Driver Download Websites

AboutTech: 10 Driver Download Websites Reviewed.

I looked for this article because of my recent computer problems. I almost, almost clicked on a driver download place called DriverInstaller.com. That site didn't even make the list. So, one more word to the wise: When you're on the internet, don't click on anything. Ever. Actually, the word is, check things out first. DriverInstaller might be a fine place, but I don't know, and if it doesn't even rank as a reputable site on that list, well, see ya.

Here is a site that is proving to be very helpful on computer issues: How-To Geek. Nice, step-by-step instructions on just about any topic without pushing you to download anything. And speaking of driver downloads, they had a thing or two to say about downloading driver utilities: never download driver utilities. I did this with Greasy-Fast Pig about three weeks ago. So, a little late for me, but good to know now. Another vector from which I could've picked up hellware.

That's why How-To Geek is good. Nice, straight-forward answers, and they seem to be ethical and very consumer-oriented.

One more thing for commenter "AllenG": I think How-To Geek is Waldo's day job. Check out the geek. This is where he earns the money to go to all those exotic places. So, there's that, brah.

Posted by: rdbrewer at 08:33 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Now it's double double vision

Posted by: Mr. Mxyzptlk at August 01, 2015 08:35 AM (kHJ3a)

2 Going through some Oxoooo21a error.

Screw it. Taking it to Geek Squad. Let them deal with it.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at August 01, 2015 08:35 AM (XAFOu)

3 I heard you the first time!

Posted by: Vincent Burke at August 01, 2015 08:36 AM (o4whg)

4 And your computer problems have me eyeing every search result with a heaping helping of salt.

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at August 01, 2015 08:36 AM (XAFOu)

5 These new bifocals have me seeing double, or is it triple?

Posted by: Duke Lowell at August 01, 2015 08:44 AM (kTF2Z)

6 Ooh, computer thread.

Question: My computer keeps overheating and conks out after about an hour of use (sooner if I have a disc playing).

Is this a battery issue, a space issue, or the highly acidic thread commentary?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 08:45 AM (jR7Wy)

7 That was weird. Made a couple of edits and saved. Got new posts every time.

Okiedokie.

Oh, well. You know what they say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5KTVA_2ys

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 08:45 AM (Iyg03)

8 No wonder Pixy keeps the hamsters strictly sequestered....

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 08:46 AM (CpRK8)

9 Always go to the manufacturer for drivers. Never.. EVER.. download from driver sites.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 08:47 AM (UpGcq)

10 Question: My computer keeps overheating and conks out after about an hour of use (sooner if I have a disc playing).

Is this a battery issue, a space issue, or the highly acidic thread commentary?
Posted by: All Hail Eris
.............
Open up the case and vacuum it out. It is likely full of dust and that keeps it from cooling.

Vacuum the processor good, but also vacuum all the vents, including the power supply intake.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 08:48 AM (UpGcq)

11 Always go to the manufacturer for drivers. Never.. EVER.. download from driver sites.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 08:47 AM

In at least one instance, a "manufacturer" site redirected me to CNet for a download. So there's that....

Posted by: MrScribbler at August 01, 2015 08:49 AM (rCmeG)

12 >>>Question: My computer keeps overheating and conks out after about an hour of use (sooner if I have a disc playing).

You probably need to pop it open and clear the heatsink louvers with a vacuum or a toothbrush or something. They're full of dust, I betcha.

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 08:50 AM (Iyg03)

13 Wow, how many did rdbrewer have last night?

Ah, computers. Yesterday was Windows 10 Hell day. Got it installed okay, but wanted to do a clean install onto a new half-terabyte SSD. Hahahahaha! Yeah. Took about 5 hours and 3 different cloning/partition manager software downloads to manage. In the end, eldest son and I beat it to death from the command line interface of the rescue/restore thumbdrive.

I will give Microsoft lots of points for the driver download process during installation; all the drivers were loaded silently except for one from Razer where Windows asked permission. But it got the graphics card and sound drivers on its own.

The initial upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 was incredibly easy, not any different than a Mac OS upgrade. I was shocked that it offered an upgrade-in-place and didn't wipe the whole disk like everything up to Win 7. But years of work had left the machine pretty bloated, so I decided to start from scratch.

Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 08:50 AM (ueOgE)

14 Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 08:45 AM (jR7Wy)
===========================

Were you swearing at the screen when your computer shut down? Burning up the keyboard in angry typing?

No? Well then, check for a malfunctioning fan (easily replaced).

Posted by: MTF at August 01, 2015 08:51 AM (TxJGV)

15 Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 08:48 AM (UpGcq)
---
Will do, Chi and Brewer! Mille grazie.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 08:51 AM (jR7Wy)

16 AllenG may or may not have a blog.

Source: ?

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at August 01, 2015 08:53 AM (oFCZn)

17 Agent J - what do you think of Win 10 so far?

My Win 8.1 is pretty stable at home so I am gonna hold off for a while. And, I use ClassicShell for the Start button, so not sure what I would get out of it anyway.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 08:53 AM (UpGcq)

18 "You probably need to pop it open and clear the heatsink louvers with a vacuum or a toothbrush or something. They're full of dust, I betcha."

This!

Had an old Dell laptop that had those issues.
I finally worked up the bravery to open the case.
First thing I saw was the grey fiber air filter sitting across the upstream surface of the heatsink.
Then I realized that heatsinks don't have air filters sitting on the upstream surface.
It was the dust, which over time had formed itself into a total air blocking filter pad.

I also found an ap which allowed me to monitor the core temp of the processor, and manually take control of the multi-speed processor cooling fan.

It ran like a top after that.
But about every six months I needed to clean the heat sink off.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 08:56 AM (VPLuQ)

19 Numbers 9 and 10 get an up Digg, if we had up digg buttons.

Posted by: Pyro Maniac at August 01, 2015 08:56 AM (DaA8g)

20 Chi-town Jerry, check this out: http://tinyurl.com/pevarmw

And this: http://tinyurl.com/cmp43o5

This: http://tinyurl.com/olzg2fy

And this: http://tinyurl.com/qa4jxdp

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 08:57 AM (Iyg03)

21 Oh, that was All Hail Aris? Okay, check out #20.

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 08:59 AM (Iyg03)

22 How come only the Good Posts get enstompenated?

Gotta say, rdbrewer, if this were the post following one of those Battle of Mom's Basement/When Bloggers Disagree About Trivial Shit posts Ace sometimes puts up, it'd be a relief.

Now, not so much.

Posted by: MrScribbler at August 01, 2015 09:00 AM (rCmeG)

23 On my new computer, the cup holder is mounted sideways.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at August 01, 2015 09:01 AM (1ijHg)

24 All Hail Eris, if the case has cooling vents wipe those off first. There will be a mesh over the cooling fan for the power supply. If your case has one or more case fans then those will need cleaning off. The intakes will attract whatever is floating in the air which will clump.

And as others have said, open the case after powering system off. Peek in there and look. Also have a can of compressed air to blast stray cobwebs. If the bottom of the case looks like the Sahara Desert, get a small vacuum.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 09:03 AM (CpRK8)

25 Driver download sites:
Manufacturer
OS maker.

None other, full stop. Everything else is scary shit.
(Not to say that the OEMs don't often include shovelware and other such crap in their drivers. But most of them have a simple "driver only" option.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:05 AM (tM4uk)

26 All Hail Eris

Keep Lefty and Scamp away from the fan inlets too.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:07 AM (VPLuQ)

27 I downloaded the newest copy of my preferred Linux OS from a dot 'ru' domain. Should I be worried? That's the Kaspersky guys, right? and they're good, right?

Posted by: Pyro Maniac at August 01, 2015 09:08 AM (DaA8g)

28 Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 08:50 AM (ueOgE)

I had to download the stand alone installer (they called it the "media maker/ISO" but it's a stand alone installer.)

The windows update version kept going "kaput" (apparently I got a corrupted WU file somewhere. Oh well that's gone now.)

