The question of how to update drivers on Windows 10 has become very relevant in our time, since the new operating system from Microsoft has received certain differences from the interface of previous versions. Difficulties this process tested by both beginners and experienced users. Therefore, a clear and detailed answer is needed on how to update one or more drivers for free.

There are a lot of ways to update. They are effective for all PCs and have their own characteristics. Some of them update all hardware by performing a standard driver installation. Other methods are geared towards graphics cards, as their effectiveness often depends on the software. Therefore, it makes sense to consider each of them in more detail.

When a system is installed on a computer, driver integration is automatically performed. Usually, those versions that were released before the release of the installer are used. However, using the online update, you can always get the latest developments of programmers.

You can also update in the standard way using the device manager. This method looks like this:

1. Click the search button.

1. In the tab that appears, you must enter "Device Manager" to open a special window where all the equipment installed on the computer will be displayed.

1. Next, select the line that will correspond to the required device, and click on it right click mice.

1. In the panel that appears, select "Update driver".

1. After that, you will be asked to select several search options, each of which has its own characteristics. You must select the automatic method, which will then search even on the network.

Special programs

Updating each device individually is rather tedious and impractical. Therefore, some experts recommend using third party programs, which not only follow the release of new products, but also have a number of additional functions:

• Driver Pack Solution- able to update even if there is no Internet connection;
• Driver Booster - has the ability to install drivers in bulk, on all devices at once;
• Slim Drivers - finds even those versions that other programs cannot find.

On PC this program can be used like this:

• download the installation file from the site;
• install the software;
• the application uses its own driver database, which means that it must also be downloaded using the program itself;
• check and update.

Having an offline update feature is great for reinstalling Windows on your computer or when troubleshooting system problems. Therefore, this application is very popular.

For the program to function properly in offline mode, you will need to download a special disk image from the site. It is opened in any emulator.

You will have to update the drivers manually, separately for each device. At the same time, their download speed will leave much to be desired. However, it deserves attention, because:

• works offline even if auto-update has been disabled;
• allows you to create a backup of the system;
• is able to find a video driver even for unique and rare equipment.

At the same time, Driver Booster updates not only to the latest versions from the official manufacturer, but installs special, more advanced drivers. They allow you to increase the performance of your hardware, which is great for demanding games and powerful programs.

This software can be downloaded from the official website. It is a standard application for finding and installing drivers, but it has some differences.

The fact is that automatic driver updates cannot always find the necessary software. Some companies, when creating software for hardware, don't care about being easy to find. Even eminent Nvidia does not spend money on promotion and advertising of a product that is distributed for free.

At the same time, small companies produce devices for which it is generally problematic to find sound drivers or drivers optical drives. However, this program copes with even the most complex tasks.

Intel Driver Update Utility Installer and AMD Driver Autodetect

These programs can be downloaded from the official website. Next, the following sequence of actions is performed:

1. Installation is in progress on the computer.
2. When you start the program, it independently searches and identifies all devices from its manufacturer.
3. Next, the application will offer to download the new version of the drivers and install them.
4. After your confirmation, the whole process will be carried out automatically.

This program can be downloaded from the official website. It is designed to work with drivers for video cards and other devices manufactured by NVIDIA.

Official websites of equipment manufacturers

Typically, video card drivers are downloaded directly from the hardware manufacturer's websites. This makes it possible not only to receive timely updates, but also to install the latest versions of additional software. However, it is important to remember that for such manipulations it is important to know your OS and some other computer configurations.

The installation process looks like this:

1. First you need to find out the manufacturer of the video card. To do this, click the "Search" button and enter the phrase "Device Manager".

1. In the window that opens, we find the item video adapter, where the name of the manufacturer will be. Usually this is NVIDIA and Radeon, but it can also be Intel.

Instead of output

Thus, install the drivers for the network card, sound adapter or motherboard possible using the function automatic update. They are almost always included in the operating system and practically do not cause any problems. However, the graphics driver requires special attention, since the performance of the video card depends on it.

Its updates are best downloaded from the device manufacturer's website. You can also find other useful add-ons for your video card there. If you cannot find the necessary driver yourself, then it makes sense to use special programs. It is very difficult to determine which of them are the best, since there are serious differences. Everyone should decide on their own, focusing on their needs.

Video

We have also prepared for you a video dedicated to the topic under consideration.

In addition to updates for the Windows operating system, the service windows updates 10 also takes care of driver updates. Windows Update automatically downloads and installs drivers and driver updates for most, if not all, devices.

Although device manufacturers usually make driver updates available through Windows Update, sometimes you may need to manually check to see if a fresh driver update is available.

