Installing and Updating Device Drivers
To keep devices operating smoothly, it’s essential that you keep the device drivers current. You install and update drivers by using the Found New Hardware, Add Hardware, and Update Driver Software Wizards. By default, these wizards can search for updated device drivers in the following locations:
In Group Policy, several policies control how information about devices is obtained and how Windows searches for drivers:
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Turn Off Access To All Windows
Update Features under Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\System\Internet Communication Management\Internet
Communication Settings If this policy setting is
enabled, all Windows Update features are blocked and not available to
users. Users will also be unable to access the Windows Update website. -
Turn Off Windows Update Device
Driver Searching under Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\System\Internet Communication Management\Internet
Communication Settings By default, Windows Update
searching is optional when installing a device. If you enable this
setting, Windows Update will not be searched when a new device is
installed. If you disable this setting, Windows Update will always be
searched when a new device is installed if no local drivers are present. -
Specify Search Order For Device
Driver Source Location under Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\System\Device Installationdevice
drivers on each computer. If you enable this policy, you can specify
that Windows Update should be searched first, last, or not at all when
driver software is being located during device installation. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, you can set the source location search order for -
Configure Device Installation Time-Out under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Device Installation
If you disable or do not configure this policy, Windows 8 waits 5
minutes for a device installation task to complete before terminating
the installation. If you enable this policy, you can specify the amount
of time Windows 8 waits before terminating the installation. -
Prevent Device Metadata Retrieval
From The Internet under Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\System\Device Installation If you disable or
do not configure this policy, Windows 8 retrieves device metadata for
installed devices from the Internet and uses the information to help
keep devices up to date. If you enable this policy setting, Windows 8
does not retrieve device metadata for installed devices from the
Internet.
You can install and update device drivers by completing the following steps:
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Start Computer Management. In the Computer Management console, expand the System Tools node. -
Select Device Manager in the Computer Management console. You should
see a complete list of devices installed on the system. By default,
this list is organized by device type. -
Press and hold or right-click the device you want to manage, and then tap or click Update Driver Software. This starts the Update Driver Software Wizard.
Note
BEST PRACTICES Updated drivers can add
functionality to a device, improve performance, and resolve device
problems. However, you should rarely install the latest drivers on a
user’s computer without testing them in a test environment. Test first,
then install.
-
As shown in Figure 2,
you can specify whether you want to install the drivers automatically
or manually by selecting the driver from a list or specific location.
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If you elect to install the driver automatically, Windows 8 looks for a more recent version of the device driver and installs the driver if it finds one. If a more recent version of the driver is not found,
Windows 8 keeps the current driver. In either case, tap or click Close
to complete the process, and then skip the remaining steps. -
If you choose to install the driver manually, you can do the following:
-
Search for the driver. Tap or click Browse My Computer For Driver
Software to select a search location. Use the Browse … dialog box to
select the start folder for the search, and then tap or click OK. If
you select Include Subfolders, you might have better results. With this
option selected, all subfolders of the selected folder are searched
automatically, and you could then select the drive root path, such as
C, to search an entire drive. -
Choose the driver to install. Tap or click Let Me Pick From A List Of Device Drivers On My Computer. The wizard then shows a list of compatible hardware.
Tap or click the device that matches your hardware. To view a wider
array of choices, clear the Show Compatible Hardware check box. You’ll
see a full list of manufacturers for the type of device you are working
with. As shown in Figure 3,
scroll through the list of manufacturers to find the manufacturer of
the device, and then select the appropriate device in the right pane.
Note
If the manufacturer or device you want to use isn’t listed, insert
your device driver disc, and then tap or click Have Disk. Then follow
the prompts.
-
After selecting a device driver through a search or a
manual selection, continue through the installation process by tapping
or clicking Next. Tap or click Close when the driver installation is
complete. If the wizard can’t find an appropriate driver, you need to
obtain one and then repeat this procedure. Keep in mind that in some
cases, you need to restart the system to activate the newly installed
or updated device driver.
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