One of the possible fixes before I grabbed the stand alone installer was to disconnect my media card reader. I took that opportunity to get a lot of dust out of my computer with a dustbuster.
The media card reader has actually been acting up of late (it constantly wants to format everything I put in it claiming it's "unreadable") so I haven't hooked it back up yet. I'm thinking of just replacing it with a stack of USB ports and buying a USB card reader for whatever camera I get next.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:09 AM (tM4uk)

29 Keep Lefty and Scamp away from the fan inlets too.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:07 AM (VPLuQ)
===========================

I'll volunteer to hold them while she works.

Posted by: MTF at August 01, 2015 09:09 AM (TxJGV)

30 Here is a free tool to view system performance. For example what is the temp of your CPUs, power supply temp, what are the voltages going to the MB, and even what speed is your NIC. Can also do snapshots for your records, historical tracking.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 09:10 AM (CpRK8)

31 Oh, on the driver utilities.

I once loaded up a brand spanking new XP image into a virtual machine and loaded one of those "registry cleaners" to see what would happen. (Virtual machine, so I just dumped it.)

Sure enough it claimed it found a ton of problems, including several impossible things (like driver problems for devices that didn't' exist.)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:10 AM (tM4uk)

32 On the plus side, my father, who's entire computer skill set consists of phone calls to me, asking for help, upgraded to Windows 10 on his own, with zero issues..

Perhaps Aliens have replaced my father.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:11 AM (VPLuQ)

33 A sentient super computer with bipolar depression is a dangerous combination.

Posted by: Shallow HAL 9000 at August 01, 2015 09:12 AM (Gcu5R)

34 >>>27 I downloaded the newest copy of my preferred Linux OS from a dot 'ru'
domain. Should I be worried? That's the Kaspersky guys, right? and
they're good, right?

Posted by: Pyro Maniac

Nothing to worry about former KGB agents and their fake security software.

Heh, I don't know. From what I've heard Kaspersky is great.

Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 09:13 AM (Iyg03)

35 *takes special removal tool to the holographic clear system blocks of a certain ship installed AI*

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 09:13 AM (CpRK8)

36 @17
I loved Windows 7 and skipped Win 8. Figured it was time to move to Win 10. The visual changes are kind of jarring for me, but won't be to Win 8 users. I haven't found a direct way to click to get to the Control Panel, say, and I have to type it in the search box (and I'm not memorizing 150 new keyboard shortcuts). The Start Menu is there, but it's not the same as the old one. Still, the OS does feel it was made for desktops, which the original version of Win 8 sorely didn't.

It feels, so far, as if Microsoft is trying to simplify the OS and force a lot more web integration. I know a lot of people want both, but I am not a fan of thin-client PCs. If I wanted AppleGoogleSoft to know every damned keystroke I type, I'd get a chromebook. Cortana is there; elder son loves it, but I won't install a mic (I don't trust these always-listening systems) so will get limited use of Cortana.

It really is different than Win 7, abut enough similarities are there that it's sort of an "uncanny valley" effect. I feel lost. But unlike than Win 8, which I used on elder son's PC for about 10 minutes before saying, "Hell no, never," I believe I'll be able to wrap my mind around what Microsoft's done here,

Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:18 AM (ueOgE)

37 26 All Hail Eris

Keep Lefty and Scamp away from the fan inlets too.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:07 AM (VPLuQ)
---
Lefty and Scamp got into the small exhaust port and brought down the Death Star. Those rascals cut quite a swathe.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 09:19 AM (jR7Wy)

38 Posted by: rdbrewer at August 01, 2015 09:13 AM (Iyg03)

Can't tell how serious pryo is. Kaspersky gets good reviews, but they don't make any Linux distros I'm familiar with.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:19 AM (tM4uk)

39 Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:18 AM (ueOgE)

Right click on start button.
Choose "Control panel"

(Alternatively "Start-->Settings" is basically the control panel with new visual makeovers.)

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:20 AM (tM4uk)

40 Uh oh, is this Mike Hammer's cat???

http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/selection-du-weekend-151-39.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 09:21 AM (CpRK8)

41 Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:18 AM (ueOgE)

Also worth noting, You can type anything you would have said into Cortana for the same effect.

