Good question. We put a lot of emphasis on keeping your software up to date, especially Windows and your security programs. So we just assume that drivers are included in that philosophy. Well, yes and no.
A device driver is a little program that translates output or instructions from an application, say MS Word, to the format required by a specific piece of hardware, say a monitor, so you can see text on the screen. But caution is required before updating your drivers. Sometimes these updates cause problems, even serious difficulties. If your current drivers and hardware are happy together and do not bother you, an update may be unwise.
Driver Drill
I will look for a driver update only if I have a device that is not operating properly, or because of software incompatibility issues. For example, if you have old software that you know and love, but you just upgraded to Vista, you may need new drivers to get that program to work. Or a hardware manufacturer issues updated drivers, promising better performance or more features. Read the details and proceed carefully.
If you go ahead with the update, here are two precautions you can take. First, set a Restore Point before you begin, in case you need to roll back your computer to the way it was before the update. In Windows XP, click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Click on Create a restore point, and follow the steps. The other thing you can do is note the Roll Back Driver (or similar) button you will see during the update process. Use it if you have problems.
The usual way we update a driver is to go to the manufacturer's web site, download an.exe file, click on it and run it. Follow instructions and you are done. You can also use the handy Secunia Software Inspector, which you can find through your favorite search engine. Or you can do this: Right-click My Computer and click Properties. Click the Hardware tab, Device Manager button, or click the device manager tab and click on the device to update. Click the little plus (+) sign to drill down to the device you want. Right-click it and click Properties, Driver, Update Driver, and follow the wizard.
Select the radio buttons Install the software automatically (Recommended), and Search for a better driver, if you see them. This is not as complex as it looks, as you will see once you have gone through the process. Print out this article if you like, so you will have it in front of you as you work through it.