Dell - Technical Support

A driver is a piece of software that allows Microsoft® Windows® (or another operating system) to communicate with the hardware devices in your system. Devices such as video cards, sound cards, and modems all require drivers to function correctly within Windows. Sometimes, Windows includes drivers for devices, but generally drivers need to be downloaded and installed separately.

Section 2:When to Update a Driver

The device drivers and firmware on a computer should be updated for numerous reasons, some of which include:

Increased system performance
Patch security risks
Expanded compatibility
Additional features
To fix problems
As directed by a Dell article

However, if your computer is working fine and the driver is not listed as an Urgent or Recommended download, there may be no reason to update your drivers. Installing drivers unnecessarily can, in some rare cases, create new problems. Review the Criticality information listed on the driver download page for more information.

Section 3:How do I Determine the Components in my Computer?

You have two options on how to determine the components in the computer.

Option 1: Continue on to Section 4,use the Service tag to get a concise list of Drivers and Downloads specific for your system. As shown in Section 4, Step 2.

Option 2: If you just want the Component list and not the downloads, please follow the instructions below:

Browse to the System Configuration Tool
Select the Original System Configurations tab.

Enter your Service Tag, then click Continue. The list of components installed on your computer is displayed. This list can be referenced to help you find out what components you will need drivers for.

Section 4:How to Download and Install a Driver

Browse to the Drivers and Downloads page.
Click

Enter a Tag
. Enter your Service Tag to get a concise list of drivers for your specific product model. Click

Go
to continue.

Note:

If the Service Tag is not available, click

Select Model
and select the appropriate Product Type and Product Model. Click

Confirm
to finalize your selection.
Select the desired operating system, driver language, category, and importance settings from the drop-down boxes (Figure 1).

Operating System:

Windows XP

Driver Language:

English

Category:

All

Importance:

All

Figure 1

Select the driver you want to download from the column labeled File Title to display the download page.
Click the in the table below to see which drivers are available for download in each category.
Review the information on the page and take note of Installation Instructions and Important Information.

Note:

If you are using Download Manager to download files, Click here to visit the Download Manger FAQ
Click Download Now. You may receive a warning and an option to run or save the file.
Click

Save
.
When the

Save As
window appears, designate a folder to save the file that is being downloaded and click

Save
. The download progress window displays.
When the download is complete, double-click the downloaded file to run it, follow the instructions provided. There may be a pause between the download and the installation.