The only way to ensure that you have the best driver for your hardware is to check the driver version number and compare that with information on the manufacturer’s Web site. Just because you’ve upgraded your operating system to Windows 7 doesn’t mean that you now have the most up-to-date drivers on your computer.
Windows doesn’t check with manufacturers for driver updates. You’d be surprised how often these can change. And with the introduction of Windows 7, most manufacturers are making updates.


Open the Device Manager.

Click the Start button. Right-click Computer and choose Properties. On the left, click the Device Manager link. Windows 7 opens the Device Manager window.

Click the plus sign next to the heading that contains the device you want to check.

You may have to try several headings to find the right one. If you guess wrong, just click again to collapse the heading you expanded.


Double-click the device. In the Device Properties dialog box, click the Driver tab.

You should be able to identify the latest driver by its date or version number or both.

Click the Update Driver button. When Windows asks, click to Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software.

Windows goes out to the big Microsoft driver database in the sky and retrieves and installs the latest driver.
If you continue to have driver problems, go directly to the manufacturer’s Web site and follow its instructions to download and install the latest.