drivers used to transmit high-quality sound from one device to another through a single connection through a standard cable or port. 

Step 01: Select device Manager 

• Click on the window bar, search for and select Device Manager.

Step 02: Expand Display Adapters

• Choose and expand the display adapters option, and all GPU drivers are displayed on the screen.

Step 03: Choose the driver and click on Update Driver.

• Tap on any of the drivers that you want for updation, i.e, choose NVIDIA and click on update drivers.

•   How to reinstall graphic drivers? If you want to reinstall the graphics driver, click on uninstall from options instead of update, restart your pc, and then install the latest version and restart the PC.

 7. Network Drivers

These drivers are responsible for controlling wired and wireless network adapters. Without them It is difficult to connect to the internet.

How to update Network drivers or NIC adapters 

A Network interface card is a part that helps your computer to transfer signals over a network for communication. Steps to update NIC or network drivers are;

You can update the network drivers or NIC adapters by following the simple steps: 

• Go to Settings, search, and select Device Manager
• Expand network adapters
• Right-click on your WI-FI or Ethernet device. Select Update Driver. Then select search automatically for drivers, and it installs the updates automatically if any are available.

•  Then select search automatically for drivers, it installs the updates automatically if any are available. 

8. Sound Audio Drivers 

These drivers are responsible for sound devices such as headphones, microphones, and speakers.

For example 

•  Realtek HD Audio Drivers
•  USB headset drivers
•   ASIO drivers

How to update sound or Audio Drivers

• If you want to update your audio drivers or Realtek audio drivers in Windows 10 or 11, then here is a simple guide that is given below:

Step 01: Select Device Manager, Expand sound, video, and game controllers 

• Open and search for Device Manager and expand sound, video, and game controllers from the options.

Step 02: Right-click on it and choose driver updates

• Right-click on Realtek audio drivers and click on Update Drivers.

NOTE: You can also download it from Realtek by visiting the official website, selecting the Windows version 10/11, downloading it, running the installer, and restarting your PC.

How to update  Microphone drivers 

• To update the microphone drivers, you need to follow this: Open Device Manager, expand Audio input Output Devices, right-click on it, and choose Update Driver.

How to update audio drivers on Mac 

Steps to update audio drivers on Mac;

• Click on Apple menu > System Settings 
• Go to General, then Software Update
• If updates are available, click on Update Now or Upgrade Now. This installs the latest drivers, also for audio.
• If you use external audio hardware like an interface or mixer, then you can use a third-party tool for updating of Mac. You can simply visit the manufacturer`s site, download the latest version for your macOS version, and install it.

How to update all Drivers in Windows

There are several ways to update the windows. Here is a complete detail of the updation of drivers in Windows 7,10, or 11. Updating the drivers helps your system perform without any distortion. All the methods are safe to apply and help to update all drivers. All the methods are given below : 

Update drivers in Windows 7

 Driver updates in Windows 7 are a bit different compared to Windows 10 or 11.

• Click on the select menu, right-click on the computer, and select manage.
• In the left panel, click Device Manager. 
• Find the device you want to update, e.g, display adapter
• Right-click on the device and click on Update Driver

Update drivers in  Windows 10 automatically                                            

You can use this method for the updation of drivers in an HP laptop.

Update your drivers using Windows Update.

The Windows update automatically provides certified drivers for updation.

Step 01: Open settings

• Click on the start menu, open settings.

Step 02:Click on update and security

• Select update security in Windows 10 or Windows updates for Windows 11.

Step 03: Click on Check for updates and install

• Click on check for updates and install any updates that are available.

 Install any pending updates >expand optional updates to see driver updates. 

How to update Drivers in Windows 11

There are many methods for updating drivers, i.e, built-in methods by Windows updates or device manager, official tools, and third-party driver updates. These are also called Driver Updater.

• Driver updaters are software tools that automatically detect missing and outdated drivers and install the fresh version for better performance.

Updating the drivers helps your system perform without any distortion

Update drivers using Windows updates.

