Update Your Device Drivers - Comments Page 1

I have experienced incidents where updating a video card driver has lead to a decrease in performance. My philosophy is - if it's working well and you're happy with the speed of things then leave well alone. Updates do not always bring improvements.

Re DriverMax. Tried to give me a Logitech driver for a Microsoft mouse. Comments page showed that this error had been in place for at least a year and had caused problems for those who simply downloaded and installed the Logitech driver. Promptly uninstalled DriverMax! Des M

There must be parallel universes of Windows XP! I have no such folder in Control Panel as Performance and Maintenance. After a whole lot of searching, I found when I go to Start, right-click My Computer, and select Manage, that my Device Manager is hiding inside. Why are our XP machines so different?

Re DeviceDoctor. Downloaded as usual. Then required to download and install another file for my XP O/S. Then chose an indicated download and found myself in an endless loop. Program uninstalled.

Device drivers should only be updated if you're having issues. Using the suggested utilities has the side effect of downloading drivers that may be problematic and mess up a perfectly running system. Yes, this is a "been there, done that" comment! :-)

The key to maintaining any system is regularly monitoring the event logs for issues.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Troubleshooting-and-repairing-misbehaving-Peripherals-in-Windows-using-the-Device-Manager.html

I too wrote the same thing in an Article here. Maybe it is a more detailed.

Ravi.

thaks for this useful information

Drivermax is crapware. Stay away from it. Doesn't anybody actually check these programs before saying people should use them.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the helpful, insightful remarks! Unless you can provide some information as to WHY you feel strongly about it, then your comments are meaningless. Or maybe you work for a competitor...

I have used Drivermax successfully in the past, I have only one rule - I only update if the driver update is digitally signed - many of the recommended updates are not, and one has to wonder why not?

With this in mind I was able to update a good few drivers over a couple of days, for free and my systems all work fine :)

Secunia has worked for me

Glad to see "Driver Detective" was NOT recommended.

Rip Off Report - http://bit.ly/9fODft

Complaints Board - http://bit.ly/c2INVD

I have updated drivers in the past and have also ended up with problems.

Have installed recommended Dell printer driver automatically through windows update and it messed up the printer every time. Now I am careful to NOT let it install the update. I have also had similar bad experiences with the driver update programs - thought I could trust windows update - guess not.

Uh...Drivermax is not freeware. If you want to download the suggested drivers, then you need to pay for an upgrade...that's alright with me, but it shouldn't be called freeware...

Guys! With all respects to Bob and his ever-useful advices, I always keep Windows Update off and only use it manually, when required. Same thing for drivers updates.
And many thanks to Ravi for his article about "Troubleshooting and repairing misbehaving Peripherals in Windows using the Device Manager". We're not all that geeky.. are we?

Drivermax loaded fine, crashed when used. That's why its crapware. I work for myself, not for any competitor.

The question is why is the process of updating drivers so absurdly complex? Why do so many sites appear free until you try and download drivers?

Ive used DriverMax and had no problems with it. Another option is to use a program such as drivermax to list all outdated drivers, then manually download each driver from the manufactures website.

Hi Bob I have a printer which is connected to the 2nd PC. I can print from the 2nd PC to printer, but not from the 1st PC on the network. I was able to print from the 1st and 2nd PC in the past. What do you think is the problem?

Good stuff to share. Also, i have something great to share with you too: Driver Robot. Believe it or not, it's the best Driver updater i've elver used.

How about driverpack? have you used it?