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Drivers
As you know, a driver is software that a device uses to work with your PC. When your device isn’t working properly, you can check if the driver is installed correctly. Faulty driver could always be the cause. To fix the problem, you need to update the driver. For some devices, Windows can update the driver automatically. For some devices especially external devices, you need to install the updated drivers yourself, then you need to download the driver manually.
Driver, or device driver, is a program that makes your computer and hardware devices attached work together. A driver runs on your operating system, and enables it to communicate with the hardware devices you use. A hardware device won’t fully function if its driver hasn’t been properly installed on your computer.
Download the Driver Manually
To download new drivers, go to PC manufacturer’s website or device manufacturer’s website. Driver updates are often available in the Support section of their website. If you are using a branded computer, it is recommended that you go to the PC manufacturer’s website to check for the latest driver first, as they may customize the driver. You are required to use the PC model and the operating system that you are using to download the correct driver. Usually, the PC model can be found on the machine. See How to Get Operating System. If you need to download the driver from device manufacturer, then you are required to know the device model.
How to Install the Driver ?
The downloaded driver file will be an executable file (File name ends in “.exe”.) or a zip file (File name ends in “.zip”.).
For executable file, to install the driver, you just need to double-click on the file and follow the on-screen instructions.
For zip file, you need to unzip it and find the executable file in the archive. If you cannot find an executable file, you need to install the driver step by step using the “.inf” file. Following steps are for your reference how to install the driver in this way.
1. Go to Device Manager.
2. Find the device that need to install a driver. (Here let’s take video card for example.)
3. Right-click on the device and select Update Driver Software…
4. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
5. Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
6. Click Have Disk… button.
7. Click Browse… button. Navigate to the folder where you saved the downloaded driver file and browse the .inf driver file.
8. Click OK button then Next button to finish the installation. You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.
If you have difficulty in downloading and installing drivers manually, or if you want to save more time in updating drivers, you can use Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will scan your computer to detect all problem drivers in several seconds, then give you new drivers. It has Free version and Paid version. You can use the Free version to update drivers one at a time. With Paid version, to update drivers, all you need to do is click your mouse 2 times.
1. Click Scan Now button. Then Driver Easy will scan your computer quickly and provide you with new drivers instantly.
2. Click Update All button. Then all drivers will be downloaded and installed automatically.
If you upgrade the program to Paid version, you will enjoy free technical support and 30-day money back guarantee. Just contact our professional support for further assistance regarding any driver problem. And you You can ask for a full refund for any reason.
How to Install Drivers in Windows 10 & 11 ?
If you’re using the free version of Driver Easy, it will automatically download driver updates for you, and you need to install them manually. In this article, we show you how.
1. In Driver Easy, click the downward triangle next to Update for the driver you want to update, then select Open File Location.
2. If the file has a “.exe” extension, you can just double-click it, and follow the on-screen prompts. Otherwise, click the address bar to select the full address, then press the Windows logo key and C at the same time your keyboard to copy the address to your clipboard.
3. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run box. Type devmgmt.msc in the run box and click the OK button to open Device Manager.
4. In Device Manager, expand the categories and locate the device that you wish to update the driver for. In this example, we’re looking for Realtek Audio, which is in the “Sound, video and game controllers” category.
5. In Device Manager, right-click on the device name and click Update driver (in your case, this may be Update Driver Software…)
6. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
7. Paste the location address you copied in step 2 into the location field, then click Next.
8. Wait until the driver installation process completes.
9. Once the driver is installed successfully, a window will pop up and let you know Windows has successfully updated your drivers.
Windows says “The best drivers for your device are already installed”?
If you get a message saying “The best drivers for your device are already installed”, don’t worry. Sometimes Windows thinks you already have the latest driver when you don’t. This is pretty common – particularly with older devices.
If you get this message, you can still update the driver:
1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run box. Type devmgmt.msc in the run box and click the OK button to open Device Manager.
2. In Device Manager, expand the categories and locate the device that you wish to update the driver for. Right-click on the device name and click Update driver (in your case, this may be Update driver software…)
3. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
4. Click on Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
5. Click Have Disk…
6. Paste the address you copied way back at step 2 into the location field, and click OK.
7. Click Next.
8. If you get the following warning, click Yes to finish updating the driver.
FAQs -
What if I forget / don’t receive my Driver Easy license key after purchase?
