Most users of computer systems know that the drivers of absolutely all devices (both hardware and virtual) should be kept up to date, since the functionality of some applications may be impaired, as a result of which the programs will lose some functions, not to mention the occurrence of errors. Read about how to update all drivers on Windows 10. A few basic techniques are offered for review.
How to update all drivers on Windows 10 in a standard way
To begin with, let us dwell on the classical method, which, although it looks very inconvenient, can be used, so to speak, in extreme cases, in the absence of specialized utilities.
How to update drivers on Windows 10? To do this, use the "Device Manager", which can be launched from the "Control Panel", the computer administration menu or the devmgmt.msc command in the program execution section (Run). Next, you need to open the device group, select a specific device and use either the PCM menu (right mouse button) with the driver update line or double-click to access the properties section, in which the corresponding software update button is clicked on the driver tab.
For example, you need to update your sound card drivers (Windows 10). To do this, first select the desired one in the group of sound and gaming devices, use the software update line and tell the system to install the driver from its own database based on a scan of what is already on the computer.
If the user downloaded the new version by himself, you need to specify the full path to the file location.
But that is not all. As a rule, the system may also contain some kind of virtual MIDI device, audio outputs and inputs, etc. Therefore, if you want the card to work using all the features, updating the sound drivers on Windows 10 will be necessary for all of the above components.
And so for all device groups. As you can already guess, the method is very inconvenient, moreover, it takes a lot of time.
Using third-party programs
To simplify your decision on how to update all drivers on Windows 10 in a matter of minutes, you should turn to special automated programs that can scan drivers for updates, download them from the official resources of the equipment manufacturers and integrate them into the system on their own. The following programs can be called the most popular and simple:
- DriverPack Solution;
- Driver Booster;
- Slim Drivers
Let us dwell briefly on each application.
DriverPack Solution
This package, according to many experts, is the most interesting, because it can be used for the initial installation of drivers, and for their automatic update.
For the application, you can download a special web version, which "weighs" about 2-3 MB, run the utility, and after installing and scanning, use either automatic installation or manual installation. The second option allows you to select the necessary components for the update yourself.
Driver booster
Now let's see how to update drivers on Windows 10 using the Driver Booster application. The process is no different from the previous case.
After installing and starting the program, scanning starts automatically, after which a message is displayed stating that a certain number of updates have been found. Again, you can use either the installation of all the content, or tick off only those components that the user needs.
Slim drivers
The third program also does not require special user involvement and is able to find some non-standard drivers for specific equipment.
But when installing the application on a computer, it is especially worth paying attention to the checkmarks, opposite the lines with the proposal to install additional components. No, of course, there are no viruses there, but there is clearly enough advertising garbage or unnecessary software for the user.
How to update video card drivers on Windows 10 (NVIDIA and Radeon)?
Now a few words about updating video card drivers . If the user for some reason is not satisfied with the above utilities, you can use the driver download from official resources, but you need to know your model for this.
But it’s possible to do something easier, because on both sites there is the possibility of launching an online scan, at the end of which it will be announced that there are updates that can be downloaded to your computer.
However, you can use additional utilities specifically designed for this. For NVIDIA, this is Display Driver Uninstaller; for Radeon, AMD Driver Autodetect.
In the case of NVIDIA, the application uses the delete and reboot button of the system, after which, upon restarting, the application interface will change its appearance somewhat. The program then selects express or custom installation.
For AMD, when the applet is launched, the Catalyst application is installed, during which the drivers previously installed in the system and some related additional services will be updated.
Conclusion
It remains to say that the question of how to update all drivers on Windows 10 is best solved with the use of automated tools, since it is both easier and faster than installing updates manually (especially since “Device Manager”, unlike such utilities, does not give out any information about the availability of updates). As for video adapters, general programs and narrowly targeted applications are suitable. But, it seems, it is better to give preference to the software developed by the manufacturers of graphic chips.