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Driver updater tools do just what you're probably thinking—they help you update some or all of the device drivers installed in Windows for your computer's hardware.
Driver Manager software uses the most advanced technologies for detecting your PC drivers, matching them with the latest version available and updating each and every driver of your system with its most compatible and current version available. Speedy Downloads.
These free driver updater programs make it easy to keep your drivers updated. Use one, and you won't need to deal with Device Manager so much, nor will you need to go find the right driver from your hardware maker yourself.
You need not use free driver updater software to update drivers, but if you use one, don't pay for it. These programs are for your convenience only. See How Do I Update Drivers in Windows? for steps on manually updating hardware drivers.
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Driver Booster
What We Like
- Downloads drivers from within the program
- Creates a restore point before updating drivers
- Scans for outdated drivers on a schedule
- No limit on driver downloads and updates
What We Don't Like
- An internet connection is needed to scan for driver updates
- Always shows an 'activate now' button to get the pro version
Driver Booster is the best free driver updater program. It's compatible with all versions of Windows and makes updating drivers simple.
Driver Booster runs automatically to find outdated drivers. When new updates appear, download them from inside the Driver Booster program to avoid downloading them manually.
Before you install a driver, you can see how the new driver version compares with the currently installed driver, which is helpful. Driver Booster creates a restore point before installing a driver in the event something goes wrong with the installation.
There's an option in the settings to install drivers in the background, which hides installation wizards and other popup messages. This is handy so you don't have to click through so many windows when installing new drivers.
Driver Booster works in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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DriverPack Solution
What We Like
- Lets you install outdated drivers even when offline
- Downloads are performed quickly
- Drivers can be installed without any prompts or user input
What We Don't Like
- Doesn't support scheduled scans
- The program is often sluggish
- Drivers can't be hidden so as to avoid seeing them in scans
DriverPack Solution has a user interface that's easier to use than most of the others on this list. There are only a few buttons and no confusing screens or options.
This program supports bulk downloads and automated installs so that you don't have to click through any installation wizards.
When you first open DriverPack Solution, choose to download and install all of the drivers automatically or pick for yourself which ones you want to update.
There's also some basic system information included in DriverPack Solution, as well as a software downloader that can install some recommended programs to your computer.
DriverPack Solution supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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Snappy Driver Installer
What We Like
- Has no advertisements
- Completely portable (no install necessary)
- Downloads drivers from within the software
- Supports offline driver installations
What We Don't Like
- Scan schedules are not supported
- The program isn't as easy to use as similar software
Snappy Driver Installer is another freeware driver updater tool that's a bit like DriverPack Solution.
Download several drivers at once for many different types of devices. After they're downloaded, the program gives you immediate access to install the updates—with or without an internet connection.
Snappy Driver Installer is easy to use and doesn't even need to be installed. Use something like an external hard drive to transport and install the downloaded drivers to any other computer.
Snapper Driver Installer doesn't advertisements, doesn't limit download speeds, and can install as many drivers as you need without any limitations.
This program works with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
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Driver Talent
What We Like
- Installs quickly
- You don't have to download drivers manually—they download from inside the software
- The program is easy to use
- Drivers get backed up before each installation or uninstallation
What We Don't Like
- Setup might try to install an unrelated program
- Bulk downloading is not supported (you have to download each driver one by one)
- The schedule for scanning for outdated drivers can't be customized
Driver Talent (previously called DriveTheLife) is a straightforward driver updater program that downloads device drivers so you don't have to search the internet for official download links.
This application not only updates outdated and missing drivers but also fixes corrupted ones and backs up all your installed drivers.
The size of a driver as well as its release date and version number are displayed for you before you download it to verify you're getting what you're after.
An alternative version includes network drivers and works offline, which is perfect if you need to install drivers but don't have the proper network driver installed.
There's also a feature within Driver Talent that lets you download all the drivers necessary for the computer so that you can easily reinstall them should you reinstall the OS later.
Driver Talent works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
![Manager Manager](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125744261/945706892.png)
Some antivirus engines identify Driver Talent as malicious. You can see the results here. However, the overwhelming results show that it's clean, so proceed with caution.
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DriversCloud
What We Like
- Lets you install beta driver updates
- Has the option to show only WHQL certified driver updates
- Shows lots of detail on the drivers
What We Don't Like
- Drivers have to be downloaded manually
- Doesn't support bulk downloads or updates
DriversCloud (previously called Ma-Config) is a free web service locates detailed information about your hardware and software, including outdated drivers.
The process works by downloading a program that allows a web browser to gather information from your computer.
From the website, you can find categories such as BSOD Analysis, My Drivers, Autorun, Network Configuration, and other areas you can browse.
When you need to update a driver, inspect the new driver's information compared to the currently installed driver—the version number, manufacturer, INF file name and date, and hardware ID.
Available for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, and Windows 2000.
