While playing a video game or using a video application, your computer might freeze and end up showing desktop or a blue screen of death. You will probably get an error message stating that “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered.” This is one the error messages you get when display driver stops working. There can be several issues with your display adaptor including display drivers issue. If you have run troubleshooter for all possible errors yet no error was found, you must need to update display drivers. Your computer may give reference to one of these driver files:

 ATIKMDAG.sys
 ATI2DVAG.sys
 ATI2CQAG.dll
 ATIVPK.sys
 AMD2DVAG.sys
 AMDKMDAG.sys
 AMDVPK.sys

How to update display drivers?

Installing, re-installing, or updating the driver can solve the driver issues. You can found this driver on the system installation CD and if you don’t have a CD, then you can download the same diver online. This will upgrade an outdated driver and may add correct manufacturer’s codes to achieve full video card functionality.

Before downloading a driver, follow these steps to ensure that you have downloaded a right driver.

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Then click on the control panel.
3. Click on the “Hardware” tab.
4. Go to the “Device Manager.”
5. Expand “sound, video and game controllers.” Under this, select the video card. Double click on it and note down the name of its manufacturer and make and model.

When you have you video manufacturer’s name and the model of a card, you can go to manufacturer’s website and find the latest driver for your display device under “support” or “downloads.”
You can also update display drivers by using “windows update” which will install driver updates if available and “device manager.” Check out “how to install/ update drivers?” for detailed instructions and more ways.

Want your computer to catch television signals yet unable to do so? There can be many reasons for TV Tuner device not working. You may need to update TV Tuner drivers also. Read further to know what you can do.

What are TV tuner drivers?

A TV tuner is basically a device which allows your computer system to catch television signal easily. Video capture cards which also work as a TV tuner allows you to record television programs on hard disks as digital video devices do. If you have windows media center in your computer system, then watching live TV programs and movies has become easy for you because TV tuner allows you all this. This made a choice for you to convert your computer screen into a television.

Now, it also depends on your cable service which channels you can easily get access to. It is often said that it is not a good way to turn a computer to a television but with growing technology, it has become easy to buy a big monitor for your family and watch, record or whatever you may want to do.

Keep in mind that all tuners do not work with all computers. Most of them are designed for Macs or PCs. So, an additional software or driver is required to run those TV tuners on your computer. TV tuner drivers allow your computer to configure your TV signals. It is necessary because it is like a gateway for the television signals.

Like all other drivers, you need to keep your eyes open when looking for the right drivers. It is recommended that you buy the drivers’ installation CD rather than ending up downloading the wrong drivers from the wrong website. It may lead to system crash.

How to update TV Tuner drivers?

You may need to update TV tuner drivers for various reasons like:
• They are outdated
• Viruses and malware may have rendered them incapable
• You might have upgraded your operating system

To update TV Tuner drivers, check out how to install/ update drivers?

Sound driver is software which functions for sound system in your computer. Like every other hardware, there is a driver for sound system too. You might have experienced not hearing a single sound whenever you play something or keep the volume up to the maximum. At times, you might be able to hear a sound from your system but it seems like coming from very far away. If you really want your computer’s vocals to become strong, you need to have additional device, for instance speakers. And, for those speakers, you need to install software that will help them to communicate with the computer. You can update sound drivers if you have outdated or corrupt drivers in your system.

How should I know that I need to update sound drivers?

An audio device is also called sound card. A sound card driver helps the computer and device to communicate as they do not speak a common language. If you experience any of the problems given below, then you need to update sound drivers:

• Recordings are abnormal or interrupted.
• You are unable to hear a sound even if you have a driver.
• Your computer is restarting after crashing.
• Occurring of an error message whenever you try to play any recording.
• The sound is already in use.
• Output error regarding musical instrument digital interface is occurring.

These problems may occur due to delayed updating of audio drivers in your system. It is recommended that you update your drivers regularly in order to avoid any disruption with the sound system. The latest versions of operating systems are designed in a way that installs windows updates by itself which rectifies any driver update issues. But you must check your settings in case any problem persists.

