Driver Updates software

Discussion in 'Application Software' started by ThomasMann, Sep 25, 2017.

  1. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

    Dec 31, 2015
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    I am sure, I am not the only one who has had problems, or at least stress, with NVidia driver updates.
    And also with the “free” software, that will check your installed ones and then offer to supply you with about 162 “new” ones, if you first pay them…

    In the Windows Tool Box I found SDI Origin and not only found that it is free (but I found it was worth a donation!), but that the result after the scan it showed me, offered about a dozen drivers including one for an unidentified Device with a yellow exclamation mark in the device manager, which has been there for ever…

    I clicked install for that one, and a few other obvious ones….
    and got a pleasant surprise. Exclamation marks are gone and it all seems to work a little faster….

    What is your experience with this software? Can I just allow it to update every driver it suggests?

    2. Question: Is there a folder (Win 7) from where I can copy all installed drivers, on to an external hard-drive, to have a collection for a fresh installation of the OS? And where can I find it?



    Thank You
     
  2. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2014
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    Not good, it suggests compatible drivers (not designed for the hardware), it disabled my sound card. I prefer Driver Easy Free, it recommends WHQL drivers only.
     
  3. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

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    Is there a problem as long as their suggestions actually are compatible and do no damage? The ones that I chose to install, were an improvement.
     
  4. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
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    Use driver finder programs to find drivers you cannot find yourself, but before you install them blindly, check they are indeed the correct drivers for that hardware, then not much should go wrong

    Don't trust that it will find all 100% compatible drivers, they do not
     
  5. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami MDL Expert

    Mar 15, 2014
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    Compatible drivers drivers recognize the hardware in the device manager and that is it. No extra features and the device might not even work. But as long as they work for you, it is OK.
     
  6. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

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    That is not the answer, that was my question...

    I asked if it is recommended to install the ones that this software suggested. The few I that I recognized, I did installed and it was good.
    What about the rest? was my question.
     
  7. Jari

    Jari MDL Senior Member

    Jan 18, 2013
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    Does anybody know why both, SDI and SDI Origin, offer only MS NVMe driver for Samsung NVMe drives ? - Samsung own NVMe driver is clearly faster one.
     
  8. Korvar

    Korvar MDL Novice

    Apr 12, 2016
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    That's another point I didn't explicitly make in my previous post - don't assume any driver update software is complete by any stretch of the imagination. Some have more complete driver sets than others, but in any case it is incredibly hard to account for all possible hardware out there.

    It does tie in with what I said previously - make sure to inspect each suggested driver update to make an informed decision about what is being offered. SDI Origin offers a lot of information in tooltip menus by hovering the cursor over a suggested driver. Even if the "best" driver is not offered by the update software, it can at least act to highlight that there may be room for improvement in your current driver set. It's also good for plugging "holes" (missing/incorrect drivers) that you may not have known were there or were unsure of how to fix. Look for clues to aid further investigation - what are the names of the driver file(s)? What version nomenclature does that driver family use? Driver update software can still be useful even when you don't get the update directly from the software, if it gives you enough of a lead to find a better solution yourself.

    Just like anything else, you'll need to find a balance between optimization (finding "the best") and satisficing (finding "good enough"). It can sometimes take A LOT of time to properly identify and install (correctly) the "best" driver possible for a particular piece of hardware. This is especially true if driver modification is involved or if the driver set works in conjunction with a BIOS/UEFI ROM (such as NVMe / AHCI / RAID driver sets, for instance). Often these particular drivers have an ideal pairing with ROM. It is always an "it depends" type of question where you need to weigh the benefits against the time investment and potential risks involved.
     
  9. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

    Dec 31, 2015
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    Thank you for all your effort, I now know a little bit better. But in the end I know far to little about drivers to make adequate decisions about such things. After some attempts at some "free" driver update softwares, I was surprised that SDI unlike all others actually did exactly what it promised... So I keep on sticking to one of my rules for computers: If it aint broke, dont fix it.

    I have one more question, and hope it does not stretch your patience. When I do a clean Win 7 re-install there is always a few problems with drivers...
    Can I burn all my NOW installed drivers to a cd (or big USB drive if necessary) and use that for the new installation? Where would I find what I want?
     
  10. adric

    adric MDL Expert

    Jul 30, 2009
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    I don't see an option to only backup your current drivers. for safekeeping and restoring in case something goes wrong.
    I know there's a system restore point, but that's for the whole ball of wax and a lot of users disable this on their systems because they prefer other methods for recovery.
     
  11. Jari

    Jari MDL Senior Member

    Jan 18, 2013
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    You can find older drivers too, so it is not difficult to fix a failing driver update ...
     
  12. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

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    #14 ThomasMann, Oct 7, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2017
    (OP)
    System restore is in mho the best part of Win 7.
    I sometimes use a particular software for once only. F.e. video converters...
    Before installing I create a new restore point (30sec) and afterwards restore to it (90sec).

    Has worked a dozen of times and NOTHING, like sfc scannow, has ever found a fault with that afterwards
     
  13. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

    Feb 13, 2012
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    Or you could do what most people do and uninstall that piece of software in 10 seconds ...
     
  14. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

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    You might want to compare leftovers after both versions...
     
  15. MrMagic

    MrMagic MDL Guru

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    Why, I'm not anally retarded, I really don't care about a few minuscule traces of a program that make absolutely 0 difference to the performance of my machine

    Once a year I`ll clean install, and guess what? Windows runs absolutely fine for the whole year with those tiny leftovers

    Better things to do with my life than cry about byte size files
     
  16. ThomasMann

    ThomasMann MDL Expert

    Dec 31, 2015
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    Fine with me, if that works for you. I am not good enough with computers to intuitivly recognize, if ONLY "a few minuscule traces of a program that make absolutely 0 difference to the performance of my machine"....

    In my experience there are not too many softwares whereI trusting automatically is something I would recommend. (I learned that on a website called MDL)