Users who have disabled automatic driver updates in Windows Update can also manually check if new drivers are available. Also, you can always visit your PC manufacturer's website to check if updates are available, there is an easy way to check for driver updates and install them.

Luckily, you don't need an expensive program to check for device driver updates or to install device driver updates. It can be done Windows tools 10, for example, Device Manager can be used to check for driver updates and install them.

Checking and installing driver updates in Windows 10.

Follow the instructions below to use Device Manager to check for driver updates and install them.

NOTE: To update drivers using this method, your computer must be connected to the Internet.

Step 1. Open Device Manager by right-clicking on the button "Start" on the taskbar and selecting "Device Manager".

Step 2: In Device Manager, find the device for which you want to update the driver. Expand the category to find your device entry.

To demonstrate, we are updating the audio driver.

Step 3. Right-click on the selected device whose driver you want to update, and then click the button Update Driver. The Update Driver Wizard will open.

Step 4. Click to updated version driver software. When you click this option, Windows 10 will automatically search your computer and then the web - latest version driver for the selected device and install it if available.

If a driver update is missing, you will see the following screen with a message.

A faulty driver can cause many problems for a computer. The most common sign that drivers need to be updated is the blue screen of death. Fortunately, this blue screen shows us error codes, memory dumps, which allows us to identify the cause in a particular driver, device and update or delete it. It becomes difficult when memory dumps and error codes do not help, or the computer does not even show error codes, but simply blocks the system. What to do in these cases?

Embedded in Windows Driver Verifier designed to test drivers by causing extra stress on system drivers and stress tests to cause a crash. This will help you identify bad drivers in Windows.

Preparing the system for windows 10 driver check

Before switching on Driver Verifier, note that drivers can lock you out of your own computer if you're not careful. Driver Verifier, when a bad driver is detected, will give you a blue screen, if there are several of them, then a download> download> crash cycle is formed and you will not be able to start back into the windows system to disable the crash test of system drivers. Therefore, we will prepare for every fireman, otherwise in our time the Russian "maybe a ride" is already weakly working. Do one of the following before enabling Driver Verification.

• Check that you can easily boot into safe mode without the need for BIOS. In ordinary words, entering safe mode should be done using the worker windows desktop. Hold Shift + Reload, while pressing and holding the Shift button, click on Reload with the mouse. Try another way, install the option through Windows.
• Create a system restore point while disabling your antivirus products. open Windows search and dial Create a restore point, choose from the proposed and follow the instructions offered to you.
• Create for your computer so that you can access the command line through options when using the recovery disk.
• You can or any other data you are concerned about.
• Be sure to read my crash test at the end of the article. He will help you in case of failure that happened to me.

Activating the windows Driver Verifier feature

Before activating the drivers, make sure you read the section above on how to protect yourself from endless loading.

• Press Windows+R and type cmd to bring up command line.

Enter the following code on the command line:

• verifier

Specify item (for program code).

Select all but "DDI Compliance Check" and "Emulate Random Resource Shortage".

Click on the vendor column to sort. It is not necessary to select all drivers, only from other suppliers where there is no Microsoft Corporation inscription. If you are sure that the error is in any driver, then select all the items with checkmarks.

After all the settings, click Done and you will be told that the check will be performed after the system reboots. If the checker gives a blue screen, then write down the error code, memory dump and restart the computer.

Back in windows, you can disable driver checking in one of the following ways:

• Go back, as you went through the command line and select the item delete existing settings.

Open a command prompt and enter the following code:

How to Fix Cyclic Boot with Blue Screen of Death

1. I want to note that I had a cyclic boot with a faulty driver. No error or memory dump code was provided, which is surprising to me.
2. After 2-4 blue screen boot cycles, the System Restore option was automatically launched. In which I clicked "troubleshoot" > "advanced options" > "boot options" > "restart". Once downloaded, select 4 or 5 to boot in safe mode. Disable Driver Verification Manager as above.
3. In order not to boot into safe mode, go to the option "troubleshooting" > "advanced options" and "COMMAND LINE". In which just type the command verifier /bootmode resetonbootfail.
4. Copy or take a picture on your mobile phone, before starting to check the drivers, all 3 of the above points. Don't forget to copy the link to the article just in case.

How to open DMP file to view error analysis

• The test files are on the path C:\Windows\Minidump.
• You can open the DMP file format with

In contact with

Classmates

Driver update programs do exactly what you might think - they help you update some or all of your drivers computer devices installed on Windows.

These programs make it easy to keep all the drivers installed on your computer up to date. Using them, you do not have to work with Device manager and find on your own the necessary drivers from various manufacturers of equipment installed on your computer.