You might receive certain error messages like the ones below:

“This device cannot start (Code 10).”
“Bad direct Sound driver. Error code 88780078.”
“The drivers for this device are not installed (Code 28).”

How to update sound drivers?

To update sound drivers, you can either do that manually as well as automatically through windows update or device manager. You can also download to update sound drivers from manufacturer’s website. For detailed steps and procedure, check out how to install/ update drivers?

What are USB drivers?

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. A USB driver is a bridge or a connection between upstream host and downstream devices. An upstream host may be your computer and a downstream device can be any of the peripheral devices such as printer, digital camera, mouse, gaming system, or zip drive. There is dire need to install or update USB drivers because it helps many devices to communicate with your computer.

Earlier, every peripheral device either needed to have a separate port in Central Processing unit (CPU) or a space inside it. To picture this in mind, imagine a printer having a separate port in CPU and modem residing inside the system. With the passage of time, this became a serious issue as space for them was running short. It was the need of the hour to invent new ways. Brainstorming sessions and hard research came up with the invention of USB.

It now replaces hundreds of ports and spaces with just one or two USB ports in your computer or laptop. It is a standard way for more than 120 different devices to get attached and communicate with your computer.

What issues can be occurred regarding USB drivers?

If there is any problem you are facing with respect to the devices attached to the computer through USB drivers, then it must be one of the following reasons behind:

• Outdated USB drivers
• Upgrading of windows operating system
• Corruption of USB drivers due to an attack of deadly virus which infected important files or a system crash

How to update USB drivers?

1. Go to start and type “device manager” in the search field in Windows 7. Click on it when it appears in the start menu. Other version of windows may have different pathway to approach Device manager. For Windows XP or earlier, you can go to control panel and find Device manager.

2. Expand “Universal Serial Bus controllers” and look for your desired drivers that you want to update or that needs to be updated.

3. Right click on the drivers and click “update driver’s software.” Update drivers software wizard will open. Follow the instructions thereon and update USB drivers.

For detailed steps, check out how to install/ update drivers?

What is a webcam driver?

Webcam driver is software that is used to identify the webcam attached to the computer’s motherboard through a USB port. This software also functions for the webcam when there is any problem identifying it. The correct connection is also required because if this hardware is not properly recognizable, then it is no more than a mere piece of device attached to the computer. So in short it is the webcam’s driver that plays the proper for its identification. There is some hardware for which the operating systems have now their default drivers already installed. But there are no default drivers in operating system for hardware like webcam. So, it is recommended to install a correct driver for webcam. You need to update webcam driver otherwise it will harm your computer’s safety.

What problems can occur regarding webcam?

You may encounter many problems regarding webcam such as:

• Your system is unable to find a webcam or webcam software.
• Webcam is not working with already installed programs.
• Your webcam is not working with any installed webcam driver.
• Device manager is not listing any webcam.
• An error message occurs when starting a webcam.
• Image quality is not good enough.

All these problems are due to misfit driver installed in your system. It also happens sometimes that your software for this specific driver must be a rogue one. So all you need is to upgrading your driver with time to time. Always choose the right one to keep it going smoothly.

How to update webcam driver?

If your webcam driver is outdated, obsolete, or damaged, you need to update webcam driver. I can be because of any virus, malware, windows operating system upgrading, or installation of new webcam device.

To update webcam driver, check out how to install/ update driver?

A hardware device responsible for connecting your monitor with computer by sending display information to the monitor is called a video card. There are different terms for video card. Some of them are video adapter, graphics card, display adapter, or graphics adapter. It is important to update video card driver as if they become obsolete, outdated, or damaged, then your video card will not function properly and you will experience display issues more often.

How to update video card drivers?

There are many things you can do to update video card drivers.

