Update Drivers in Windows

You might need to perform a driver update in Windows for all kinds of reasons. Usually, a driver update is used as a solution to an issue with how Windows works with a piece of hardware.

Updating a driver can also enable new or updated features for the hardware.

Answer: Drivers are updated in Windows by using a driver update wizard from within Device Manager.

The driver update wizard walks you through the entire driver update process, making updating drivers a fairly painless task.

Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP all have slightly different processes for completing driver updates:

Updating a hardware device's driver is usually the first troubleshooting step to any hardware issue in Windows.

In particular, a simple driver update will often correct many of the common Device Manager error codes.

Important: If you're running a 32-bit version of Windows, you must install 32-bit drivers. If you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, you must install 64-bit drivers.

Not sure what version of Windows you have? See Am I Running a 32-bit or 64-bit Version of Windows? and learn how to find out.