For these devices to work properly, your computer system needs to have a software program called a Device Driver. These device drivers are developed both by device manufacturers and operating system developers.

How does a Device Driver Work?

A device driver is a set of instructions which acts as a bridge between a peripheral device or hardware component and the operating system. A computer system needs these drivers to communicate properly with the hardware component. Every hardware device has a corresponding driver. For example, a sound card will have a sound card driver, a printer will have a printer driver and a USB driver will have a USB driver.

In other words, drivers help your computer system to differentiate between two hardware devices so that if you want to print a document, the printer driver will help the computer system to recognize the printer and complete the task.

Driver Errors and Fixes

Like any other software program, drivers need to be updated regularly to avoid errors. Operating system developers and hardware manufacturers release driver updates regularly. Before installing any kind of device driver on your system you should make sure that it is the latest and most updated version. Updated versions of drivers can be found on the Internet. While downloading an update for your driver ensure that you download it from a reliable source. Most reliable and authentic driver updates can be found either on the manufacturer’s website or from the operating system developer’s site.

In the Windows operating system, you can update your drivers through the Device Manager utility. To open the Device Manager, right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, and then select Properties. Next, on the Hardware tab choose Device Manager. In the Device Manager you can skim through hardware device categories and identify the device for which you want to install the update for and then right-click on this device and select Properties. Open the Driver tab in the properties dialog box and click Update Driver to start the Hardware Update Wizard. Next, follow the instructions in the wizard to update your driver.

Once the updates are complete, restart your computer to make sure that the updates have been installed properly and there are no errors because of the new version.

Device drivers are developed for a specific operating system. For example, drivers for the Windows operating system are different from that of the Linux operating system. Also, drivers for Windows XP are different from that of Windows Vista. Therefore, you should take extra care while installing drivers for a hardware device. Installing a wrong driver can permanently damage your device as well as the computer system. To prevent this confusion, it is recommended that you use a good third-party driver update tool such as Driver Finder to update your device drivers. These tools automatically scan your computer for outdated and obsolete drivers and then suggest new, better, and compatible versions.

Most users remain oblivious of device drivers until something goes wrong.  Before something goes wrong, many users absolutely have no idea about what a device driver is or how to go about resolving errors related to device drivers. This often leads them to seek external help without troubleshooting the problem themselves.

Your Windows operating system supports hundreds of hardware devices that help your computer perform different tasks. For this, the PC comes equipped with device drivers for a majority of peripheral devices. Every device has a specific driver. For example, a video adaptor is driven by a video driver or a VGA driver. So, it is quite likely that when you connect a new video adaptor, you can use it without any errors. However, occasionally, you may come across a hardware error during the installation of a new device or even with a device that you have been using successfully in the past.

There are three main ways of troubleshooting a device driver error:

1. Rolling back the device driver: In case you start encountering problems after you upgrade a device driver, you should roll back to the previous version of the driver.
2. Update the device driver: If you notice that a device driver is either outdated or incompatible with your Windows operating system or if you encounter random issues related to the driver, you may need to update the current driver.
3. Reinstall the device driver: If your hardware stops operating suddenly and if upgrading the driver does not resolve the issue then you may need to uninstall and reinstall the device driver.

Whenever any of your hardware devices does not work, it is recommended that you check for device driver issues before proceeding to investigate other hardware related problems.

You can perform the above three troubleshooting tasks through either of the two methods given below:

1. Manual method: You can use the built-in facility provided with Windows known as the Device Manager which helps you manage your device drivers and perform various tasks, such as driver updates, roll back, removal, and installation. To open the Device Manager, right-click on My Computer and then select Properties. On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager. Although the Device Manager is available within Windows, driver maintenance and repair is quite time-consuming and the chances of errors are quite high.
2. Automatic method: A popular method to efficiently and automatically manage device drivers is to use a third-party driver scanner tool, such as Driver Finder. Driver scanner tools have a user-friendly interface that makes the process of managing your device drivers and updating them a pleasant experience. These tools automate most of the process and provide customer support in case you are unable to do something.