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DriverIdentifier
What We Like
- Works offline without a connection to the internet
- Use it as a portable program
- It's easy to understand and use
- Includes helpful information about the drivers
What We Don't Like
- Drivers have to be downloaded manually from your web browser
- Won't check for outdated drivers on a schedule
- You must create a user account before you can download drivers
DriverIdentifier is a simple but useful free driver updater program.
It scans for drivers if you don't have an internet connection, helpful if your network card driver isn't working. When the scan completes, DriverIdentifier saves the list of drivers to an HTML file.
Just open the file on a computer that does have an internet connection so the DriverIdentifier website can cross-reference the results with their databases. Drivers that need updating will have an Update link next to them.
There's also a portable version of DriverIdentifier available.
DriverIdentifier finds Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP drivers.
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Free Driver Scout
What We Like
- Can be configured to update drivers automatically
- Multiple drivers can be downloaded in bulk
- Supports scheduled outdated driver scans
What We Don't Like
- Other driver updaters find more outdated drivers
- Setup might try to install other programs
- An update hasn't been released for the software in a long time
Free Driver Scout is an amazing driver updater because it provides true automatic updating.
This means the program will automatically scan for any required updates, automatically download the updates, and then automatically install them, without requiring any input from you, which can't be said for any other program in this list.
Device drivers can be excluded from a scan with Free Driver Scout so they don’t show up as needing an update in the future.
Free Driver Scout backs up backs up some or all of your drivers and restores them as needed.
Free Driver Scout includes a helpful utility called the OS Migration Tool. Run it if you’re going to install a different Windows operating system to your computer. It will find the device drivers for the new OS and save them to a custom location, like a flash drive. Then, when you have the other Windows operating system installed, you can use the same tool to restore those OS-specific drivers so you don’t have to worry about finding the device drivers again.
Driver Scout v1.0 works in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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Driver Easy
What We Like
- Scheduling is supported to check for driver updates automatically
- Can be used at home and at work
- Driver scans are quick
- Downloads driver updates directly from within the software
What We Don't Like
- Drivers download slowly
- Updates have to be installed manually
- Doesn't support bulk downloads
- Some features are available only after payment
Driver Easy finds updates for drivers in Windows. Schedule a scan to check for outdated drivers and it'll prompt you to download an update. A scan can be scheduled daily, weekly, monthly, when your PC is idle, or even every time you log on to Windows.
Driver Easy downloads drivers from inside the program without opening an external web browser.
There are additional features included in Driver Easy as well, like viewing hardware information and scanning for driver updates when you don't have an internet connection.
Driver Easy runs in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
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Device Doctor
What We Like
- Drivers get downloaded from inside the application
- Outdated drivers are checked when the computer goes idle
- The program is simple to understand
- Can be used as a portable program
What We Don't Like
- Limits driver downloads to one per day
- A driver's version number and date isn't shown to verify that the update is newer than the current one
- Won't automatically update the driver after the download
- Doesn't make restore points before updating drivers
- Shows ads
Device Doctor is a simple and easy to use driver update program. It runs as a regular program or as a portable one that doesn't need to be installed.
Schedule scans to check for outdated drivers and then when an update is found, you'll be taken to a website to manually download it.
Because you have to download updates outside of Device Doctor, you may sometimes need to unzip driver files before using them. You can do that with a file unzip tool like the one included in Windows or a utility like 7-Zip.
Device Doctor is limited to downloading just one driver per day. It's designed to find drivers for Windows XP through Windows 10.
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DriverHub
What We Like
- Really clean, easy-to-understand interface
- Downloads drivers automatically after you click the install button
- Bulk downloading is supported
- Supports an easy and an advanced mode depending on how you want to use the program
What We Don't Like
- You might be asked to install another program during setup
The DriverHub driver updater is easy to use because it downloads and installs the drivers for you and has a whole section of the program dedicated to recovery should something go wrong.
The program itself has a clean interface with only a few menu buttons. In the settings are some options for changing the download folder and disabling program update checks.
You can keep things simple and install whatever DriverHub recommends, or you can go into Advanced Mode to pick which drivers to get, to see version numbers, and to install alternate drivers (i.e., a newer driver but not the current version).
The Useful programs section of DriverHub isn't driver related but does include some helpful links to Windows utilities, like Disk Management, Task Manager, power supply settings, display settings, and more.
DriverHub works in Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.
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DriverMax
What We Like
- No prompts when updating drivers (they install automatically)
- Can optionally install only signed drivers
- Drivers are downloaded from inside the program
- Also lets you back up all your device drivers
What We Don't Like
- Identified as a potentially unwanted program by some antivirus tools
- Doesn't always find the right driver
- Limits driver downloads to two per day and 10 per month
- Only one driver can be downloaded at one time (no bulk download option)
DriverMax is a free Windows program that updates outdated drivers. However, it's limited in a few areas.
In addition to updating old drivers, DriverMax can back up some or all of the currently installed drivers, restore backed up drivers, roll back drivers, and identify unknown hardware.
