Probably everyone who has at least once reinstalled it on their own operating system, a popular question arose: how to find out which drivers need to be installed on a computer for its stable operation? It is this question that we will try to answer in this article. Let's take a closer look.

What software do you need for your computer?

In theory, you need to install software for all devices that require it on your computer or laptop. Over time, operating system developers are constantly expanding the base Microsoft drivers. And if in Windows times XP had to install almost all the drivers manually, but in the case of newer operating systems, many drivers are already installed automatically. However, there are still devices for which software must be installed manually. We bring to your attention a number of methods that will help you resolve this issue.

Method 1: Official websites of manufacturers

To install everything necessary drivers, you need to install software for all boards in your computer. This means the motherboard, video card and external boards (network adapters, sound cards and so on). At the same time, in “ Device Manager» It may not be indicated that the hardware requires drivers. When installing the operating system, the standard software for the device was simply used. However, the software for such devices must be installed original. Most of all installed software is on the motherboard and the chips integrated into it. Therefore, first we will search for all drivers for motherboard, and then for the video card.

1. Find out the manufacturer and model of the motherboard. To do this, press the keys “ Win+R"on the keyboard and in the window that opens, enter the command " cmd" to open the command line.

2. On the command line, you must enter the following commands one by one:

wmic baseboard get Manufacturer wmic baseboard get product

Don't forget to click " Enter" after entering each command. As a result, you will see the manufacturer and model of your motherboard on the screen.

3. Now we look for the manufacturer’s website on the Internet and go to it. In our case, this is the MSI website.

4. On the site, look for a search field or the corresponding button in the form of a magnifying glass. As a rule, by clicking on this button you will see a search field. In this field you must enter the motherboard model and click “ Enter».

5. On the next page you will see the search result. You need to select your motherboard from the list. Usually there are several subsections under the name of the board model. If there is a section " Drivers" or " Downloads", click on the name of such a section and go to it.

6. In some cases, the following page may be divided into subsections with software. If this is the case, then look for and select the subsection “ Drivers».

7. The next step is to select the operating system and bitness from the drop-down list. Please note that in some cases there may be differences in the driver lists when selecting different operating systems. Therefore, look not only at the system that you have installed, but also at the versions below.

8. After selecting the OS, you will see a list of all the software that your motherboard needs to interact with other computer components. You need to download them all and install them. Downloading occurs automatically after clicking on the button "", " Download" or the corresponding icon. If you downloaded an archive with drivers, then before installation, be sure to extract all its contents into one separate folder. After that, install the software.

9. After you install all the software for your motherboard, move on to the video card.

10. Press the key combination “ again” Win+R" and in the window that appears, enter the command " dxdiag" To continue, click " Enter" or the button " OK" in the same window.

11. In the diagnostic tool window that opens, go to the “ Screen" Here you can find out the manufacturer and model of your graphics adapter.

12. If you have a laptop, then you must also go to the “ Converter" Here you can see information about the second discrete video card.

13. After you have found out the manufacturer and model of your video card, you need to go to the company’s official website. Here is the list of download pages largest producers graphics adapters.

• Software download page for nVidia video cards
• Software download page for AMD graphics cards
• Software download page for Intel graphics cards

14. On these pages you need to indicate the model of your video card and operating system with bit depth. After this, you can download the software and install it. Please note that it is preferable to install software for the graphics adapter from the official website. Only in this case will they be installed special components, which will increase the performance of the video card and allow for its detailed configuration.

15. Once you install the software for the graphics adapter and motherboard, you need to check the result. To do this, open “ device Manager" Press the button combination “ Win" And " R"on the keyboard, and in the window that opens we write the command

devmgmt.msc

After that, click “ Enter».

16. As a result, you will see the window “ Device Manager" It should not contain unidentified devices and equipment next to the name of which there are question marks or exclamation marks. If this is the case, then you have installed all the necessary drivers. And if such components are present, we recommend using one of the following methods.

Method 2: Utilities for automatic software updates

If you are too lazy to search and install all the software manually, then you should take a closer look at programs that are designed to make this task easier. Review on most popular programs For automatic search and update of software, we carried out in a separate article.

Lesson: The best programs for installing drivers

You can use any of the described utilities. But we still recommend using DriverPack Solution or Driver Genius. These are programs with the largest base of drivers and supported hardware. We have already told you about how to use DriverPack Solution .

So let us tell you how to find and install all drivers using the program Driver Genius. So, let's begin.

1. Launch the program.

2. You'll be on her right away. home page. Here in the middle is green button « Start checking" Feel free to click on it.