• Open setting windows+I 
•  Navigate the Windows Update
• Click Check for updates
• If new drivers are available, they will install automatically.

Updating the drivers by pressing Win+R

• Press Win+R, choose Device Manager.
• Expand any one option that appears on screen.
• Right-click on it and tap on  Update Drivers.
•  Select search automatically for drivers. 

Updating the drivers from the optional updates 

•    In Windows Update, click on the advanced option 
•    Select optional updates
•    Expand the driver updates section and install the driver you need.

 Update drivers manually using Device Manager. 

•  Right-click on the Start button, navigate to the  Device Manager
• Find the device, right-click on update drivers 

Update drivers from the Manufacturer`s website 

• Identify your device, e.g, NVIDIA, AMD graphics cards, Realtech audio, Intel Wi-Fi 
• Visit their official website
• Download the latest version of the driver 
• Restart your device for complete setup

How to ensure that all your drivers are up to date? After updating all your drivers by the above methods, if no updates are available, or it shows that you installed the best drivers, then your drivers are up to date.             

How to update Monitor 

Some Monitors do not require any driver, but if you want better colour resolution or accuracy in functionality, then you can update them. You can update the monitor from ;

• Open the settings, search, and click on Device Manager
• Expand the Monitors and right-click on it
• Click on Update Drivers.

How to update Motherboard drivers (Mobo)

Mobo is the short form of Motherboard. Motherboard drivers are the software parts that allow the OS to communicate properly with the motherboard, e.g chipset, audio controller, ethernet /LAN controller, and USB ports.

• Open Device Manager

To update the chipset 

Expand system devices, right-click on Intel R chipset device, click on update drivers, and tap on ok.

To update USB 

 Expand the universal bus controller. Right-click on the USB Root Hub or host controller, then click on Update Drivers.

How to update Ram drivers 

Ram is a hardware part directly handled by the motherboard and CPU. It cannot update them, but increase their performance by:

• It does not need its own driver. It relies on the chipset driver and the BIOS firmware of the motherboard 
• You just need to update the chipset or BIOS to enhance the performance of the RAM 
• If you want new RAM, then you replace or add RAM sticks.

How to Reinstall Drivers 

You can reinstall the driver from the device driver or from the manufacturer`s site, or from Windows Update. Reinstall the drivers to install the updated version, which helps in seamless performance. You can reinstall drivers by following these methods;

•  Reinstall via Device Manager
•  Reinstall from the manufacturer`s site
•  Reinstall from Windows Update 

Reinstall via Device Manager

Steps to reinstall device manager are ; 

Step 01:Select device Manager 

• Click on the window bar, search for and select Device Manager.

Step 02: Find the device 

• Find the device, e.g, display adapters option, network adapters for wi-fi.

Step 03:click on Reinstall 

Right-click on the device and select Uninstall Device, and restart your Pc.windows will automatically reinstall the drivers.

Reinstall drivers from the manufacturer`s site 

1.  Go to your pc /laptop brand`s site, i.e, Dell, Lenovo, etc., or go to the manufacturer`s official site, e.g, NVIDIA, AMD, Realtech, Intel, etc.
2. Download the fresh version of the driver.
3. Install it and restart your PC.

Reinstall drivers from Windows update 

1.Press win+i >settings >windows update

2. Click on Check Windows   

3. Windows automatically installs/updates missing drivers.     

Conclusions  

Drivers are the crucial part that acts as a bridge between the OS and hardware, which helps them in communication. Without drivers, our PC or computer does not work properly, as they do not understand what to do. 

The drivers that are outdated or missing can lead to severe problems. Make a habit of checking for updates regularly, and if available, then install them. Especially for graphics cards, chipsets, and network adapters. 

In our blog, we provide a complete guide with simple methods or steps that help you solve your driver`s problems. By following our steps, you will be able to not only detect the problems of drivers and how to fix them, but also extend the lifespan and performance of your PC.