Four ways: how to check drivers on Windows

For users who at least once reinstalled the Windows operating system on their own, the question arose which drivers should be installed after that for the normal operation of all devices connected to the computer. In this article, we’ll look at how to check drivers for Windows 10. The instructions below will work with other versions of the system.

How to check driver version

If you try to figure it out, it becomes clear that the drivers for all devices, both external (mouse, keyboard, joystick), and built-in (video card, network adapter, processor) must be installed on the computer. Microsoft developers are doing their best to make life easier for users, with each update significantly expanding the internal database of drivers, but sometimes you still have to look for software and manually install it. There will be four ways to test drivers on Windows 7, 8, and 10 now.

Method 1: official websites of manufacturers

The most reliable way to get the latest software for devices is to download them directly from the manufacturer’s official website. But it is worthwhile to understand that these manipulations are paramount and will not provide all devices with drivers. But this is the essence, first you need to update the main components: the motherboard, processor and video card. But first you need to find out the name and model.

Find out the motherboard model

To find out the manufacturer and model of the motherboard, you need to do the following:

1. Open the Run window. To do this, press the Win + R buttons on the keyboard.
2. In the window that appears, enter the cmd command and execute it by clicking OK.
3. The Command Prompt window will appear. In it, write down two commands in turn: wmic baseboard get Manufacturer and wmic baseboard get product.
4. The board manufacturer will be indicated on the first team, and its model on the second.

Remember the name, it will be needed to find the appropriate driver.

We learn the model of the video card and processor

You can find out the manufacturer and model of the video chip and processor in almost the same way:

1. Open the Run window.
2. Enter the dxdiag command into it.
3. Click OK.
4. In the window that appears, go to the “Screen” tab.
5. In the category "Device" opposite the lines "Name", "Manufacturer" and "Type of chips" will be indicated relevant information regarding the computer processor.
6. Go to the "Converter" tab.
7. By analogy with the processor, all the necessary information about the video card will not be indicated.

Record all the data obtained in order to search for the appropriate drivers for the components of the computer.

We are looking for drivers

Knowing the names of all the devices for which drivers must be installed, you can easily find the software itself for them directly.

1. Go to any search engine.
2. Write down the name and model of the component that needs updating.
3. Go to the official website of the manufacturer.
4. In the site’s interface, find the search bar and run a query with the name of the device.
5. In the search, find the appropriate driver.
6. Download it to your computer.
7. Install.

This is how you can simply upgrade the main components of your computer. Now you know the first way to check your computer drivers, but it is far from the last.

Method 2: software for updating drivers

The previous method, how to check the drivers, may seem rather complicated to you, and this is partly true. For an ordinary user, it will be much easier to use special programs that automatically scan the computer for outdated software versions and offer appropriate updates for them. One such program is Driver Booster.

1. Run the program.
2. Click the Scan button.
3. Wait for this process to complete.
4. As a result, devices that need updating will be displayed.
5. If you want to install new versions of individual software, then click “Install” opposite the corresponding component.
6. If you decide to update all components at once, click the corresponding button on the top panel of the program.

Immediately after this, the process of downloading and then installing the drivers for the computer devices will start. During this step, the computer may restart several times.

Method 3: online services

Someone fundamentally does not want to install additional software on a computer, in this case there is a great way to check drivers on Windows 10 and all other OS versions in general, which implies the use of online services.

1. Open the "Device Manager" and look in it the identifier of the device for which you want to download the driver.
2. Go to the online service for finding drivers by their ID.
3. On the main page, enter the identifier in the search bar and click the "Find" button.
4. A list will display a list of all drivers suitable for your hardware.
5. Select your favorite and click on the Download button.
6. Install.

As you can see, this is perhaps the fastest way to check the drivers on the computer, but it can not help everyone.

Method 4: update with regular operating system tools

Is an update required, how do I check the drivers? You can update them without using additional software through the “Device Manager” utility.

1. In the search for the system, enter “Device Manager” and run the appropriate program from the results.
2. In the list of all devices, select the one you want to update.
3. Right click on it.
4. Select "Update Drivers" from the menu.
5. In the new window, click the "Update automatically" button.

After that, the computer will try to find and install new drivers for the component on its own. This method is not always effective, since the search for software passes through the internal Microsoft database.