3. The scanning process of your computer or laptop will start. After a few minutes, you will see a list of all devices for which you need to download and install the software. Since we are not looking for a specific driver, we tick all the available boxes. After that, press the button “ Further" in the lower area of ​​the program window.

4. In the next window you will see a list of devices for which drivers have already been updated using this utility, and those devices for which the software still needs to be downloaded and installed. The last device type is marked with a gray circle next to the name. To be safe, just press the “ Load all».

5. After this, the program will try to connect to the servers to download necessary files. If everything goes well, you will be returned to the previous window, where you can track the software download progress in the corresponding line.

6. When all components are loaded, the icon next to the device name will turn green with a downward arrow. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to install all the software with one button. Therefore, we highlight the line with necessary device and press the button " Install».

7. If desired, create a restore point. You will be prompted for this in the next dialog box. Choose the answer that matches your decision.

8. After this, the driver installation process for the selected device will begin, during which standard problems may arise. dialog boxes. You just need to read them licensing agreements and press the buttons Further" You shouldn't have any problems at this stage. After installing this or that software, you may be asked to reboot the system. If such a message appears, we recommend that you do so. When the driver is successfully installed, Driver program Genius will have a green checkmark opposite the line with the equipment.

9. Thus, it is necessary to install software for all equipment from the list.

10. At the end, you can scan your computer again to be sure. If you have installed all the drivers, you will see a similar message.

11. In addition, you can check if all software is installed using " Device Manager"as described at the end of the first method.

12.. If there are still unidentified devices, try the next method.

Method 3: Online services

If the previous methods did not help you, you can only rely on this option. Its meaning is that we will search for software manually using the unique device identifier. In order not to duplicate information, we recommend that you read our lesson.

In it you will find detailed information about how to find the ID and what to do with it next. And also a guide to using the two largest online driver search services.

Method 4: Manual driver update

This method is the least effective of all the above. However, in very rare cases he will be able to help install the software. Here's what it takes.

1. Open " device Manager" How to do this is indicated at the end of the first method.

2. In " Dispatcher"We are looking for an unidentified device or equipment with a question/exclamation mark next to its name. Usually branches with such devices are immediately open and there is no need to search for them. Click on such a device right click mouse and select the line “ Update drivers».

3. In the next window, select the software search method: automatic or manual. In the latter case, you will need to manually specify the path to the location where the drivers for the selected device are stored. Therefore, we recommend using automatic search. To do this, click on the corresponding line.

4. As a result, a search for software on your computer will begin. If necessary components will be found, the system will install them itself. At the end you will see a message indicating whether the drivers were installed or could not be found.

These are the most effective ways identify devices for which you need to install software. We hope one of the proposed options will help you resolve this issue. Don't forget to update the software for your devices on time.

Instructions

If you need to know which drivers are in this moment installed on your computer, it is better to use special utility. This will significantly save time spent on analyzing existing batches of files. Download and install Pack program Solution. Naturally, it is better to use the current version of the utility rather than its outdated analogues.

Restart your computer and launch the application by opening the DPS-drv.exe file. Wait while the program scans your equipment and collects necessary information. Now open the "Miscellaneous" tab. This menu contains information about installed drivers. They are divided into the following categories: “unknown”, “current”, “obsolete” and “standard”. Open the required category and find the equipment you need.

Hover your mouse over the driver description to see additional information about him. If you need to update files for a specific device, then expand the “Out-of-date” category and select the checkboxes required packages files. Now find the “Install” button in the upper left part of the working window and click it. Select auto mode installation and wait for the process to complete.

If you do not have the opportunity to use the program described above, or you need to get more full information about certain drivers, then use the operating function Windows systems. Open the Start menu and right-click on Computer.

Go to the properties of this item. Open the Device Manager menu. Find the equipment you need and right-click on its name. Select "Properties" and open the "Driver" tab. Now click the Details button. The window that opens will display a list of files that uses this device.

After reinstalling the operating system, in many cases you have to manually install drivers for all devices on the computer. This is especially true for laptop owners, where, in addition to drivers for the main equipment should be installed software For additional devices. But how do you know which drivers are not yet installed?

Instructions

Helpful advice

To install drivers, right-click on the device icon and select “Update drivers.”

It often happens that you have installed some new hardware into the system unit of your computer, but Windows categorically refuses to recognize it correctly and cannot install the appropriate drivers. It's good if you have a CD with drivers from the manufacturer.

Instructions

There are at least three simple ways, which new device. Contact the official website of the equipment manufacturer. Go to the “Support” section, which is on every site and look for instructions and the most fresh drivers for your device. Download them at HDD, unpack and install standard means Windows. The new must be determined and work.

