How to Install the Latest Video Card Driver
Most computer hardware drivers only need to be installed once. Video card drivers, on the other hand, are routinely updated to keep pace with the latest games and other software releases. Without up-to-date video card drivers, new software may perform poorly, cause your computer to crash or not work at all. If you're experiencing any of these problems with a recent game or other program, one of your first steps toward resolving the issue should be to update your video card driver.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Direct your web browser to the AMD "Graphics Drivers & Software" page for ATI video cards, or to the "NVIDIA Driver Downloads" page for NVIDIA video cards (See Resources).
-
2
Select your operating system and video card type in the drop-down menus provided, then click the "Display Results" button for ATI, or the "Search" button for NVIDIA, to proceed to the download page.
-
-
3
Click the "Download" button to download a copy of the driver package. You can save this file anywhere, but since you'll be deleting it after installation, downloading to the Desktop is generally easiest. Note that the package may be over 100MB, as it includes utilities for optimizing video card performance in addition to basic drivers.
-
4
Double-click the downloaded file to begin installation, then click "Run" to allow installation to proceed.
-
5
Choose an installation directory and click the "Install" button for ATI, or the "OK" button for NVIDIA, to install the drivers and additional utilities.
-
6
Reboot your computer when prompted. After it finishes reloading the operating system, the new drivers will be active. At this point you can delete the downloaded driver package.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Video card drivers are updated frequently, so check for new ones even if the card is brand new and a driver CD was included with it.
On rare occasions, older drivers may interfere with new ones. If you encounter problems updating your drivers, try uninstalling all current drivers, then installing the new ones.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit video card image by TEA from Fotolia.com
