The driver packages Windows automatically installs are different from the ones your device manufacturers provide. RELATED: When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers? How Manufacturer-Provided Drivers Are Different Microsoft also distributes updated drivers via Windows Update, so you can get any necessary driver updates from there instead of hunting them down. By default, Windows will check Windows Update for a driver is no drivers exist on the PC. When you connect a device to your PC, Windows attempts to automatically configure it and install the appropriate driver. If you installed Windows 8.1 on that same PC, everything might work out of the box because Windows 8.1 come with more modern drivers. For example, if you installed Windows 7 on your PC and a piece of hardware didn't work immediately, you might have to download drivers for that hardware component from its manufacturer's website and install them manually. Manufacturers don't have to create their own drivers for USB devices, mice, keyboards, computer monitors, and certain other types of peripherals.ĭrivers are integrated into Windows itself, which is why the latest versions of Windows will provide the best out-of-the-box hardware support on newer hardware. For example, when you connect a USB drive to your PC, Windows uses standard USB mass storage device drivers. Some components also have standard, "generic" drivers. Windows itself includes drivers, and new drivers can be automatically downloaded from Windows Update. To ensure hardware works as well as possible, Microsoft doesn't force you to install drivers from your manufacturer before hardware will work. If you build your own desktop PC, you'll find hardware drivers for each component on each manufacturer's website. For example, if you have a laptop, all the drivers for your laptop's hardware will be available on the manufacturer's website - find the downloads page for your specific product model. The latest versions of these drivers are also available or download from the manufacturer's website. You may even get a driver CD containing drivers you can install on your computer. If you buy a complete PC or laptop, it will come with the manufacturer's drivers integrated. Manufacturers write drivers for their hardware and provide them directly to you.
They're often good enough, but sometimes you'll want the complete package or a driver Windows can't provide.
The default drivers Microsoft provides are stripped down and a bit older, but they're written by your device manufacturer - not Microsoft themselves. Windows includes built-in drivers and automatically downloads new ones to make setup easier, but device manufacturers also provide their own driver packages. Hardware drivers are the software that allow your operating system to communicate with your hardware.
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