On Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, hardware drivers appear in the Windows Update interface as an optional update.

You don’t need a driver-updating utility because Windows has one built-in. Using Windows Update in Windows 10 is the automatic, set-it-and-forget-it solution. Windows is pretty good about not overwriting things like graphics drivers, though-especially if you’ve got a utility from the manufacturer that keeps up with updates. Even if you install your own hardware drivers, Windows sometimes automatically overwrite them when a new version is available. RELATED: What You Need to Know About Windows Update on Windows 10Īssuming you’re using Windows 10, Windows Update automatically downloads and install the latest drivers for you. Windows 7 and 8 provide driver updates via Windows Update, too, but Microsoft is being much more aggressive about this in Windows 10. Update Your Hardware Drivers With Windows Update This means downloading drivers from the hardware manufacturer’s individual websites, or letting Microsoft’s Windows Update do the work for you.

Go right to the source for your hardware drivers. If you do want to update your drivers, skip the driver-updating utilities. In other cases, you might need to get the latest version of a hardware driver if the current one is causing problems with your computer. In particular, gamers generally should keep their graphics drivers as up-to-date as possible to ensure the best graphics performance and the fewest bugs with modern games. There are some good reasons to update drivers, though. There’s no reason to obsess about having the latest hardware drivers for every component in your computer. Even if the manufacturer does offer a slightly newer version, you probably won’t notice the difference. The driver for the SD card reader that came built into your computer is probably just fine. In general, we don’t recommend updating hardware drivers unless you have a reason to. RELATED: When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers?

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