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Do you install HW drivers suggested by Windows Update?

Barfo

Barfo

Lifer
So, WU is suggesting I install a driver for "Broadcom bus cotrollers and ports - Dell wireless 355 module with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR technology".
I've had this laptop for 3 years and I've never had any problems with wifi or bluetooth so I'm not sure if I should install this or not, moreover, I can't find any info on what's new with them. What would you do?
 
Never. I only do driver updates from the computer or hardware device maker.
And then only if it is not working properly or needs a feature that it did not have before.
 
Never, I use the driver from the chipset manufacturer's website, ie for a ASUS motherboard with an Intel chipset, I only use the drivers form Intel's website.
 
Nothing wrong with them. They are just tested and approved by microsoft and may be older than the latest released driver.
 
I never update them unless something isn't working right. Even in that case I always download from the manufacturer website, rather than Windows update. In some cases Windows update has been known to install older or incorrect versions of a driver. The only thing I do update on a regular basis is video card drivers, but again not through Windows update.
 
Barfo said:
So, WU is suggesting I install a driver for "Broadcom bus cotrollers and ports - Dell wireless 355 module with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR technology".
I've had this laptop for 3 years and I've never had any problems with wifi or bluetooth so I'm not sure if I should install this or not, moreover, I can't find any info on what's new with them. What would you do?
Click to expand...


NO.
 
Network, Audio, and Video, almost always better to use the manufacturer Drivers.

In case of Audio and Video it just a matter of Added features.

In case of Network (especially Wireless) it might be essential.

.
 
bruceb said:
Never. I only do driver updates from the computer or hardware device maker.
And then only if it is not working properly or needs a feature that it did not have before.
Click to expand...

^^^

This. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I used to chase the newest drivers all of the time, but outside of gfx for particular games, nothing was ever improved, and a couple of times, the new driver broke something. If it works, it works. That's all you can ask for ;^)
 
Yeah, the Realtek NIC driver has been updated a couple of times through Windows Update, no issues. I don't remember ever seeing updates for graphics, sound, chipset, game controllers or other peripherals. I just periodically check the drivers section on Filehippo.com for new Catalyst and Realtek HD Audio drivers.
 
Some things I'll update with WU, and some things not. I'll usually update printer drivers and NIC drivers. But I download the latest disk controller drivers from the maker's site.

Updating disk controllers, especially RAID controllers, is a REALLY good idea. For instance, I've seen a couple of updates for Dell RAID cards that fixed CRITICAL issues that could cause data loss under some circumstances.

A client's four-year-old Dell SCSI RAID controller was working perfectly. But it turns out Dell had found a problem recovering arrays if the RAID card's firmware and driver hadn't been updated. You'd never know there was a problem until a disk got dropped. And all of a sudden you had a major problem.
 
Say what you want. I do not trust anything on the MS updates. They have even messed up updates to their own software many times.
 
tcsenter said:
Well then you shouldn't have any problem with WU, because every driver is put there by the device or hardware vendor.
Click to expand...

This is very true.

However, some Vendors do not bother to submitting every interim release to WU.

Sometimes the vendor's latest drivers can be available on the vendor's well before it is on WU (Realtek is an example).

Microsoft just act as a volunteer broker between hardware manufacturers and the Consumers.

They test the Drivers. However they can not test it with the same scope of specific 3rd party devices as the hardware manufacturer does (or at least should).


😎
 
Aside from video drivers from AMD or Nvidia, I do. Outside of some bug fixes, I doubt OEM chip makers are really trying to squeeze performance out of an imbedded NIC on a motherboard or other things.

Plus, I tend to prefer the minimalist approach to drivers on there. There is less driver fluff to deal with.
 
Last edited:
I usually do. Never had a problem. Saves me from having to check for new drivers, which I never do anymore.
 
No especially if it's the NIC driver. I have an updated driver available for my Realtek 10/100/1000 GBIT Nic and I installed it (Once upon a time:thumbsdown🙂 and I had no internet access and I tried to uninstall it to no avail so I had to Format and reinstall W7
 
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