Windows 7 Drivers Tips: Updating,
Locating, and Installing Made Easy

To all of you Windows 7 folks out there, this might be a bit of news for you: under the hood, Windows 7 is essentially Windows Vista.  Everything that is/was compatible with Windows Vista works the same with Windows 7. 

The same is true with drivers.  If you’ve had problems looking for drivers to update or install for your Windows 7 PC, have no fear.  Windows Vista drivers work also!

How to Locate Drivers

First off, get yourself into your device manager (Start > Start Search > “Device Manager” OR Click the Device Manager Icon in Control Panel). 

Take a look at all of the hardware installed on your PC and all of their drivers.  Make sure there are no yellow exclamation points indicating a missing driver. 

To get manufacturing information about your device, right-click and select properties.  Under the General tab, it should tell you all of the information you will need to know when searching for a driver.

First, try the manufacturer’s website.  If your device is by nVidia or Intel, check those websites.  Type in the name of the device to search for drivers and select the newest version.  Download the drivers you wish to install.  If there are no options for Windows 7 drivers, simply download Windows Vista drivers for your device instead.

Compatibility Errors with Your Windows 7 Driver

If you have any compatibility errors during installation of Vista drivers on your Windows 7 PC, there is an easy way around this.  Simply cancel the installation.  Then right-click on the *.exe drivers file you downloaded and select Troubleshoot Compatibility. 

In the window presented, select Next and wait while it troubleshoots. It will present you with a list of options.  Select the option “The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won’t install or run now” and click next.  In the list of operating systems, select Windows Vista. 

The next window will give you the details of how to troubleshoot.  Select Next and the installation will begin again in Vista mode.  This should successfully download your drivers onto your Windows 7 PC.

Before You Install Drivers

Before you install the drivers on your Windows 7 PC, make sure that you have the most recent version of DirectX installed and also that your chipset drivers are installed already.  Both of these steps will ensure that installation of new drivers will work properly and will not conflict with any existing drivers or hardware. 

It is also wise to install your new driver on a fresh bootup with no other programs open.  If you are installing multiple drivers, make sure to reboot between installations so that the PC recognizes the driver packs individually and creates the proper environment for the installation of the next set of drivers. 

Utilities for Windows 7

Because Windows 7 is the newest operating system for Windows, there are several utilities provided that will check the devices on your PC, gather the information needed, and update the drivers as needed.

Automatic Driver Update

To enable your automatic driver update and make your life a little easier, go to the Start menu.  On the right column, select the Devices and Printers option.  In the list of devices, locate your Computer icon and right-click.  Select Device Installation Settings from the drop-down menu. 

The window that pops up will provide you with two options: “Yes, do this automatically (recommended)” or “No, let me choose what to do.”  Make sure the first option is selected and click Save Changes.  Your drivers will now be updated when available every time your PC is on the internet. 

Automatically Update Your Drivers