How to Install Drivers on My Computer

A driver is the software that controls a specific hardware device. When you install Windows, the operating system will try to find the best driver for the device from the default options. However, many hardware devices such as sound cards, video cards and wireless modems require a specific device to work effectively. In this case, you must install the driver yourself. Many device manufacturer's have the latest drivers available for download from their website. New hardware may come with an installation disk that contains the driver for that device.

Things You'll Need

• Hardware installation CD or downloaded driver file

Instructions

Executable Drivers

1. Download the driver from a website or insert the CD-ROM that came with the hardware device.

2. If you downloaded the driver, extract it if it was downloaded as a compressed file. Windows drivers will usually be compressed with the Zip utility and have the ".zip" file extension.

3. Double click the uncompressed executable file.

4. Follow the directions on the screen to complete the installation.

5. Reboot the computer.

Add New Hardware

1. Open the "Control Panel" which will be found under the "Start" menu.

2. Double click the "Add hardware" icon.

3. Browse to the location on the hard drive or CD-ROM where the driver is located.

4. Click "Ok" to install the drivers.

5. Reboot the computer.

References

• Computer Hope: How do I install a computer driver
• Computer Hope: How do I get into Windows Device Manager