Automatic driver downloading / management?

[silentmemories]

It's been a while since I first got my PC - roughly 2 years now. I'm afraid I don't have the original driver installers and I have no idea what's inside my PC (the specific motherboard model, ...).

Is there any way to do this process (driver downloading and management) automatically / in a quick way?

I'm currently running Windows Vista Business 64 bit and I'm looking to nuke the hard drive and clean-install Windows 8 64 bit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Murloc]

I don't think so, although I've seen that some manufacturers preinstall utilities that tell you when there are driver updates.

Anyway I'm sure there's a serial number or model number on the computer and that you can go on the manufacturer's website and find all the driver installers for that specific model.
I know I did this with a dell laptop a few years ago.

 

[silentmemories]

I built my gaming PC myself so there isn't really a manufacturer, I'm afraid.

I'm sure there's some utility that helps you auto-download drivers.

 

[Ketchup]

You have a few options:

1. There was a program that claimed to do this (can't think of the name). It came on your brand name PCs. I never saw it find anything.
2. You can open the computer and look inside. The motherboard will have the model number printed on it. Most of what you would look for would be on the board's drive download page.
3. If you don't want to open the case (spider webs, bird poo, and whatnot) you can download a program like CPU-Z or Sisoft Sandra, which can also give you the model numbers you would be looking for.

Also take note that if you are running hardware from Windows Vista era, there is a very good chance that 8 will come with all the drivers you need.

There is also a chance that the manufacturer (at least the motherboard anyway) will not offer Win 8 drivers for all components. But since you didn't tell us what you have, hopefully you will get lucky on this part.

 

[silentmemories]

Alright, dug the box out of my attic and found it - Asus P8P67. Haven't done this for a while - please do forgive me.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8P67/#support_Download_36

Am I meant to download all of these? One from each section (BIOS, chipset, audio, LAN, ...)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ketchup]

Alright, dug the box out of my attic and found it - Asus P8P67. Haven't done this for a while - please do forgive me.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8P67/#support_Download_36

Am I meant to download all of these? One from each section (BIOS, chipset, audio, LAN, ...)?

Thanks in advance.

Ah cool. Good board with good support. The only categories you might be interested in are Drivers are Chipset, Audio, LAN, and SATA.

If you don't have the latest BIOS, that would not be a bad idea, no matter what OS you are in. However, I don't see any that state "windows 8 compatibility" or something similar in the description.

Just for comparison sake, I will tell you that I put the preview of Windows 8 on my signature PC, and there were zero drivers I had to install from another source. Windows had them all. I think I had to do a Windows update for the video card and a couple other drivers (can't remember the specifics on this) but nothing major.

 

[silentmemories]

Ah cool. Good board with good support. The only categories you might be interested in are Drivers are Chipset, Audio, LAN, and SATA.

If you don't have the latest BIOS, that would not be a bad idea, no matter what OS you are in. However, I don't see any that state "windows 8 compatibility" or something similar in the description.

Just for comparison sake, I will tell you that I put the preview of Windows 8 on my signature PC, and there were zero drivers I had to install from another source. Windows had them all. I think I had to do a Windows update for the video card and a couple other drivers (can't remember the specifics on this) but nothing major.

I did hear about how Windows 8 is really good on the drivers front but... how do you check if you need to install drivers or not?

The PC won't really show that you need to install chipset drivers.

 

[Ketchup]

I did hear about how Windows 8 is really good on the drivers front but... how do you check if you need to install drivers or not?

The PC won't really show that you need to install chipset drivers.

If someone has a better method, we would be all ears. Here is what I do. After windows is up to date, security and optional updates, I head over to the manufacturer's site and grab anything that was released in the past couple months. My history has been that it takes Windows at least that long to get a hold of a driver, "certify" it, and throw it on Windows update. That number is pretty generous, as the older the OS and the hardware gets, the less often they update these. I didn't have to upgrade the chipset software on mine, but it wouldn't hurt to grab the latest just in case.

If it ain't broke don't fix it" somewhat applies here, for me anyway. If the computer runs well and all your devices work, I wouldn't worry about making sure I have the latest of everything.