Common Causes of Driver Errors

Some of the common causes of driver errors are listed below:

• The hardware device you are trying to use is not properly connected to your computer.
• Two or more drivers on the system are incompatible with each other.
• A driver or driver update being installed is not compatible with your system.
• There is an obsolete or outdated driver on the PC.

Steps to Fix Driver Errors
The first step in fixing driver errors is to make sure that your hardware device is properly connected to your system. Many device related errors are fixed just by checking that your device is connected to your system properly.

Next, you need to ensure that there is no problem with the driver itself. You can do this by using the Device Manager utility that comes with your Windows computer. You can open the Device Manager directly by running the devmgmt.msc command at Start > Run.

When you open the Device Manager, you will see a list of all the devices connected to your system. You can easily identify the faulty device because it will be marked with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside it.

Right-click on this device to open its properties dialog box. Check the Device status section on the General tab in the properties dialog box. If the driver is behind the errors, display the Driver tab in the driver properties dialog. Here, do one of the following tasks:

• Check for and Install Driver Updates: An outdated and obsolete driver is one of the main reasons behind driver-related errors. To resolve this issue, click the Update Driver button. This will open a hardware update wizard. You can use the wizard to update your driver. It is recommended that you first download the update for the driver and save it at a convenient location on your hard disk and then start the update process because the update wizard will ask you to specify the location from which to install the updates.

• Rollback Driver: If you started receiving the error message soon after you installed a new update, then it is quite likely that the new update is buggy. To repair this issue, click the Roll Back Driver button to revert to your previous version of the driver.

• Uninstall Driver: If there are problems with your current driver—missing or corrupt files—then it is best that you click Uninstall to remove the current driver and then reinstall the driver again.

In case you are not sure of what you are doing and if you find the above fixes a bit complicated then it is recommended that you opt for a reliable driver scanner tool, such as Driver Finder. A driver scanner tool is designed to keep a check on all your device drivers to ensure that they are up-to-date. Whenever a new update is available, the driver scanner will automatically download and install the best update on your PC.

A device driver is a computer program that determines how your Windows operating system and other high-level programs interact with different hardware devices and components. It is also sometimes referred to as a software driver. A device driver facilitates this interaction by converting the instructions that your operating system and software programs give into messages that your hardware can comprehend.

A device driver is required for interfacing with many hardware devices including:

• Computer Printers
• Scanners
• Sound Cards
• Network Cards
• Video Adapters
• Storage devices – CD-ROMs, external hard disks
• Digital Cameras

Each device, such as a keyboard, display monitor, disk drive, and printers require a device controller to control data transfer between your computer and the device. These device controllers use the device drivers to enable communication between computer software and the respective devices.

Your operating system already has many device drivers installed on it. Since a majority of devices that are available in the market are plug and play, as soon as you connect them, your operating system identifies them immediately and starts searching for their respective driver.

For example, the moment you connect an external device such as a USB drive to your PC, a message pops-up on your Windows taskbar that informs you that a USB device has been detected and is currently being installed. After installation is complete, you can use the device.

However, if you purchase any new device that the operating system did not foresee then you will need to install a device driver for it. So, in case you have purchased a new sound card that your Windows operating system did not anticipate, then you will need to install an audio driver for it. There are also instances where your operating system may have the driver for a device but it may not be the latest one. If this happens, then you should install the driver using the CD that comes along with a new product. In case you do not find the required driver along with the product, you may need to download that driver from the official website of the product manufacturer.

In order to manage the whole range of device drivers installed on your computer, you can choose either the manual or automatic option. You can choose to manually manage the device drivers by using the Device Manager utility that is available in the Control Panel of your Windows Startup Menu. However, many users are wary of using this utility or find it cumbersome to use. If you are one of the cautious users or would like to opt for the convenience of an automatic tool, then you can opt for Driver Finder or any other reliable third-party driver management tool that will help you download as well update your device driver in a few moments.