Latest in driver software

Your drivers can be a scary and intimidating thing. The two pieces of the Windows backend that I never recommend the novice user play with are the registry and device drivers. The smallest of errors in handling either of these can result in system instability or a completely bricked operating system, and that's no fun. As you become a more experienced, savvy, and paranoid citizen of the Internet, you'll grow accustomed to religiously backing up your system and online data.
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No operating system will have support for every single piece of hardware out of the box, and it's important to know which ones have that support. There's always a driver for that piece of Windows hardware, but with Linux, you do not have that guarantee, so the overall hardware support is smaller. You can figure out, however, which pieces of hardware do have Linux support by checking hardware databases.
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Being a Linux user lets you have a pretty cool choice - open source or proprietary software. While a lot of die-hard Linux users will scream at you if you use anything proprietary, you can still install whatever the heck you want. There are a good amount of proprietary products that are being made available for Linux, both free and paid, and they aren't going away anytime soon.
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Hunting for device drivers isn't such a task anymore, anyway. Most of your Windows drivers will never need to be touched right out of the box. Your video card is in its own sacred territory though. Video card drivers are updated more frequently than, for example, your network card's drivers. Updating your video card drivers can show a huge performance boost across your system, as well. Keeping these drivers up to date is quite essential if you're a gamer.
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If you've ever had to deal with troubleshooting hardware on your computer, then you probably have some experience with the Windows Device Manager. It is a simple tool that comes with Windows and lets you browse through all of the devices to check for device properties and conflicts. However, I've always found that the stock Device Manager that comes with the Windows OS is a bit lacking. The one thing I like about it is the fact that it's easy to navigate, as the main screen has all devices nicely categorized, but that's the extent of anything good I have to say about it.
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Upgrading to a new operating system comes with a lot of benefits. New shiny graphical interface, more features, and if it came with a new computer, you will also enjoy an enhanced performance. Unfortunately, the problems start when you try to connect peripheral devices. Back when you bought that printer, Windows Vista was probably still [...]
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Windows 7 has been very well reviewed. Most technology websites have been happy with the new release of Window 7, particularly when compared to the disastrous Windows Vista. One of the reasons why Windows 7 has gone over better than Vista is compatibility. Windows 7 is a less drastic departure from Vista than Vista was from XP, [...]
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I have the misfortune of working in a town that is very likely the capital of speed traps for all of Maine and very likely the entire eastern seaboard of the United States. The town is North Berwick, Maine. Unlike most other small towns that try to gauge their speed limits to match safe driving [...]
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Most of us can clock 80″“90 mph on a highway, but how many of us can handle a breakdown and change a car essential like an air filter? Some of us perhaps”¦but not all. It’s just like cruising on the information superhighway on our computers. Not everyone has an idea of what goes on under [...]
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Do you constantly worry that your device drivers are out of date? Oh wait”¦.that’s just me as a system admin, I worry and check my devices constantly. Network cards, SCSI cards and much much more. Now using a little freeware application called Device Doctor, I can update drivers a little more efficiently and for free. [...]
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Rule No.1: Never lose your device driver CDs. Rule No.2: Be prudent and keep a backup copy close by. Rule No. 3: If you lose your driver files, know where to download it from again. Congratulations! If you have flouted at least two of the above rules, then this post might serve as deliverance from [...]
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So, your Start Menu is a mile long, your Add/Remove Programs control panel takes a week to load, and your spouse is getting more annoyed with each successive “new thing” that pops up in the System Tray. Admit it. You’re a download junkie. I know that I am, and that I like to keep everything [...]
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I HATE reinstalling drivers! I like to create images and burn them to disk. These images contain the machine’s operating system and drivers, But this is not always possible and in a sticky situation, it is better to have a backup of the drivers. By using this small portable application called DriverBackup2, you can export [...]
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I am a cleanup junkie. On my computer, I have the usual motley of cleaners, uninstallers and update managers installed. I thought my system was squeaky clean and safe as a house until I ran into some conflict issues. The culprit it turned out was an old sound driver. Old hardware drivers are remnants of [...]
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You have been told to backup your hard disk and data thousands of time, but I am sure few people will tell you that you need to backup your hardware driver as well. In case you are not the geek in your house, the hardware driver is the software that provides detailed instructions to the [...]
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