License: Free to try

Your computer is composed of different bits of hardware components that perform specific functions. Device Drivers or Hardware Drivers, help each of these components communicate smoothly with the operating system and efficiently perform their tasks. Having updated and correct drivers for each device is essential for overall desirable performance of your system.

Driver Detective is a utility developed by PC Drivers HeadQuarters Inc. that allows you to update and install the most recent and optimum drivers for your computer hardware. Lack of authentic and updated device drivers is one of the key reasons for system under-performance and malfunction. Although most of the time device drivers are shipped along with the device, there are bug fixes and updates which are regularly made available by hardware manufacturers through their website.

System Requirements for Driver Detective

Processor speed: 300 MHz or higher

RAM: 256 MB or higher

Hard disk space: 22 MB

Operating system: Windows Vista, XP Pro, XP Home, 2003, 2000. Both 32 -bit and 64-bit versions supported

.NET framework required. Included in Driver Detective installation, if needed.

Supported Browsers: Internet Explorer 5.5 and above, Firefox 1.2 or higher, Opera 8 or higher

Downloading and Installing Driver Detective:

Driver Detective can be downloaded free of cost from here. The downloaded file installs a free trial version of the software that allows you to try its scan feature before you buy the full version. To install the software, you just need to double-click the installer you just downloaded and follow the simple instructions in the setup wizard.

To start the program you will need to click on its icon, which you may find in the programs menu that you see after clicking the “Start” button of Windows.

As mentioned earlier, you will find the software opening in trial mode that helps you test the efficacy of the program in scanning and detecting various hardware driver issues. The trial mode allows you to scan and review driver version status and available updates. However, to act upon these recommendations and have the drivers updated automatically, you would need the full version of the program. To upgrade the program and unlock the complete functionality of Driver Detective, you will need to pay and register to procure a license key for the product.

Using Driver Detective

Driver Detective can identify many different types of computers automatically and make it quite easy for you to scan and update your device drivers. For this review, we are testing the tool on a Compaq Presario 2200 notebook with Windows XP SP3 installed on it.

The entire Driver Detective scanning process happens in three stages. First, the program scans all the existing devices and drivers and makes a note of the existing drivers. It then connects to the Drivers HeadQuarters database, which is a repository of the latest drivers for a large number of hardware devices. Finally, Driver Detective correlates the existing driver with the information of the latest drivers found, and reports the status of drivers on your system.

Scanning Process

When you open Driver Detective, you will see the following three elements on the screen:

1. Scan Summary: This section shows a pie-chart with the status of drivers based on the last scan done on your computer.
2. System Information: In this section, you will see the configuration of your system, and details like the BIOS version.
3. News: Here you will find news pertaining to device drivers shared by programs regularly.

As Driver Detective automatically identified our computer as an HP Compaq system, the screen automatically changed to the step 2 scanning screen where we were asked to identify your HP product.

Here, we selected our Compaq PC model to enable the Scan Now button and then clicked it to start the scan.

Scan results report

The results of the scan were displayed within minutes of initiating the scan. The report included a scan summary that gave a glance at the number of devices detected in the machine with a break up of the number of those with valid or outdated device drivers.

Just below the summary, you get a detailed view of the devices found on your system, grouped together by their type. Alongside each of the devices, you see the status of each driver. For devices with updated drivers available, you will see a small diskette icon beside its name. If your copy of Driver Detective is registered, you will be able to download and install the latest drivers by clicking the floppy disk icon. The plus sign (+) provides you with Driver Installation options, and the question mark (?) icon enables you to open another dialog box that enables you to send a question to the Driver Detective Headquarters for customer support.

Some useful features of Driver Detective

Driver Detective ships with several useful features that make this tool quite efficient and simple to use. Even not-so-technically knowledgeable computer users can easily use this tool to update their computer drivers and enjoy an error-free and high-performance PC experience. Let us have a look at some of the salient features of this tool.

Easy Access To Customer Support

For any specific query beyond the scope and coverage of the help menu, the program has a simple form through which you may directly contact customer support with any specific query.

Easy Driver Backup

A simple facility to backup your device drivers installed on your machine can prove to be a lifesaver. There may be times when you are not satisfied with the performance of a new driver, or when you may want to roll back to the old driver. Take for instance a scenario where you are required to reinstall Windows and thus, requiring a reinstallation of all the drivers. Driver backup comes very handy here.

You can open the screen to backup your drivers by clicking the History icon at the top of the Driver Detective window.

The feature allows you to take a total backup of your installed drivers on a CD ROM, network drive or an external USB flash drive.

Windows Vista Migration Assistance

Just like any relatively new operating system, one of the initial pangs of Windows Vista was compatibility of hardware with the initial set of drivers available during that time. Over a period of time, various hardware manufacturers came out with updated drivers for their hardware to perform efficiently.

The Windows Vista upgrade assistance feature within Driver Detective helps you to find out the compatibility of your existing hardware with the operating system. It also allows you to download and backup these drivers on a CD ROM, USB flash drive or even a network drive, to help you install it once you have finished installing Windows Vista.

To check if your PC is Windows Vista ready, you need to click the Vista Ready? icon at the top of the Driver Detective window.

Conclusion

Managing device drivers manually can be a tiring and complex task. With a utility like Driver Detective, there is no need for manually installing and maintaining each and every device installed on your computer.  The program refers to a large database of updated device drivers that ensures that you take care of all bug fixes and subsequent releases of drivers.

The tool has a simple and user-friendly interface that makes it quite easy for all genres of computer users. Priced reasonably at $29.95, Driver Detective has a lot to offer making this tool the right choice for all Windows users.  Click here to download now.