Important: you don't have to use free driver updaters, much less pay for them! These programs are provided for your convenience only. You can install the drivers yourself manually, in fact, this is not such a complicated process.

Driver Booster is the best free program driver updates. It is compatible with all versions of Windows and makes updating drivers easy.

Driver Booster can be configured to automatically search for outdated drivers on a schedule. When updates are found, you can easily download them directly from the program, you do not need to go to the Internet browser for this.

Before installing the driver, the program will show the new version of the driver and compare it with the installed one, this is very useful information.

One important feature is the ability to create a restore point before installing drivers, in case something goes wrong during or after installation.

Also in the settings there is an option to install drivers in the background, which hides information about the installation process and other messages. This is very convenient, because you don't have to click on accept requests to install each of the drivers.

Peculiarities:

• Driver Booster works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.
• There is a Russian language.
• AT free version automatic updates and driver backups for safe recovery are not available.

Free Driver Scout

Free Driver Scout is an amazing driver update tool because it actually updates drivers completely automatically.

This means that the program automatically scans all necessary updates, automatically downloads and installs them without requiring you to do anything, which cannot be said about other programs on this list.

Certain device drivers may be excluded from scanning and will not need to be updated in the future.

Another interesting feature of Free Driver Scout is the ability to backup and restore drivers. The program allows you to backup some or all of the drivers installed on your computer, and then, if necessary, easily restore them.

Also included in Free Driver Scout is a very useful tool called OS Migration Tool. It is required if you are going to install another Windows operating system on your computer. The tool will find device drivers for the new OS and save them to a specific location, such as a flash drive. Then, when you install another Windows operating system, you can use the OS Migration Tool to restore the previously saved drivers for this operating system. Thus, you no longer need to worry about finding new drivers!

Note: despite the fact that Free Driver Scout is great program, it did not find several outdated drivers that Driver Booster could find.

Free Driver Scout is compatible with Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. It has also been tested on Windows 10, it also works without problems.

Driver Pack Solution

DriverPack Solution has one significant difference from most of the other programs on this list - it's a simple user interface. There are only a few buttons and no a large number additional tabs/sections.

The program supports bulk download and automatic installation of drivers, so you do not need to click on the install buttons for each of them.

When you first start DriverPack Solution, you can choose to download and install drivers completely automatically, or manually, selecting only the necessary drivers from those offered for updating.

The program also allows you to find out basic system information about your computer.

DriverPack Solution supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

Snappy Driver Installer is another free tool for updating drivers on your computer, a bit like DriverPack Solution.

With this program, you can download several drivers for different types of devices at once. As soon as they are downloaded, the Snappy Driver Installer will give you access to install updates with or without an internet connection.

The program is very easy to use, you don't even need to install it. This means that you can use, for example, an external HDD for carrying and installing drivers on any computer.

It is also worth noting that Snapper Driver Installer has no ads, the program does not limit download speed and can install as many drivers as you need without any restrictions.

The program works with both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

SlimDrivers is a free program that allows you to update outdated drivers, create backup copies of already installed drivers and remove them if necessary.

You can create a schedule of checks, following which SlimDrivers will automatically monitor updates for the drivers installed in the system, so you will always be aware of which ones need to be updated.

When SlimDrivers finds a driver update, the program displays the release date of the currently installed driver on the system next to new version. This helps to increase confidence that the update is correct and not a glitch in the program.

When testing SlimDrivers, it was revealed that the program found a couple of drivers, updates for which were not found by other programs from the list of this article.

Note: during the installation of SlimDrivers, the program will ask you to install a third-party toolbar (toolbar), but this step is easy to skip.

SlimDrivers works on Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. Windows 10 is not officially supported, but in practice it runs without problems on this version of the system.

Driver Talent (formerly known as DriveTheLife) is a very easy-to-use driver updater that allows you to download drivers automatically, so you don't have to search the internet for official download links for each driver.

This program can not only update outdated or missing drivers, but also fix corrupted ones and make backup all drivers installed on the system.

The size of the driver, as well as its release date and version number, are displayed before downloading directly, so you can be sure that you get exactly what you need.

An alternative version of the program is available that includes network drivers and works offline, which is ideal if you need to install drivers but don't have the required network driver installed.

There is a Russian version of the program.

Driver Talent can be installed on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

Device Doctor is an easy-to-use driver updater. Can be downloaded as regular version programs, and a portable version that does not need to be installed and is easy to transfer on external media.

Device Doctor allows you to schedule a driver check for new versions, and if any are found, it offers links to official sites for downloading them manually.