Don’t panic. There are two ways to retrieve your key: First you can go to https://www.drivereasy.com/resend-license-key/ and follow the instructions to have your key resent to your email.
Second, you can directly contact Driver Easy support with your order ID or the email address you used to purchase Driver Easy license key attached and they will help you find your key quickly.
Does Driver Easy offer help or support?
Yes. We have an expert support team, which includes agents who are Microsoft Certified Professionals. Our support team works Mon-Fri, 9-5, and replies to all support requests within 2 business days (usually much faster). Contact our support team now…
How can I request a refund when I find Driver Easy doesn’t satisfy me?
We provide our customers with a “100% product quality guarantee”, a “100% service satisfaction guarantee”, as well as a 30-day “100% money back guarantee”. If for whatever reason you are not satisfied with our program, you can just go to our refund request page and request a full refund within 30 days of your purchase.
How long are a Home / Business license and a Computer Repair Shop license valid for?
A Home / Business license is valid for 1 year. With this license, you can use Driver Easy Pro on 1 / 3 / 10 / 50 / 100 computers depending on which plan you choose, and you can install or uninstall it on those computers an unlimited number of times.
A Computer Repair Shop license is valid for 3 years. With this license, you can activate 50, 100, 200 or 300 PCs (depending on which license you buy) for 3 days each. The license is valid for 3 years. For example, if you buy a 100-PC computer repair shop license, you’ll be able to install Driver Easy Pro on 100 customers’ computers, over a 3-year period, and use it on each of those computers for up to 3 days.
Will Driver Easy automatically renew my license and charge me for it once the license expires?
Yes, if you enable auto-renewal, you will receive an email from 2Checkout subscription billing before 30 days / 7 days / 1 day of expiration. And 2Checkout, as the authorized reseller of Easeware Technology Limited online products and services, will automatically attempt to charge you one day before the license expires and renew the subscription for you. If you don’t want to auto-renew your Driver Easy subscription, you can disable it.
What happens if I disable automatic renew? (What happens when the license expires?)
We will send you a notification email via 2Checkout a month / a week / a day before the license expires. And once it does, Driver Easy will prompt a message telling you that you need to renew your license before you can go on using it.
You will always have a full say in deciding whether to renew your own license or not.
What is the Home / Business License?
The Home / Business License is for home or business users. With the Home / Business License, you can activate the Pro version of Driver Easy, which is a massive time-saver. You can update all your drivers with just one click, get faster driver download speeds and a whole lot more…. Users with the Home / Business License enjoys the 30-day money back refund policy.
What is the ‘Computer repair shop’ license?
With a ‘Computer repair shop’ license, you can activate 50, 100, 200 or 300 PCs (depending on which license you buy) for 3 days each. The license is valid for 3 years.
For example, if you buy a 100-PC computer repair shop license, you’ll be able to install Driver Easy Pro on 100 customers’ computers, over a 3-year period, and use it on each of those computers for up to 3 days.
What is Driver Easy?
Driver Easy is a driver updater tool developed by us, Easeware Technology. It is designed to help you update and maintain the device drivers on your computer. It is supported by a database of over 8 million drivers. It can quickly scan the device drivers that need to be updated, and download them from the database. All can go smoothly and easily with Driver Easy. It’s no-brainer.
Is Driver Easy free?
There are two different versions for Driver Easy: a Free trial and paid Professional version. Visit our home page to compare these two versions.
Does Driver Easy stay up to date?
Yes! We update Driver Easy pretty much every day, with new drivers, new features and regular improvements to the user experience.
What does the paid version give me that the free version doesn’t?
With the paid Professional version of Driver Easy, you can:
• Update all your drivers to the latest version with just 1 click
• Back up and restore drivers before updating them
• Automatically create a Windows restore point
• Run scheduled scans
• Uninstall drivers for removed devices
• Get answers to your driver questions from our Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) support specialists
• Get faster downloads of updated drivers
• Get your money back if you don’t like it, no questions asked
Is Driver Easy Safe?
Yes. We use only genuine drivers, straight from your hardware manufacturer. So they’re exactly the same drivers you’d find if you sourced them from the manufacturer yourself. The big difference is we thoroughly test them – on hundreds of computers, with all the most popular combinations of hardware and software – before including them in Driver Easy. Most are also officially certified by Microsoft as ‘Compatible with Windows’ – if their manufacturers chose to put them through Microsoft’s rigorous Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing process.