If you don't know the hardware manufacturer, try another way to find out what drivers your unidentified device needs. To do this, go to "Dispatcher" Windows devices(My Computer – Properties – Device Manager). Find the unidentified device and open its properties. Go to the “Details” tab and in the “Property” field select “Hardware ID. Of all the lines that appear in the field below, copy the first one by right-clicking on it and selecting “Copy. Open your browser and go to the device search site by code: http://devid.info/. In the “Search” field, paste the copied line with the code and in the results that appear, select any driver you like. Download it and install it on your system.

However, the simplest and most convenient option, which allows you not only to find out what drivers your equipment needs, but also to install them automatically or use driver installation managers, such as DriverPack Solution or SamDrivers. You can download them completely. And the benefits of using them are obvious: they automatically install drivers for the vast majority and, thus, save your time. In case you suddenly need to roll back installed drivers, create another system restore point before starting the managers.

Sources:

• how do I find out which method I have?

If you don't have a disk with suitable drivers, you can use special software or use the appropriate Internet resource. Follow the instructions for the option in which you can find drivers even for devices that are not detected by the system.

Instructions

Sources:

• david.info

Tip 5: How to see what Windows version installed

In general, the computer owner does not need to know many things until he has to change anything in the hardware or software of the PC. One of these things includes information about what kind of version operating system is installed on it. However, when installing, for example, a driver on new equipment or antivirus program this information becomes necessary in order to correctly select the version of the product to be installed.

You will need

• - Computer with Windows OS.

Instructions

There are many ways to find out about the version, but the location of this information may vary depending on the version. The most universal, perhaps, can be considered the use for this purpose. standard utility, built into the operating system called dxdiag. To run it, open a command window Windows strings.

To get to the command line, press the Win + R key combination. You can call it in other ways, but these methods, again, differ depending on the version of the operating system. So, in Windows XP, in the Start menu there is a “Run” item, when you click on it, a command line appears. In Windows 7, the search bar for files and programs, located at the bottom of the same Start menu, can be used as a command line. Use any of the given methods and activate the command line.

At the command prompt, type dxdiag. At the same time, make sure that it is not turned on (so that the letters are small) and that English layout keyboards. To change the keyboard layout, click on the abbreviation at the bottom right of the screen active language(if Russian is active, these are two RUs) and select the EN option in the drop-down list.

After you dial the right command at the command line, press Enter. You will see the Diagnostic Utility window open. Strictly speaking, its direct purpose is to obtain detailed information about the multimedia properties of the system and version, as well as DirectX package settings, however, information about the OS version is also included in this list.

In the window that appears, find the line “Operating system”. This line contains the full name of the OS. In addition, it indicates the bit depth (32 or 64 bits), as well as version assemblies – serial number master disk from which the installation was performed. You most likely will not need the assembly version, but be sure to write down or remember the name of the OS and its bit capacity.

Experience shows that using new driver versions improves performance certain devices. Typically, installing updated drivers stabilizes the operation of the equipment and corrects errors found in previous version.

You will need

• - Sam Drivers;
• - Internet access.

Instructions

Experts recommend manually installing drivers for each specific device. Performing this procedure is quite difficult. In addition, it takes a relatively long time. Make a list of devices that need software updates.

Visit the websites of the companies that developed the equipment on your list. Most large companies offer to download drivers directly from their websites. Take advantage of this opportunity.

If you downloaded the installer, simply run this application. Follow step by step menu to select the driver installation mode. Do not install additional utilities, if this is not necessary.

After downloading the archive containing the driver files, create new folder. Extract files from the archive into it. Go to the "Device Manager" menu.

Right-click on the name of the equipment with outdated drivers. Select Properties. Open the Driver tab and click the Update button.

Switch to manual mode installing files. Open the Explorer menu by clicking the Browse button. Navigate to the directory where you extracted the downloaded files. Click Ok. Use the described algorithm to install drivers for other devices.

Sources:

Where to write drivers

Before installing the system, make sure that you have the necessary drivers recorded on separate media. The software may be stored on a separate storage medium, such as a CD or USB flash drive.

In most cases, driver discs are included with the purchase of your computer or laptop.

After reinstalling the system, you will have to install from the disk all available drivers for normal functioning system and continue to configure it. Drivers not only allow you to determine device support for the system, but also make it possible to increase the speed of Windows.