I'm actually underwhelmed by it. I have it on the phone, and it's..well better. It does more. On the PC it seems to just load the search engine a lot.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:22 AM (tM4uk)

42 Okay, got the fronsh roast brewing, put cherry walnut bran muffins in the oven, and now to view how-tos before 'puter shuts off.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 09:22 AM (jR7Wy)

43 Good morning, Dave, Frank, all. I am in in a much better frame of mind today.

Posted by: Shallow HAL 9000 at August 01, 2015 09:23 AM (Gcu5R)

44 Question: My computer keeps overheating and conks out after about an hour of use (sooner if I have a disc playing).

Is this a battery issue, a space issue, or the highly acidic thread commentary?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at August 01, 2015 08:45 AM (jR7Wy)
Clean inside with canned air, $7 at WalMart. Verify all fans are working, especially if it's a laptop. Check intake vents and pay special attention to the heat sink on the main processor and the graphics card fan and processor if there is one.

Posted by: Xavier at August 01, 2015 09:24 AM (REmMA)

45 Good luck All Hail Eris, I see you have decided to accept this mission. If you or any member of your Geek Squad are caught Micro$oft will disavow all knowledge.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 01, 2015 09:25 AM (CpRK8)

46 Agent J - Do you still get an option to go to the Desktop? On Win 8 I never use the tiles front-end. I only use the desktop. And with ClassicShell (www.classicshell.net - works on Win 10 now) it boots right to the desktop and the Start button can be configured to be like Win 7, or even XP.

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 09:25 AM (UpGcq)

47 Sharp is to pull out of the North American television market and will consider spinning off its display business as a slowdown in China dragged the struggling Japanese electronics maker into another quarterly loss.

Two months after the maker of smartphone displays for Apple unveiled a bailout package from its banks and job cuts, president Kozo Takahashi admitted a bigger restructuring was needed to overcome deteriorating market conditions.

Sharp on Friday said it would sell a facility in Mexico to Hisense, a Chinese electronics maker, for $23.7m. Under the tie-up, the Japanese group will licence its brands in its North and South America regions to be used on the liquid crystal display TVs sold by the Chinese company, which also makes mobile phones and fridges.

Posted by: Carl Sagan at August 01, 2015 09:27 AM (e8kgV)

48 Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at August 01, 2015 09:25 AM (UpGcq)

there is no "tiles front end" anymore.
They put live tiles on the start menu next to the actual start menu but you can turn those off if you don't like them.

Posted by: tsrlbke PhD(c), rogue bioethicist at August 01, 2015 09:30 AM (tM4uk)

49 "Lefty and Scamp got into the small exhaust port and brought down the Death Star. Those rascals cut quite a swathe."

Puppy fur.

Is there nothing it can't do?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:32 AM (VPLuQ)

50 Y-not has been busy

NOOD

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at August 01, 2015 09:33 AM (VPLuQ)

51 @28
The issue with clean install turned out to be that the installer on the thumbdrive Win 10 has you create couldn't handle a brand new, unpartitioned SSD. So I did a clean install onto the original, small SSD and tried to clone it and the recovery partition to the new SSD, but that process failed to transfer the master boot record.

(Details: Macrium's clone function completely failed here, I was surprised: it bailed out with an error code that's not documented anywhere; I'm skeptical that version 6 is actually working properly with Win 10. Ended up using EaseUs to do a sector-by-sector copy, but that had the mbr issue.)

The built-in startup repair on the install thumbdrive couldn't fix the problem on its own, but using several bootrec commands from the command line interface in the "advanced" choices in the repair section of the install/repair thumbdrive did the trick.

Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:35 AM (ueOgE)

52 Question: My computer keeps overheating and conks out after about an hour of use (sooner if I have a disc playing).

Had the same problem with my old computer and it ended up being the power pack. If cleaning doesn't work you may want to try that. I think I paid under $50 and it just pops right in.