Turn automatic updating on

Your computer has default settings of installing automatic updates whenever windows updates are available. Your system notifies you to install them and if you keep delaying, it will start installing automatically. This is good for your system. This way you can make sure that your video card drivers are updated. In case, your computer doesn’t have automatic updating activated, you must check by:

1. Going to start> All programs> Windows update.

2. Going to “change settings” and choose “Install updates automatically (Recommended)” from the dropdown menu. You will receive latest video card driver updates.

3. Checking the box “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” under “recommended settings” pane. Windows will give you all updated versions of video card drivers.

Windows update to check for drivers

Now that you turned automatic updating on, you can update video card driver through Windows update. You can check available updates by:

1. Going to start> All programs> Windows update.

2. Clicking “Check for updates.” You will see one or more important and optional updates. Click on them to see which updates are available.

3. Click “Install updates.” You might be prompted for permission or confirmation, click YES or type the password if need be.

Windows will update video card driver for you if available. For more ways, other than these, to update video card driver, check out how to install/ update driver?

For FAQs related to video cards and updating them, check out Video cards: frequently asked questions.

Most people connect to internet through cable modems, DSL, or fiber optics. No matter what type of modem you use, they all do modulation and demodulation. This is why modem is also called “modulator-demodulator”. Modem acts as a translator so that signals from your computer can travel over phone lines. It’s analogous to two people wanting to talk and having uncommon language. They will definitely need a translator. Translator knows both the languages and translates each one of them for both the parties so that both can understand and communicate. Rather than literally translating, modem translates signals from your computer to phone lines, DSL, or fiber optics so to bridge the communication between the two. In order to be completely functional, you need to update modem drivers if need be.

Modem Drivers are set of codes that receive signals from your computer, make packets of that data for modem and transmit it over phone lines, DSL, or fiber optics even in the air. Moreover, it decodes data packets received from any location of the world so that it could be understandable for your computer. These are modem drivers through which you enjoy the facility of email or internet. You can use driver updates to keep your modem driver up-to-date which are available on one-click access free of cost.

Sometimes, you may face problems due to modem drivers. The reasons can be:

• You installed a new modem
• Recently upgraded your operating systems
• Modem driver has been corrupted by undesired application or system Crash etc.

How to update modem drivers?

Facing a problem in modem drivers is not a serious problem. One can easily fix it by re-installing or updating the modem driver. There are typically three ways to update modem driver:

• Install Windows updates which might install the latest drivers for your modem
• Open Device manager from control panel and update driver modem
• Open manufacturer’s website and find compatible modem driver for your modem

For detailed steps and illustration of how to update modem driver, check out “How to install/ update drivers?”

You sent the command to your printer to print your document and waited for it to be printed. But the paper never came out. Don’t panic! There can be several printer problems that you can come across. They can be due to:

• Improper connection of cables
• Problematic wireless adapters and its settings
• Printer drivers’ incompatibility
• Missing printer updates

This article is going to tell you how to fix printer problems whether it is as simple as checking your cable or as complex as installing or updating printer drivers.

How to fix printer problems?

You can choose to fix printer problems automatically; however, if you choose to do it manually, then you are required to follow this tutorial step by step to get rid of printer problems. Do the first step first. If the problem still persists, move on to the second one and so on.

1. Check whether your printer has access to electricity or not. Check the power.
2. Check whether all the cables are connected properly or not especially the one connected to the PC.
3. Use printing troubleshooter to troubleshoot for any possible errors you might not even think of. Troubleshooter scans and fixes some printer problems by itself.

Printer driver issue

If none of the above steps work, it is probably an issue with the printer driver. A printer driver is the one which is responsible for establishing communication between your computer and printer. This communication can be disrupted if the driver is damaged, incompatible, or outdated. They can be damaged or become incompatible either due to viruses, malware, windows upgrades, or power outages which leads to random computer boot ups. As a consequence, you might lose important information regarding proper working of current printer drivers. You can solve printer driver issues by installing latest printer drivers which are compatible with your windows.

a. You can look for potential printer driver updates in windows update. By choosing to install those updates, your printer driver will automatically be updated.

b. You can choose to insert any installation disc that might have come with your printer or your computer. You can also buy such a CD from your nearby shop which has the required driver.

c. You can go to the printer’s manufacturer’s website to install required printer driver.
These steps are illustrated in detail in the blog “how to install/ update drivers?”