Network card driver

Before reinstalling Windows make sure you have the driver on hand for network card. Download the installer from the official website of the developer of your network card. Although Windows 7 often correctly detects the model of the hardware being used, the presence of a network card driver will allow you, if necessary, to load other drivers whose files you for some reason were not able to download first.

Installing network card support allows you to access the Internet on a freshly installed system to continue configuration.

Video card driver

This driver affects the display graphic elements desktop, is responsible for displaying 2D and 3D graphics and makes it possible to view high-quality video. Installing an additional driver for your video card can improve the performance and response of graphical elements of the system interface. You can download this software package from the official website of the manufacturer of your video card or computer (laptop). As a rule, most video cards are manufactured by Nvidia or ATI.

Bluetooth driver

Unlike the network card driver, the software for Bluetooth operation determined quite rarely. This is due to the specifics of the module release. Often, each laptop and computer manufacturer tries to install its own board, which will require a unique driver available for download on the Internet.

Sound card driver

To play audio and video files, you will need to install a driver for sound card, which is often also not detected by a freshly installed system. Without a suitable driver, the sound from the system will not be output to the speakers and you will not be able to play any sound files.

Other drivers

To improve system performance, you can also install drivers for the chipset, processor, touchpad, card reader, keyboard, mouse, Wi-Fi adapter, USB buses and any other devices that are on your computer.

Where does the analysis of almost any problem with equipment begin on technical forums? That's right, with the offer to update the driver. The fact is that a driver is a program, and its developers collect feedback and error messages that users send them, and then release new versions with bugs fixed. But how can you check if you have the latest drivers for your devices? In this article, you will learn how to check the relevance and update drivers without resorting to non-standard tools and third-party applications.

Does Windows update device drivers?

To see a list of your equipment and drivers for them, run standard remedy sysdm.cpl. To do this, press the keys Win+R, type the name of this program in the line that appears and press Enter.

In the “System Properties” window, select the “Hardware” tab.

There is no need to remember the name sysdm.cpl. There is an easier way - press Win+Pause, in the window that appears, select “ Extra options systems." The result will be the same.

Click the “Device installation parameters” button to check the settings automatic update Windows drivers.

Only the setting is indicated here, and the driver update itself takes place in the "Center" Windows updates» along with installing updates to the system itself and application programs Microsoft.

How to update the driver yourself?

If you have any doubts about the freshness of the installed driver for your device, you can start updating it manually. To do this, launch Device Manager (I recommend calling it from the System window via Win+Pause). Now in the device tree we select the equipment we are interested in and use the right button to select “Update driver”.

The result of the operation should be a system message indicating a successful driver update.

If the system does not find the driver

However, there is a chance that in your hands, or rather in your system unit, there will be a device for which Windows will not be able to find a driver on its own. Then you will have to install it from the disk or the manufacturer’s website. When updating a device driver, you should select "Browse for the driver on this computer" and specify the path to the folder where you downloaded it.

For most modern devices operating room Microsoft system Windows itself is able to find the appropriate driver without your participation. Just check if automatic driver updates are enabled.

If you decide to try some beta driver from the device developer at your own risk, then update it manually using the “Find a driver on this computer” option.

Also, do not forget about the built-in mechanism for automatically updating drivers, which are supplied by the driver developer himself. You shouldn't turn it off if you want to have the most current versions installed drivers.

Many people began to experience problems related to device drivers. And in connection with this, various questions began to appear in the comments with content like: the sound does not work or the image on the computer is slow, etc. Therefore, in response, as usual, I recommend first of all just reinstalling the driver and everything will work. I even separate instructions I wrote about it, you can find it.

But how to determine which driver is needed and what to install? This is the question that most often follows my recommendation. In principle, this is not surprising, since most people are just novice users and therefore they do not really know how to choose the right driver.

Therefore, especially for you, as always, I have prepared an article in the form of instructions on how to find out what drivers are needed for your computer, as well as how to determine the right driver for a video card and network card. We will do this using the Internet and the desktop program AIDA64.

For those who have problems with network drivers, less fortunate since in the future you will still need the Internet to search and download the driver. Therefore, in any case, you will have to find alternative access to the World Wide Web.

How to find out which driver is needed using the device ID

In general, no matter what device or computer component it is, it 100% has its own ID information. As for me, one of the fastest and most reliable ways to find out which driver is needed is by using the ID number.

Today, there are many sites and portals that help you easily determine the driver you need, the main thing is just copy the ID data into the search form and download one of the proposed drivers.

But how to find out the device ID? To do this, go to “ Control».

Now, select " Task Manager", and select required device, for example a video card, network card or an unidentified device, right-click on it and open “ Properties» devices.