Since driver updates will need to be downloaded outside of Device Doctor, you will also need a decompressor such as WinRAR.

Device Doctor officially works with Windows 7, Vista, and XP, but has been tested on Windows 10 as well.

DriverMax is a free program for Windows that allows you to update outdated drivers installed on your computer. Unfortunately, the free version has some limitations.

In addition to updating outdated drivers, DriverMax can back up some or all of the drivers installed on the system, restore drivers from backups, roll back drivers, and detect unknown hardware.

In testing, DriverMax found significantly more outdated drivers than any other program on this list.

Note: The free version of DriverMax only allows you to download 2 drivers per day and 10 drivers per month. Also, only one driver can be downloaded at a time.

The program has a Russian-language interface.

DriverMax finds drivers for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

DriversCloud (formerly known as Ma-Config) is a free web service that allows you to find detailed information about equipment and software your computer, as well as a list of outdated drivers.

The service works after installing a program that allows the browser to collect information about your computer.

In the service you can find categories such as: analysis " blue screens death", "My drivers", "Autostart", "Network configuration", etc.

If it is necessary to update the driver, the service will show full information about the new driver in comparison with the currently installed one: version, manufacturer, date and hardware ID.

The DriversCloud service runs on operating Windows systems 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP and Windows 2000.

DriverIdentifier is a very simple yet useful free driver updater.

You can scan for the latest drivers even if you do not have an Internet connection, which is especially important if the network card driver is not installed. Once the scan is complete, the DriverIdentifier will save the list of drivers in an HTML file.

You only need to open the file on a computer that has an Internet connection and click on the "Update" link next to the drivers that need to be updated.

A portable version of DriverIdentifier is also available.

Note: To download driver updates, you need to create a free account in DriverIdentifier.

DriverIdentifier is compatible with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

Driver Easy is another program that allows you to search for outdated drivers in operating systems Windows. The program is free for both personal and commercial use.

The System Scan Scheduler in Driver Easy allows you to find outdated drivers and prompts you to download updates for them. Scans can be scheduled daily, weekly, and monthly while the computer is idle or every time you log on to Windows.

Driver Easy allows you to download driver updates in the program itself without having to go to the browser.

The program also has additional functionality, such as: viewing information about equipment and scanning drivers without an Internet connection.

Note: in the free version of Driver Easy, the speed at which updates are downloaded is significantly reduced compared to other programs on this list.

Driver Easy can work with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

In contact with

A lot of problems in Windows 10 arise not only because of "crooked" programs, but also through incompatible or damaged drivers. For example, the lack of software sound card can deprive your computer of sound, the lack of a driver for the video card will not allow you to install and run a single game or application. therefore automatic installation drivers is an important task that can be performed using programs.

The best programs to find and update drivers on Windows 10

Each component manufacturer posts drivers on its website, and in some cases, programs for installing and uninstalling them. However, if there is no program from the official developer, you should use the software third party manufacturer. Let's highlight the top programs for finding and updating drivers for Windows 10.

• Driver Pack Solution- the best program for searching and updating software, which is ISO image. You can open it using Daemon Tools or other software for working with images and disks. There is also a simpler version of the program - DriverPack Solution Lite.

The software image is quite large - 8 GB. This is an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that updating and installing drivers on Windows 10 does not require a network connection. It is enough to launch a program that will analyze the availability and status of the software, and then select and install the necessary drivers.

• driver booster is a shareware program with a Russian-language interface that scans your PC for outdated drivers.

The advantage of the program is that the drivers can be updated by clicking on one button. The software will create a system restore point so that in case of an unsuccessful update, Windows 10 can be rolled back to its original state.

• Driver Genius- a program for finding drivers with an English interface. The software can search for unused drivers on the PC, download new software and make it backup. The interface is quite simple. To download the software, just click on the "Start Scan" button, then mark the driver and click "Install".

• Driver Checker – useful program, which, in addition to searching for drivers, makes a backup of the current software. This function is necessary in cases where you need to reinstall Windows 10, but there are no “spare” drivers. When launched, the program performs a system scan, creates a backup copy, which can then be run on a reinstalled OS.

• Slim Drivers- free driver installer. Compatible with Windows 10. When the program starts, it starts checking the system for outdated and damaged drivers. Updates and installations happen at the push of a button.

• DriverMax is an easy-to-use program for updating and searching for drivers. The computer scans in a few seconds. The interface is English. After scanning the PC, the user is presented with a report in the form of a list. After selecting the desired driver, you need to click the "Download" button.

In addition to the above programs, you can download other utilities for analyzing and updating software on our website.