DriverMax discovered a significantly higher number of outdated drivers than every other program from this list did. We checked the version numbers against the currently installed drivers and they all seemed to be valid updates.
DriverMax finds drivers for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Although DriverMax limits the number of downloads you can perform per day and per month, you can still check for outdated drivers; you're just limited when it comes to downloading the drivers. We talk more in the review about why this isn't as bad of a limit as it might sound.
Want to update your computer’s hardware drivers? Get your driver updates from Windows Update or your device manufacturer’s website. Here’s how.
RELATED:Never Download a Driver-Updating Utility; They’re Worse Than Useless
Hardware drivers are the bits of software Windows uses to communicate with your PC’s hardware. Device manufacturers create these drivers, and you can obtain drivers straight from the manufacturer of your devices. Manufacturers also submit drivers to Microsoft for testing and signing, and you can get many drivers from Microsoft through Windows Update. Often, you won’t need to bother with updating drivers, but you may sometimes need to get the latest version—especially if something isn’t working right. While they are tempting, we recommend that you don’t use driver-update utilities.
Should You Update Your Drivers?
RELATED:When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers?
In general, we don’t recommend updating hardware drivers unless you have a reason to. The driver for the SD card reader that came built into your computer is probably just fine. Even if the manufacturer does offer a slightly newer version, you probably won’t notice the difference. There’s no reason to obsess about having the latest hardware drivers for every component in your computer.
There are some good reasons to update drivers, though. In particular, gamers generally should keep their graphics drivers as up-to-date as possible to ensure the best graphics performance and the fewest bugs with modern games. In other cases, you might need to get the latest version of a hardware driver if the current one is causing problems with your computer.
If you do want to update your drivers, skip the driver-updating utilities. We can’t repeat that enough. Go right to the source for your hardware drivers. This means downloading drivers from the hardware manufacturer’s individual websites, or letting Microsoft’s Windows Update do the work for you.
Update Your Hardware Drivers With Windows Update
RELATED:What You Need to Know About Windows Update on Windows 10
Assuming you’re using Windows 10, Windows Update automatically downloads and install the latest drivers for you. Windows 7 and 8 provide driver updates via Windows Update, too, but Microsoft is being much more aggressive about this in Windows 10. It all happens automatically. Even if you install your own hardware drivers, Windows sometimes automatically overwrite them when a new version is available. Windows is pretty good about not overwriting things like graphics drivers, though—especially if you’ve got a utility from the manufacturer that keeps up with updates.
Using Windows Update in Windows 10 is the automatic, set-it-and-forget-it solution. You don’t need a driver-updating utility because Windows has one built-in.
On Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, hardware drivers appear in the Windows Update interface as an optional update. If you want the latest hardware drivers, be sure to go open Windows Update, check for updates, and install any available hardware driver updates.
Update Your Graphics Drivers
RELATED:How to Update Your Graphics Drivers for Maximum Gaming Performance
For graphics drivers, you can use the control panel included with your graphics drivers to check for updates them. NVIDIA, AMD, and even Intel provide control panels that automatically check for and download the latest graphics driver updates for you.
Just open the NVIDIA GeForce Experience application, AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson Edition, or Intel’s Graphics Control Panel—whichever is on your computer. These often appear in your system tray, and you can usually find them with a quick Start menu search.
You could also just go straight to the source here. Head to NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel’s website to download the latest graphics driver package for your hardware and install it.
Even if you’re using Windows 10, you’ll probably want to do this — at least, if you’re a gamer. Windows 10 won’t be automatically updating graphics drivers every time NVIDIA or AMD releases a new version. These updates are really only necessary for people playing PC games, after all.
Use the Manufacturer’s Website
For other drivers, go straight to your hardware manufacturer’s website. If you have a laptop or a prebuilt desktop PC, go to its manufacturer’s website and look up the driver-download page for your specific model of computer. You’ll usually find a single web page with a long list of drivers you can download. New versions of these drivers are posted to this web page when available, and you’ll often see the dates when they were uploaded so you know which are new.
RELATED:How to Check Your BIOS Version and Update it
This is also the place you’ll generally find BIOS and UEFI firmware updates, but we don’t recommend installing these unless you have a really good reason to do so.
If you built your own desktop PC, you’ll have to download drivers from the manufacturer of each individual component. For example, go to your motherboard manufacturer’s website and look up the specific model of motherboard to find your motherboard drivers. Repeat this process for each individual hardware component.
The good news is that you don’t have to do most of this. Windows—especially Windows 10—automatically keeps your drivers reasonably up-to-date for you.
If you’re a gamer, you will want the latest graphics drivers. But, after you download and install them once, you’ll be notified when new drivers are available so you can download and install them.
For other driver updates, you can simply check the manufacturer’s website for new versions. This isn’t usually necessary, and you don’t need to do it unless you have a specific reason to do so. Windows keep your hardware drivers up-to-date enough.
Image Credit: Quasic on Flickr
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