Posted by: dartist at August 01, 2015 09:35 AM (ahBY0)

53
The *only* place to download drivers from is your manufacturer's domain.

Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie at August 01, 2015 09:38 AM (1hM1d)

54 I get my drivers from the same place I get my free Pron

Posted by: Hector's cheese stained brain at August 01, 2015 09:40 AM (VPLuQ)

55 46 48

Thank God above the tiles interface is replaced by a normal desktop on a desktop computer. No need to hunt for some damned charm or pixie or app or whatever to get a desktop. There are tiles that show up when you click the start menu, but eldest son says those can be made to go away. I'll work on figuring out how to do that when youngest son is done playing DOTA.

I believe I'll be happy with the OS once I have more experience with it.

Personally, I think Microsoft has hit on the right track for convergence with common core software and an interface that adapts itself to the environment. They are probably ahead of Apple now in this regard. (Yes, I know iOS is based on OS X, but when plugging in a keyboard to your SurfacePro 3 turns the interface from a tablet interface to a desktop interface, that's damned impressive. Apple's tact is to dumb down OS X so it's iOS-like, which is a real fail and just pisses me off. Appealing to the lowest common denominator just shows contempt, which I'm happy to return in kind.)

The key thing is, can Microsoft's strategy succeed without a foothold in mobile computing (phones)? Apple could live without desktops, but can Microsoft live without phones?

Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:55 AM (ueOgE)

56 @39
I stupidly never thought to try right-click. Will do that later. Thanks for the tip!

Posted by: Agent J at August 01, 2015 09:57 AM (ueOgE)

57 Tech-oriented Morons, want a site where a knowledgeable guy builds his own from the bottom up, has worked in tech off and on for years? See chiefio.wordpress.com -- filed under Tech Bits. Over the years he also has given the code details of the AGW fraud. His efforts are interesting in many, many ways; delighted to introduce him to those who are not familiar. Also see Racing Stocks and Lunar Orbital Resonances under Earth Sciences.

You're welcome!

Posted by: pyromancer76 at August 01, 2015 10:06 AM (zvcr8)

58 I forgot. Thanks, thanks, rdbrewer. Thanks AceofSpades.

Posted by: pyromancer76 at August 01, 2015 10:17 AM (zvcr8)

59
"I almost, almost clicked on a driver download place called DriverInstaller.com."

*facepalm*

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at August 01, 2015 10:21 AM (kdS6q)

60 I have been using DriveBooster for about a year now and it works great. It scans the system automagically and lets you know if a driver has been updates. If you want, it will install the updated driver. The free version works ok but the paid for it better.
Jim

Posted by: Jim Sanchez at August 01, 2015 11:22 AM (3oPSV)

61 For bloat-ware, none better than PC Decrapifier

Also, DON'T FORGET THE ANTIVIRUS!!!! Most stock PCs have McAfee or Norton - the are BLOAT monsters - there are ample free versions that do the job much better - AVG, Karpinksy, or Panda are some good choices. Also, a firewall is a must.

Lastly, do not forget to defrag (Auslogic makes a good tool) and do system maint (CCCleaner or DiskClean from BlueSprig are good choices)

Posted by: Ibin Pharteen at August 01, 2015 11:42 AM (bKKIV)

62 Downloading Win10 now. Think well of me if you never see me online again.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at August 01, 2015 12:48 PM (rwI+c)

63 >I loved Windows 7 and skipped Win 8. Figured it was time to move to Win 10. The visual changes are kind of jarring for me, but won't be to Win 8 users. I haven't found a direct way to click to get to the Control Panel, say, and I have to type it in the search box (and I'm not memorizing 150 new keyboard shortcuts).

Right-click on the Start menu. That'll bring up a bunch of items, including Run (which I use frequently, FWIW) and the Control Panel.

One more note: The about.com page linked in TFA recommends download.com as a driver source. A few years ago, download.com started adulterating all of its files with crapware installers. I'd recommend checking elsewhere...first recommendation would be the manufacturer's website for the hardware in question.

One more "one more note:" DriverGuide (the second site linked in TFA) needs to DIAF. In fairness, TFA does note the hoops you'll need to jump through to possibly make use of it; they're hoops I'd rather not bother with.

Posted by: salfter at August 01, 2015 01:45 PM (0gC2q)

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