In the new window that appears, immediately go to the section “ Intelligence", where from the proposed properties we select " Equipment ID" The information we need will appear in the values ​​a little lower. And we need the first line, or rather part of the first line, for example: PCI\VEN_1969&DEV_E091, we don't need everything else. By the way, the values ​​I gave in the example may differ, so don’t get attached to them.

You can either overwrite the value or simply copy it to the clipboard. Now open the website Devid.info and indicate the copied information in the search form and click on “ Search».

In a moment, a huge list of results will appear, from which you will have to select the version of the operating system that suits you and simply download the driver by clicking on the floppy disk icon.

After clicking on the icon, another window may appear in which you will need to confirm that you are not a robot and click on the download link again.

By the way, you don’t have to link only to the site I indicated; in order to find out which driver you need, you can find a similar portal, since there are quite a few of them now, or just copy the ID into Google and look for the results there.

Find out the required driver using the AIDA64 program

AIDA64, I use it less often to determine the required driver, mainly only in certain situations, for example, when the computer does not have drivers for the network card.

Anyway, let's get down to business. First, of course, we will have to download the utility and install it on the computer. There is a small nuance in this program, it is paid, but you will be provided with free trial period, which will be enough to find the drivers you need for your computer.

So, we launch the program, a list of all computer components will appear. For example, we need a driver for a video card; to determine the model and name of the video card, click on “ Display» – « Video PCI/AGP" After this, the name of your video card should appear in the device description.

Now, having a name, we can start searching for the required driver. The easiest way to do this is with I'm indexa or G o o g l e. Ideally, of course, it would be nice to find the required driver on the manufacturer’s website, but if this happens then just try using a search engine.

I won’t describe the downloading process; I think you’ll figure it out for yourself. The main thing is that the principle of determination unnecessary driver I showed you.

By the way, if you need a driver for the network card, then go to " Net» – « PCI/PnP network", and in the description you will see the name of the device you need. We do the same with other devices for which the driver will need to be updated.

Identifying and Installing the Right Driver Using DriverPack Solution

DriverPack Solution– is a utility that has been defining for a very long time necessary drivers and them automatic installation on computer.

A huge advantage of this program is that it will do everything for you, the user will only need to launch the program and start searching for drivers, and the program will do the rest for you.

By the way, previously it was distributed only on disks or in the form of images which took up quite a lot of space (from 1GB to 3GB). But now everything has changed, now it’s enough just to download a file of about three megabytes in size and update everything missing drivers V online mode. Unfortunately, this method not suitable for those who is missing drivers specifically for the network card.

So, download the file online installation by following this link ke. After that, of course, we launch it.

It will take a few seconds to search for missing drivers that should be installed or updated. After completion, select "".

The entire list of drivers that the program recommends updating will appear. Here we check the boxes of the required drivers. Further, just below there will be a utility section in which some additional programs will be offered. Personally, I remove all the checkboxes from there, but I will leave this up to your discretion, if you really need something from the proposed ones, then leave those utilities checked.

Now, go back upstairs and press the green button “ Install automatically" In terms of time, this update and installation can be quite lengthy, so we must be patient and wait.

After the process is completed, be sure to restart your computer and after rebooting you will see that all the missing drivers are now in place.

Well, now I think we have figured out how to find out what drivers are needed for a computer. You should choose the most suitable option that you like and get rid of all the problems with missing or uninstalled drivers.

It is not important for the average user to know where they are and what drivers are installed, but if any problems arise, it may be useful for you to look at the list of all installed Windows drivers. But who wants to click on every item in Device Manager?

How to view a list of installed Windows drivers

Windows has a built-in utility for this purpose that lists all installed drivers, which should make your life easier. All you need to do is enter the command on the command line:

This will allow you to see a list of drivers and the date of each one. If you want to receive more information about drivers, you can add the key “ /V", which can be used with “ | more” to prevent the list from scrolling automatically.
There are also other ways to get a list of installed Windows drivers, uploading to CSV file and showing the drivers you signed. To find out more about this, use the key “ /? “.

Using InstalledDriversList

If you are scared off by everything associated with the phrase “command line”, then you can use free utility InstalledDriversList.

After you have downloaded the archive with the program, unzip it and run the utility as an administrator. You will see a list of all installed Windows drivers with all the details. By using double click For the driver you are interested in, you can get more information such as the date, version and location of the driver. A green icon means that the driver is currently in use; if the icon is yellow, the driver is installed but not active. If you see a red icon, it means that there are some problems with the driver, and you can fix them by disabling or uninstalling this driver.