Sources for hardware drivers
Drivers are software programs that tell Windows how to interface and operate hardware. An out-of-date or buggy driver can make hardware operate poorly or not at all. Most manufacturers of hardware update drivers on a regular basis. Routers, modems, video cards, scanners, and printers are some of the common hardware that seem to have frequent updates. Going to each and every manufacturer’s Website to check for drivers can be a tedious business so it’s fortunate that there are some central places where you can check a whole list of different companies. Using Google or other search engine will turn up many references but listed below are a few.
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Sometimes you are faced with the prospect of installing a new OS on a PC for which there is no documentation available. This can make it difficult to positively identify certain hardware items, particularly things like network cards and modems.
For such a circumstance, the program Unknown Devices is eminently useful. The program is a free download and is available here:
http://www.halfdone.com/Development/UnknownDevices/
No installation is required - just run the program. Unknown Devices uses a large text file as a database and is included with the download, but it is recommended that you obtain the latest version here:
http://members.datafast.net.au/dft0802/downloads/pcidevs.txt
This link is also shown on the Unknown Devices download page. You should right-click on the link and select “Save Target As…” Otherwise, the browser will merely load the text file for viewing rather than downloading it. If that happens, you may select all the text, copy it to the clipboard, paste it into Notepad and save it as pcidevs.txt.