Quick Fact Sheet On Why You Need Your Automatic Driver Update

by Shiv Kaushik Guest Poster

When one really gives it some thought it's clear that computers occupy an odd place in modern culture. The term computer used to belong to humans. It was a job category by which one, quite literally, computed values. But mechanical computers were so good at that task when they appeared that they've come to be synonymous with the term. And in general this is what people have expected from home computers. Devices which handle most rote tasks involved with any given subject. As such the idea of people needing to work to support computers can seem odd to people.

That's one of the reasons why home computers took a while to really become popular. However, one needs to differentiate between home computers and microcomputers. Microcomputers were very low powered devices which seldom performed any real multitasking. When one used a microcomputer it was typically limited to either the most simple or most complex tasks. Home users were either using them for simple tasks or were extreme power users. There really wasn't anyone in the middle as there are today. Home computers took a while to take off because they occupied that middle ground. People needed to know more about them than they would a microcomputer. But at the same time the power users sometimes felt constrained by a machine which took over for tasks they were used to performing.

One of the biggest issues was drivers. The average person was often intimidated by device drivers. Where power users were used to dealing with them in their own way. People used to need to perform extensive installation with their new hardware. But once it was done they'd seldom need to work on it again. As with many things, that new middle ground proved difficult for people to accept. But it's simply the nature of how Windows works. However, things have reached a point where they're fairly acceptable to both types of user. And of course everyone in the middle as well.

One of the biggest breakthroughs has come from automatic driver update systems. One should consider the earlier discussion of computers being able to handle menial or repetitive work on their own. This is exactly how driver installation and maintenance can work now. Normally one needs to download drivers. The next step is to go to the Device Manager within the control panel. One will then search for hardware which needs the drivers. This is usually something with a question mark next to it. Users would then select Update Drivers by right clicking on it. Then he or she would browse to the newly downloaded driver. One can contrast this to the ease of using automatic driver update systems.

Using automatic updates one usually needs to simply press an update button. Or it might be even easier. Some systems literally automate everything. In these cases the program will run a check against all installed drivers on a regular basis. If any can be updated than the program will do so. It's certainly an easier way of handling things. But there's an additional benefit as well.

The earlier method of manually updating drivers isn't impossible for the average person. But it is time intensive enough that many people will only sporadically search out driver updates. But updates are often issued when security issues are found in one's hardware, software or drivers. Lagging behind updates can leave a system vulnerable to malicious software or hacking attempts. This is one of the biggest benefits of automated updates. They take the work out of performing an update. And in doing so they can ensure that security measures are always up to date.