- #IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE INSTALL#
- #IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE DRIVERS#
- #IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE UPDATE#
- #IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE SOFTWARE#
Every installer is different, but in general, you can just run the downloaded driver.
If you bought a PC, head to their site, if you built one, go to the motherboard manufacturer’s site.
#IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE DRIVERS#
#IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE UPDATE#
This is a scenario in which you’ll want to update these drivers: If you either built your own PC or loaded a fresh version of Windows, you’re currently using the Microsoft-approved drivers included in Windows, which aren’t always going to be the fastest choice, especially if you have a real video card.
#IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE INSTALL#
Your best bet is to upgrade your video card drivers by heading to the manufacturer’s site, though you could just use the Upgrade driver feature built into Windows and explained below.Īgain, if everything is working just fine on your PC, you should probably leave your drivers alone.įresh Windows Install / Built Your Own PC / Gamer There’s also a really good chance that you have some onboard generic video card. This includes things like chipset, motherboard, sound card, and the like. If you’re running an off-the-shelf PC or laptop and haven’t reloaded Windows manually, chances are good that most of your drivers are already using the manufacturer’s approved drivers.
#IS DRIVERDOC SAFE TO USE SOFTWARE#
Whatever you do, don’t use some driver update software when you can manually pick the right drivers easily.
For instance: video card drivers included in Windows rarely include all the features of the drivers you can download from NVidia or AMD/ATI, and they definitely don’t include the same speed enhancements. It’s not so much that you’ll need to keep the drivers updated to the very latest version all the time, it’s that you don’t want to be using some generic driver when you could be using the real driver. When you first get a new PC, reload Windows on an old PC, or build a new PC, you’re going to want to make sure that you are using the correct drivers. Rule: Use the right drivers, not just the latest ones. Otherwise, most people can skip the process entirely. Switching from the built-in Windows drivers for your video card to the official NVidia or ATI/AMD drivers will make a world of difference, and keeping them updated can yield huge speed gains.Įssentially, if you’ve got an AMD/ATI or NVidia video card, and you’re using the built-in Windows drivers, that’s a great time to switch drivers. If you’re trying to eke out every tiny bit of performance out of your system, you should make sure that your video card drivers are updated using the manufacturer’s drivers, and you probably want to upgrade your chipset, networking, and sound card drivers as well.
There’s a notable exception to this rule, of course. There’s more chance of breaking something than anything else, so if everything on your PC is working just fine, you can skip the driver updates for the most part. If you’re upgrading from one version of a driver to another version, chances are good that the only things included in those updates are bug fixes for specific scenarios, and maybe some very minor performance increases. If you’re looking for a speed boost, updating your drivers to the latest version isn’t a magical speed enhancement that will suddenly remove the need to upgrade a slow PC. If you’ve got a problem with a device, you should think about upgrading the drivers.