Windows automatically detects any type of hardware connected directly to the motherboard or through a USB portdownloading the drivers automatically from its database. The drivers that Microsoft has in its database are generic drivers to make the hardware work, however, on certain occasions it is not enough to get the most out of it.
An example of this is found in the multifunction printers. With Microsoft drivers, if we connect a printer of this type to a PC, we will only be able to print. If we want to scan documents, we will have no choice but to download the printer software which includes the drivers to get the most out of it.
The same thing happens with the graphics card. Each new version of the graphics card drivers includes improvements in the drivers to get the most out of the new games that have been launched on the market, in addition to including performance improvements.
When to update PC drivers?
Taking into account the importance of drivers for the proper functioning of a PC, many users wonder how often it is important to update them. Of all the components that we can connect to a PC, the only one we have to worry about is the graphic cardwhether its use is to play games or render videos or 3D designs.
As I mentioned above, with no new update, support is added so that new games can take advantage of its full capacity, so it is necessary to update it periodically. But how often? In the case of graphics cards, it is not necessary to check if there is a new version since the application itself indicates it, regardless of whether we are talking about a graphics card. Intel, amd or of NVIDIA.
In addition, these applications allow you to configure driver updates to install automatically, without the user having to do anything at all.
If we talk about printer drivers, a microphone, a card reader or, in general, any other type of hardware, it is not necessary to worry about downloading the latest drivers since they are not included new features beyond what it can already offer, mainly due to the hardware. For example, a card reader is not going to offer a faster reading speed, a printer is not going to print faster, and a microphone is not going to be heard better.
The graphics include hardware that can receive improvements in the form of updates, hence this is the only component that we really have to worry about when it comes to keep updated the drivers to the latest version. If, even so, we want all the computer drivers to always be updated to the latest available version, although it does not include any type of improvements, we can use applications such as Driver Booster.