Windows XP has a host of internal and system drivers that it uses on a daily basis (or whenever you use your computer) to ensure the smooth operations of all software and hardware in your computer set up. This includes hardware like mouse drivers, keyboard drivers, graphics card, system essentials, other hardware, internal hardware, motherboard and Windows drivers. This is not a complete list, there are a ton of drivers that are needed and just to get an idea of how many, take the time to explore the ‘System and System 32′ files in your Windows root folder (usually on your C drive).

Anything with a shell or .dll extension is a driver that your OS will be using to launch any number of applications and to ensure all of your hardware needs are met. One of the main problems that are encountered when you do not update Windows drivers is of course the Device Manager error codes, which happens when a hardware fails to install properly.

The thing is, it is down to the super structure of the OS, which essentially is designed to provide you with the least amount of hassle when it comes to installing new hardware. It does this by having a list of drivers at the ready for a whole host of available manufacturers and their hardware, stored somewhere in the root drive.

Since driver files are normally very small, as they consist normally of only instruction and constructed code, Microsoft is able to constantly update and add new device signatures into its data banks, which means that the range of products that it is able to recognise on a daily basis is then updated.

This usually happens when you have the ‘automatic update’ service, where the main Microsoft server will download the files into your computer (which will more than often require a restart) and update it. Now even if you do this and some problems still occur, you are still able to update driver files for hardware profiles that are giving you plenty of problems and how you do this is to go into the device manager itself and select the driver source.

There is an option to update automatically, whereby Windows will connect to the appropriate servers and try to find an updated version. This is very important because having the most up to date drivers means that you will have a computer that is running optimally, fast and will not have crashes due to driver conflicts. All your hardware will work properly and you will not have to go through the entire investigative process just to find out that all you needed to do was a simple software update

As you can see, updating Windows XP drivers regularly is very important in maintaining the integrity of your computer and all the expensive hardware that you have bought in the course of your computing. And the best thing of all, updating is extremely simple to execute. All it takes is a few quick clicks of the mouse, and you’re done.

To download Driver Scan for free and instantly fix your problems. Logan Albright is an authority on troubleshooting drivers issues at driverscan.org and has helped many to optimize their computers for peak performance.

One thing about the whole computing industry is that things change at a blinding rate of speed that can sometimes be quite unbelievable to some. Within a few months, what was brand spanking new could be old news and something quite remarkable ten times the power of what you have could already be in the market and something 100 times of that could be in development or even in shelf waiting to come out and follow the probability technology curve of the computing world. Now when you consider this, it is quite amazing to see just how much can be developed within a few months, and the possible combinations of system set ups that can be attributed in the world today.

This is why programmers and developers have such a headache, because they simply cannot predict the algorithm of combinations in the real world, which can reach numbers of the millions. No matter what they do, they cannot perfect a product to the T and there will always be something wrong somewhere when their code comes across a piece of software or hardware combination that it does not understand. Now when this happens, the solution is to take the date and combine it with some research and development and see what they can do from there.

Usually, this takes the form of a patch or a driver update, something which you will find very familiar in the world of hardware and software. Developers are constantly pushing out new versions of their products, drivers and patches that users can download to enhance their experience as well as to fix old faults within their products. This is why you need to be as connected as possible when it comes to updating your windows hardware driver profile, and this will help you to avoid many problems when it comes to your whole computing experience.

Now doing this sometimes meant you needed to check just when and what to do, which pieces of hardware need to be updated and normally, people only do it when there is a problem. This sort of thinking has to take a backseat to the reality of the situation, as sometimes, the driver conflicts can be so severe that you can leave bad sectors in the hard disk, wipe out some memory and data and even cause your computer to crash at an ill advised moment. You need to guard against this and what you can do is to subscribe to a service or programme that automatically scans your computer for all your hardware and software and then checks it against the internet for the version that is available.

It will then prompt you that you need to update the sectors in your computer and will automatically update if it has the driver in its banks or will point you to the website where you can do this. This is all you need to do to get your drivers in the right order and to avoid the whole host of problems that can potentially happen if you have conflicts.

You should probably view Vista’s Automatic Updates the same way you view a yearly physical checkup. It’s just something that you should do to prevent as many issues as possible before they become issues in the first place. The Windows Update engine handles two kinds of updates:

Critical updates: Can help speed up your system, secure it, and keep it from crashing Recommended updates: Will address noncritical problems and help enhance your computing experience

A third kind of update, the optional update, is not downloaded automatically. You must get these updates manually by running the “Check for updates” task in the Windows Update Control Panel application.

By default, Windows Updates turns on the Automatic Updates feature, so it’s very likely that this is something you’ll never have to do in your administrative career. It’s still a good idea to know where to look, though. Here’s what to do:

Open the Windows Update Control Panel application by typing update at the Start menu. It’s under the System and Maintenance grouping if you’re going through the Control Panel. In the list of tasks on the left, click “Change settings.” From the dialog box, choose the desired update options. Click OK to commit your changes. You may be asked for administrative confirmation by User Account Control.

Additionally, if the Automatic Updates feature is ever turned off, the Vista Security Center will yell at you (assuming that the Security Center notifications about Automatic Updates defaults haven’t been changed). Once you’re in the Security Center, you’ll see a “Change settings” button, that will take you right back to the Automatic Updates settings dialog box.

The Windows Updates are applied to the computer, and therefore affect all users of a particular system.

Sometimes during troubleshooting, you will want to double-check to confirm that a particular update has been installed. If this is the case, you can choose the “View update history” link on the right side of the Windows Updates dialog box.

If you’d like to get my entire book “Windows Vista Administration: The Definitive Guide” by Brian Culp, Publisher: O’Reilly, ISBN-13: 978-0-59-652959-8 (or any of my 20+ other books and tutorials), you can pick it up at my website, www.TheAnswerHub.com or at most major book chains. In addition, I’m always happy to provide additional assistance for free (within reason, mind you…don’t go thinking this is some sort of a free ride). Visit me at my website and submit your questions to me. I’ll get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.

Up Next: in part 3 of this 5-part series, we’ll be discussing the process of automatically checking for solutions to problems encountered by Windows Vista with Problem Reports and Solutions.