installing new drivers question

ant9985 · 11-22-2008, 11:54 AM

Hello, iv had my pc for over a year now and dont think iv every updated any drivers, but i would like to update the drivers for every piece of hardware i have.
I have a few questions though, if someone wouldn't mind answering.

1) People say you should uninstall the old driver before you install a new one.
This sounds reasonable, but if i uninstall the driver for my motherboard, then will it still be able to function while i install a new one? im not entirely sure what uninstalling my mobo driver will actually do to my pc. Also is a motherboard driver called 'chipset driver'?

2) Should i download all the drivers, uninstall old and install new drivers in safe mode all at once? if so, how do i get into safe mode?

3) So i need to update drivers for motherboard, sound card, graphics card, optical drives(SATA). do i need to update the drivers for my hard drives(SATA)? will i loose any data if i do? and is there anything else i need drivers for plz?

4) Has anyone used this 'driver sweeper' program? does it remove any drivers that you haven't uninstalled/dont want uninstalled? or just fragments from ones youv uninstalled?

appreciate any advice,
thanks for your time.

**blah789** · 11-22-2008, 02:23 PM

1) it's good practice to do so. Usually the critical ones like video will be replaced by generic (standard VGA adapter for example) when the driver is removed, so Windows will still be usable
2) I don't think you need to switch to safe mode unless the installation didn't work in normal mode. And generally it's wise to let the system reboot after one driver installs before installing the next. You never know what could go wrong if you try to install everything at once (and it'd be difficult to trace it too!) If you need to enter safe mode, at boot time, press F8 and you'll get a menu.
3) Optical drives and hard drives don't really need an updated driver. The controller to which they're attached (ATA or SATA) may sometimes need updating, but the devices themselves usually don't.
What else do you need drivers for? Well you got the basics covered. Video, sound, monitor, chipset, network adapters (wired and wireless), any expansion card you have connected (PCI for example), pointing devices, modems are probably the basics. Then just see if you have anything else hooked to the computer.
4) Haven't tried it, so can't give an opinion.

ant9985 · 11-23-2008, 02:40 AM

thanks a lot :)
ill get started with it all today

11-22-2008, 11:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
ant9985 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 68 OS: xp home sp3	installing new drivers question Hello, iv had my pc for over a year now and dont think iv every updated any drivers, but i would like to update the drivers for every piece of hardware i have. I have a few questions though, if someone wouldn't mind answering. 1) People say you should uninstall the old driver before you install a new one. This sounds reasonable, but if i uninstall the driver for my motherboard, then will it still be able to function while i install a new one? im not entirely sure what uninstalling my mobo driver will actually do to my pc. Also is a motherboard driver called 'chipset driver'? 2) Should i download all the drivers, uninstall old and install new drivers in safe mode all at once? if so, how do i get into safe mode? 3) So i need to update drivers for motherboard, sound card, graphics card, optical drives(SATA). do i need to update the drivers for my hard drives(SATA)? will i loose any data if i do? and is there anything else i need drivers for plz? 4) Has anyone used this 'driver sweeper' program? does it remove any drivers that you haven't uninstalled/dont want uninstalled? or just fragments from ones youv uninstalled? appreciate any advice, thanks for your time. Last edited by ant9985; 11-22-2008 at 12:01 PM.

11-22-2008, 02:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,261 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: installing new drivers question 1) it's good practice to do so. Usually the critical ones like video will be replaced by generic (standard VGA adapter for example) when the driver is removed, so Windows will still be usable 2) I don't think you need to switch to safe mode unless the installation didn't work in normal mode. And generally it's wise to let the system reboot after one driver installs before installing the next. You never know what could go wrong if you try to install everything at once (and it'd be difficult to trace it too!) If you need to enter safe mode, at boot time, press F8 and you'll get a menu. 3) Optical drives and hard drives don't really need an updated driver. The controller to which they're attached (ATA or SATA) may sometimes need updating, but the devices themselves usually don't. What else do you need drivers for? Well you got the basics covered. Video, sound, monitor, chipset, network adapters (wired and wireless), any expansion card you have connected (PCI for example), pointing devices, modems are probably the basics. Then just see if you have anything else hooked to the computer. 4) Haven't tried it, so can't give an opinion.

11-23-2008, 02:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
ant9985 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 68 OS: xp home sp3	Re: installing new drivers question thanks a lot :) ill get started with it all today