Tracking down Device Drivers

Introduction

The frustration that comes from finding the correct drivers for the unknown devices in Windows can drive you up the walls. But, if you have access to the internet, it is a painless and easy task.

The first thing to remember when looking for drivers is that they can almost always be found at the appropriate manufacturer’s website. If you know who created the device, you can usually find drivers listed on their site by model number.

When installing devices for laptops, notebooks and even mobile devices such as tablets this is a must. Many of the integrated peripherals found on mobile computers are designed specifically to work with the other components installed on it. As such, drivers are very often unique to the make of the computer and should be found on the appropriate website for best results.

Acquiring Drivers

If you know the device manufacturer

If the manufacturer is known to you, you can simply navigate to their website, or search for it on Google. If you are using a laptop, or a prebuilt computer, then you can search the support site of the computer manufacturer for the specific model to gain access to the drivers related to it. Some manufacturers allow you to search their site using a hardware service tag-, or serial number, which is even easier.

Fig. 1

If you don’t know the device manufacturer

If you are in the dark as to who the device manufacturer is, the first option is to use a hardware detection utility. Although there’s quite a few on the internet, the most effective ones I’ve used are 3DPChip, HWinfo and CPUID PC-Wizard. These utilities can detect the make of your hardware with relative accuracy, and can also be useful when searching for driver downloads. Some of them, such as 3DP Chip, even link you to its online database of drivers giving you a reliable download in many cases.

Fig. 2

If the utilities fail you, you can try doing it he manual way. This involves checking the device Vendor and Devicenumbers to find out who the manufacturer and device details are. This can be done by doing the following:

• First, take note of the operating system, and specifically if it is running in 32bit or 64bit mode. You can check this using System Information.
• In Windows XP, open the Start Menu, and choose Run. Then type msinfo32 and press enter.

• In Windows Vista/7, use the search bar in the Start Menu to find System Information, and open it.
• The property System Type will either state x86 (32bit), or x64(64bit)
• Now you need to open Device Manager.
• In Windows XP, Right-click on Computer, and choose Properties. Then, choose the Hardware tab, and click on Device Manager

• In Windows Vista/7, you can simply type Device Manager in the Start Menu search box, and click on it when found.

Fig. 3

• Locate the device that you need a driver for. Usually this will be listed with a yellow question-mark using a generic name such as High Definition Sound Device or Video Controller (VGA Compatible)
• Right-click on it, and choose Properties.

Fig. 4

• Navigate to the Details tab
• Locate the Vendor and Device ID, which is set out as VEN_####, and DEV_####. You can find these codes under Hardware Ids in the dropdown box. As indicated, the two codes are found in between PCI\ and&.

Fig. 5

Now that you have the two codes, you can start searching. The easiest way is using online databases. I recommendPCI Database. It has an extensive database, and you can find most manufacturers and hardware device information there. Simply type in the VEN(Vendor) and DEV(Device) IDs in, one at a time, to acquire the correct information.

TIP : You can use the Device ID to find the device, and then check the list to see which one has a matching VEN number to the one on your Device.

Fig. 6

If you can’t find it on there, then you will have to type the two codes into Google (preferably together), and see if you get any hits. Working from there, you can try and figure out what the correct manufacturer and device information are.

Once you have acquired the name of your hardware, its easy to go search for it. Navigate or Google the Vendor(Manufacturer)’s website, and then search the site for the device name and model number. If you can’t find it, then it might be discontinued by the manufacturer. But don’t fear, you can search for it on google. Very often 3rd-party sites keep a older drivers on their database.

Fig. 7

TIP : Downloading from third-party sites are a risky business sometimes. Make sure you scan any file you download with your AV(Antivirus) program before attempting to open it. And steer clear of ‘driver installer programs’ and ‘scan your computer for missing driver’ utilities.

• Remember to confirm that the Operating System listed on the download page matches your operating system and whether it is running in 32bit or 64bit mode.
• Download, and install the driver. If it is zipped, unzip it first.
• If the driver doesn’t come with a self installer, you can manually install it by Right-clicking on the device inDevice Manager, and choosing Update Driver. Then, when prompted, choose to Install from a list or specific location. Add the installed folder to the box and check Include this location in the search, and Windows will automatically install it from there.

Fig. 8

Another guide to do this can be found on TSF,. Although the manual method is much harder, it has generally the highest success rate in tracking down hard to find drivers.

If all else fails

If you still cannot find the driver even when you know the manufacturer, then there is a possibility that it is not supported by the manufacturer any longer. This happens very often with older hardware on a new machine, or even an old operating system.

If this is the case, you can ask someone to help you, such as posting in the Drivers section of TSF asking for help with finding the correct drivers.