Updating Drivers

Keeping your system up to date also means that device drivers need to be kept up to date. Updated drivers allow your devices to work properly and will maximize compatibility. In Windows 7, updating hardware drivers is made simple and easy. Microsoft has greatly improved automatic driver selection in Windows 7 to be more accurate, to avoid the prompts plaguing past Windows versions, and to work even when a user isn't logged on.

You might have to update a driver if you encounter problems with the device-for example, if there are printing glitches or if Windows crashes with the famous "Blue Screen of Death." If you encounter this sort of problem, you may find that the support pages on the manufacturer's website direct you to download and install an updated driver. They should give you clear instructions, but here is some additional advice:

• Do you have permission to upgrade drivers? It is necessary to be logged in as Administrator or at least to have an Administrator password when prompted by a UAC box to update drivers.
• Is it really the latest driver? Check the manufacturer's site and the Microsoft site to see what you can find.
• Does the "new" driver work with Windows 7? Make sure that the new driver is for Windows 7 because other drivers for other versions of Windows might not be compatible.

Tip You might want to try running Windows Update and see whether Microsoft lists updated device drivers for your system.

Tip Windows 7 lets administrators set up in a Driver Store drivers that standard users can install when needed, even without administrative privilege.

Windows 7 also gives standard users the flexibility needed to install permitted classes of devices even if drivers aren't already in the Driver Store on the local machine. To give standard users this privilege, open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and navigate to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, Driver Installation, Allow Non-Administrators to Install Drivers for These Devices. For more details about the Driver Store and User Access Control, search Microsoft TechNet at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx.