FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a driver?

A: A device driver is a software program that manages communication between your computer and a hardware device. Devices like keyboards, mice, disk drives, and printers all use a software driver to interact with the operating system and other software applications.

When you buy an operating system like Microsoft Windows XP, many device drivers are built into the operating system. However, if you buy a new type of device that the operating system did not anticipate, you'll have to install a new device driver. A device driver essentially converts the more general input/output instructions of the operating system to messages that the device can understand.

Q: What drivers do I need?

A: Just run our Driver Robot on your system and it will give you a detailed report on which drivers on your system should be updated.

Q: Do you need to reboot your PC after you update a driver?

A: In most cases, yes. Windows will automatically let you know if it needs to reboot before finalizing installation of the driver. Older versions of Windows are almost guaranteed to need a reboot. Modern versions of Windows will sometimes not need to, depending on the type of driver, and the hardware.

Q: When I try to install a driver, I get a warning message saying that the software has not passed Windows Logo testing, what does this mean?

A: Microsoft offers WHQL certification for drivers, effectively giving the driver a seal of approval. If a driver is not WHQL certified, you will see a warning message about it. Some hardware manufacturers choose not to have their drivers WHQL certified, or the drivers can be brand new, and not yet certified. It does not mean that the driver is bad, just that Microsoft has not officially certified it. It is typically completely safe to click the "Continue" button to install the driver.

Q: My High-Definition Audio (HDAUDIO) is not working, or is not finding the correct driver. I have switched from Vista to XP and my sound no longer works.

A: Microsoft Windows recently changed to using a new method for communicating with audio devices, and requires that the HDAUDIO drivers be installed before installing the specific drivers for the audio device. If the HDAUDIO drivers are not installed first, the device will not work, and will not be detected properly by Driver Updater Pro.

Please see this Microsoft Knowledgebase article about the issue.

Q: What systems does Driver Robot work on?

A: Driver Robot can works on Windows XP 32-Bit / Windows XP 64-Bit / Windows Vista 32-Bit / Windows Vista 64-Bit. Driver Robot is not available for Macintosh, Unix or Linux.

Q: Does Driver Robot install any other software onto my PC?

A: No! When you scan with Driver Robot, no other software is installed onto your PC. Our Driver Robot Scan Technology is 100% Guaranteed Adware Free, Spyware Free, and Virus Free.

Q: Windows has already installed a driver for a device, need I update it?

A: Drivers provided by Windows can only offer basic device performance. For optimal performance, you must install the latest drivers provided by the manufacturer. The most important thing to note is that the drivers provided by Windows do not contain a control panel for hardware configuration. For example, if you don't install the latest drivers provided by the manufacturer for video cards, you cannot configure the OpenGL and Direct3D options for the video card. This can noticeably lower the quality and FPS of 3D images in games. Similarly with the sound card, Windows drivers cannot offer EAX sound effects, 3D sound effects, or Dolby multi-channel surround stereo. So installing a suitable driver will enhance the full performance of device.

A few reasons why you might want to update your drivers:

	You like to keep your system up to date with the latest software and updates.
	You have a device that is not recognized or working properly.
	You have a new game that does not work properly.
	You have a device that is not working up to it's full potential, or is missing features.
	You have just upgraded to a new operating system.
	Using one device causes another not to work properly.
	A new of piece of hardware came out and you were one of the first to own it.