Where are the drivers of Driver Easy from?
We use only genuine drivers, straight from your hardware manufacturer. And we employ a strict testing process to ensure they’re safe, stable, robust, up-to-date, and compatible with Windows and all the most popular combinations of hardware and software. In doing so, we hope to free our customers from the risk of malicious drivers.
What if I’m not satisfied with Driver Easy?
Driver Easy comes with a 100% money-back guarantee. If, for any reason, you’re unhappy with the program, simply send it back within 30 days, and we’ll give you a full refund, no questions asked.
What is an “Unplugged” device?
An “Unplugged device” is a device that was previously connected to your computer but is now disconnected. Driver Easy will identify the devices, like printers, mobile devices, USB drives, etc., that have been unplugged from your computer. If their drivers need to be updated, Driver Easy will put them in the “Unplugged Devices” section in the list of the scan result.
How to use Driver Easy portable version?
Please go to https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/use-drivereasy-portable-version/ to learn the details about how to use the Portable version of Driver Easy.
Why do I need the latest drivers?
The latest versions of drivers helps you maintain the stability and improve the performance of your computer. Manufacturers release new device driver updates to resolve your computer problems by fixing bugs on the old versions. They also add supports for those newly released devices and technologies to the new drivers so you won’t get trouble installing new components or programs.
Can’t I just update my drivers manually?
Yes, you can. You can spend some time finding the correct drivers and installing them on your computer. But it can take huge time and energy: you need to get the right devices and vendor IDs before you can update the correct drivers. And you may encounter devices you can’t identify or your computer can’t recognize, which can be very troubling. It is recommended that you seek help from a good driver tool to do all the work for you.
Doesn’t Windows Update keep my drivers up to date?
No. Windows isn’t good at identifying outdated drivers. Particularly Windows 10. It categorizes driver updates as either ‘critical’, ‘automatic’ or ‘optional’. And it doesn’t usually concern itself with the ‘optional’ ones. So long as you have the necessary ‘critical’ and ‘automatic’ updates, it’s happy. It won’t, for example, install a new ‘optional’ update, if it already has an old ‘critical’ update installed.
But all driver updates are important, even when Windows calls them ‘optional’. If they weren’t, the hardware manufacturers wouldn’t go to all the trouble of coding and releasing them. Sometimes these ‘optional’ updates include just a new, nice-to-have feature. And you can arguably do without that. But sometimes it’s an important bug fix – perhaps the old driver is causing your device to stop working or your computer to crash. Windows often categorizes these updates as ‘Critical’, but definitely not always.
So when Windows fails to install a new ‘optional’ driver update, just because it has an older ‘critical’ one already installed, it’s doing you a disservice. You’re definitely missing out on functionality, and you may be suffering through completely unnecessary computer problems!
Driver Easy works differently. It flags and installs ‘critical’ and ‘automatic’ driver updates, just like Windows. But it doesn’t stop there. Once they’re installed, it also installs the ‘optional’ driver updates whenever they’re available. And it does all of that automatically, for every device. So you know your drivers are always truly up-to-date, and you’re far less likely to experience computer problems.
Can’t I just check Windows Device Manager to see if I need to update my drivers?
No. Windows Device Manager doesn’t tell you when a driver is out of date; it only tells you when a driver is missing or faulty. That’s what it means when you see this:
Unfortunately, there’s no flag to tell you when the driver is simply out of date. To find out if Windows thinks a driver is out of date, you have to right-click on each device and click ‘Update driver’. (When you look at how many drivers your computer has, you’ll see why this isn’t a very friendly way of doing things…)
And even when you do click ‘Update driver’ for every device, you’re still relying on Windows correctly identifying when a driver is out of date. Unfortunately, as described in the previous question, this is something Windows isn’t very good at.
So even if you manually update every driver with Device Manager, you usually still won’t get the latest driver for every device.
Driver Easy works differently. It flags and installs ‘critical’ and ‘automatic’ driver updates, just like Windows. But it doesn’t stop there. Once they’re installed, it also installs the ‘optional’ driver updates whenever they’re available. And it does all of that automatically, for every device. So you know your drivers are always truly up-to-date, and you’re far less likely to experience computer problems.