Drivers need to be updated to match the improved performance and interoperability of hardware devices. You can update or install driver software manually from installation CD or external storage device. You can also check available windows updates, important as well as optional, to look for driver update. These things along with other ways to update drivers are given below. You can follow the steps below to update drivers.

1. For Windows XP or earlier versions: Go to Start> Control panel> System> Hardware> Device Manager.
For Windows, 7 or Vista: Click on Windows icon in the taskbar and type “Device manager” in search field. It will appear in the top of start menu. Click to open.

2. Expand “device category” by clicking on the arrow to find your device. Right click on the device to install, uninstall, disable, or update your device.

3. For now, right click on your device and go to properties. Under “General” tab, you will see “Device status.” If it is working properly, then that’s fine. If there is any problem with your device, such as missing drivers, then it will be written. You can do two things.

a. Click on “update driver.” If you have an installation disk inserted, you can choose “Browse my computer for driver software.” It will start the manual process mentioned in the start of the article. If you do not have CD or something like that, click on “search automatically for updated driver software.” Make sure you are connected to internet. It will search for compatible driver software and install it. If it is unable to find any suitable driver for you, follow step b to update drivers.

b. Note down name of the manufacturer and model of your device.

4. Open manufacturer’s website in your browser and find drivers for the specific make and model of your device. For instance, if manufacturer’s name for your device is Microsoft, then type www.microsoft.com in the address bar. When the page opens, go to either “support” or “downloads” to find your desired driver. Otherwise, simply type in the search box.

5. If you have located the driver, download the latest driver by following the instructions that appear on your screen. After it is downloaded, you might have to double click the downloaded file to begin installation. Or some drivers start getting installed automatically. After the installation is complete, you will be able to use the device properly by then.

Note: Make sure you uninstall the old driver before downloading new one. Read more ways to install/ update driver.

Network adapter lets you connect to the internet. If you are unable to use internet, there might be different problems with network e. One of them is missing or outdated network adapter driver. Before jumping to conclusion that your network adapter driver is missing, you must go for troubleshooting. If there are no other issues, then it is driver issue definitely.

How to fix network adapter driver issue?

Drivers need to be updated to match the improved performance and interoperability of hardware devices. You can update or install network adapter driver software from manufacturer’s website as well. But wait! First you need to know the make and model of your hardware device to know which driver is compatible to run it. You can follow following steps to update drivers.

1. For Windows XP or earlier versions: Go to Start> Control panel> System> Hardware> Device Manager.
For Windows, 7 or Vista: Click on Windows icon in the taskbar and type “Device manager” in search field. It will appear in the top of start menu. Click to open.

2. Expand “Network adapters” to find your device. Right click on it to install, uninstall, disable, or update your device.

3. For now, right click on your device and go to properties. Under “General” tab, you will see “Device status.” If it is working properly, then that’s fine. If there is any problem with your device, such as missing drivers, then it will be written. You can do two things.

a. Click on “update driver.” If you have an installation disk inserted, you can choose “Browse my computer for driver software.” If you do not have CD, click on “search automatically for updated driver software.” Make sure you are connected to internet. It will search for compatible network adapter driver and install it. If it is unable to find any suitable driver for you, follow step b.

b. Note down name of the manufacturer and model of your device.

4. Open manufacturer’s website in your browser and find drivers for the specific make and model of your device. For instance, if manufacturer’s name for network adapters is Microsoft, then type www.microsoft.com in the address bar. When the page opens, go to either “support” or “downloads” to find your desired driver. Otherwise, simply type in the search box.

5. If you have located the driver, download the latest driver by following the instructions. After it is downloaded, you might have to double click the file to begin installation. Or some drivers start getting installed automatically. After the installation is complete, you will be able to use internet by then.

Happy networking!