What is the best way to find most up-to-date drivers for entire PC?

[Athelite]

I was always told to get the latest drivers for my computer but most of them are not easy to find except for video cards, discrete audio, and mouse/keyboard.

The onboard SATA/Network/Bluetooth/USB 3.0/etc drivers are particularly difficult to find and motherboard manufacturers don't put the most updated versions on their websites.

Is it recommended to use programs like Driver Genius or DriverMax to scan the PC for all missing drivers?

 

[denis280]

welcome to the forums Athelite.for your question(not true in some case) and what model and brand is your motherboard

 

[MTDEW]

People report great success with Slim Drivers Free Edition
It is also recommended by Maximum PC... It was also recently listed as one of the best free apps for driver updates in one of their magazine issues.

Of course, most of us here prefer to do it all manually, but the above will work just fine if you'd prefer that way.
Heck , even if you do prefer hunting down all the latest driver versions for your PC manually, using this utility afterward could easily just be used to alert you to an update you may have missed and didn't notice. :thumbsup:

 

[Carson Dyle]

I was always told to get the latest drivers for my computer

Don't believe everything you're told.

The onboard SATA/Network/Bluetooth/USB 3.0/etc drivers are particularly difficult to find and motherboard manufacturers don't put the most updated versions on their websites.

I'd much rather trust what the motherboard manufacturer makes available. This is very much a case of "if it ain't broke".

 

[inachu]

From an IT perspective it sound silly to use a tool to find all drivers needed but that is why a company has an IT dept to do all its important stuff in regards to computers and servers.

Point out the following.

A. Standards. If a company had a mishmash of all brands of computers and devices then you are looking at vast sums of money to support that hell hole.

Bring entire company under 1 technology. Meaning one computer brand.

This way overhead in training and support is cheaper.
Now you have all drivers for that computer under one roof on a shared drive and all IT techs know what drivers to use with ZERO BELL CURVE to learn how to build the OS on the PC.
SEcond point is using SCCM. When deploying a pc and system control center is properly configured then you no longer have to worry about drivers and just need to deploy the OS to the pc and you are done.

So the same thing can happen at home. Visit the company website that has your drivers. Save them to your external hard drive so that when your OS or drive dies on you then you do not have to pull the hair out of your head looking crazy search for all the stuff again.

So.
One place. One drive. What is so hard about that instead of using glorified third party software that will just cost you more money down the road?

It is the customers due diligence at home to save yourself time and money from the start to backup your files instead of run amok happy go lucky... Oh no pc died! I threw away my pc software when I got it!

Save yourself time and keep a backup and the drivers. This will save you time and money in the long run. This makes sense in the home and corporate environment.

 

[inachu]

Don't believe everything you're told.



I'd much rather trust what the motherboard manufacturer makes available. This is very much a case of "if it ain't broke".

Very true!


The only USB 3.0 issues I have seen are for laptops with docking stations.

Many people never install the USB 3.0 drivers and they end up having power issues.

 

[inachu]

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Thank you.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[corkyg]

Good advice here - I can tell you from first hand experience that those consolidated driver update sites will load you up with PUPs, some of which are very aggressive and will even take over your home page. Stick with the OEM update sites.

 

[stinger608]

Good advice here - I can tell you from first hand experience that those consolidated driver update sites will load you up with PUPs, some of which are very aggressive and will even take over your home page. Stick with the OEM update sites.

I can say first hand that Slim Drivers Free edition DOES NOT put pups, Trojans, or malware in a system.

I run the premium Malwarebytes and Avast antivirus and have never received issues running the free version of Slim Drivers.
Although, watch it when you install the free version as it will install other crap if you don't do the advanced install.

 

[Danrr]

People report great success with Slim Drivers Free Edition
It is also recommended by Maximum PC... It was also recently listed as one of the best free apps for driver updates in one of their magazine issues.

Of course, most of us here prefer to do it all manually, but the above will work just fine if you'd prefer that way.
Heck , even if you do prefer hunting down all the latest driver versions for your PC manually, using this utility afterward could easily just be used to alert you to an update you may have missed and didn't notice. :thumbsup:

I always have a backup, which includes the drivers but I will try the Slim Drivers software and see if its worth it.

Thanks