Vista Drivers

Working with your Vista drivers

Microsoft's Vista operating system is actually a series of similar, yet different operating systems. Several editions exist including Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Enterprise. To make it more confusing, you these editions are often referred to as either a 32-bit or 64-bit version.

These differences come into play when you are updating Vista drivers. Anytime that you update a device driver, it is absolutely critical to download the driver designed for your specific operating system. Otherwise, the device and the operating system won't be able to communicate properly.

When purchasing a new hardware device designed for Vista, the Vista drivers usually come on an installation disc or are already pre-installed in your operating system. For the most part, in this case you don't need to be worried about the drivers. However, you might want to see if updated drivers have been released since updated repair known hardware issues and oftentimes add new features.

Out-of-date device Vista drivers lead to system failures

If you install a new hardware device and it doesn't work, you may need to update the Vista drivers. If the manufacturer released an update since the original device was released, the updated Vista driver is preferable to the one on the disc because of the added fix.

When computer devices fail, it's often a problem with a faulty driver, not the device itself. Whenever you are having problems with hardware, one of the first troubleshooting steps is to check the device driver.

How to install Vista drivers updates manually

In Windows Vista, this is easy. Go to the Start button and type “Device Manager” into the Search Bar. Double-click the Device Manager icon and find your device in the list. Does it have a yellow icon covering the standard icon? If so, something is wrong and you should try updating the driver. A yellow question mark icon and finding the device listed under “Other Devices” generally means that the drivers are not present and Vista does not recognize the device.

Double-click the device and then click the Driver tab. Now, simply click Update Driver and follow the prompts.

Another option is to check the Web site of the device that you are updating to see if any new Vista drivers have been released. If so, take extra care to specify the exact Vista version and system type (32-bit or 64-bit) that your computer is running. You can find this information by going to the Start button and right-clicking Computer.

Once you've found the updated Vista drivers for your devices and have downloaded them, you may or may not have to go into Device Manager to install them, depending on how they are designed.

Another way to get updated Vista drivers is to enable Windows Update. Microsoft makes many popular drivers available to users as a convenience. Once the Vista drivers are available, Microsoft Updates will send them to your computer and automatically install them. You have some control over how this process works. Simply type Windows Update in the Search bar of the Start button and set up Windows Update according to your preferences. Windows Update can also be accessed through the Control Panel.

The fastest way to find and install Vista drivers updates

Want a better way? Give DriverCure a try. Instead of all these tedious steps, this tool does everything for you automatically. Plus, DriverCure can be set up to run regular Vista driver update checks so that you are always current.

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Vista Drivers

Working with your Vista drivers

Out-of-date device Vista drivers lead to system failures

How to install Vista drivers updates manually

The fastest way to find and install Vista drivers updates