How to See What Display Driver You Have

Use tools native to a Windows PC to determine display driver information.

Sometimes you might want to determine the display driver in use on your Windows PC to know whether it needs to be upgraded. Display drivers, also called video drivers, allow a graphics card installed on the PC to communicate with the other components of the computer. With a working display driver, a graphics card is able to render video and images for PC applications and output them to a monitor. Frequently, the manufactures of graphics cards update display drivers with new versions, so it is helpful to know which version you're using. The Device Manager utility in Windows grants access to display driver information.

Instructions

1. Click the "Start" button located in the lower right corner of the Windows 7 desktop. The Start Menu appears.

2. Click the "Control Panel" option in the Start Menu. The Control Panel window opens. Click "System and Security" followed by selecting "Device Manager" under the "System" heading. The Device Manger tool appears showing a detailed list of all hardware installed on the PC arranged in categories by function.

3. Click the "Display Adapters" option in the Device Manger window then double-click the name of the graphics card that appears. A Graphics Card Properties window opens.

4. Click the "Driver" tab within the Graphics Card Properties window. The window shows the manufacturer, version number and creation date of the display driver in use on the PC.

References

• Microsoft Windows 7: What is a Driver?
• Microsoft Windows 7: Video Cards: Frequently Asked Questions
• Microsoft Windows 7: Open Device Manager