[SOLVED] Are these 2 or others programs any good for updating drivers?

[nbartolo7]

• Drive Booster
• Iobit advanced system care

Or will they do more harm than good?

I feel like, the few times I used these programs, they always find drivers to update that I wouldn't have found myself. Sometimes they find 23 drivers out of date, which saves me the impossible task of checking 23 different official manufacturer's websites to see if all my hardware components are up to date. So, they do save a lot of time, but with regards to their reliability I don't know if they are any good, or if they find the correct drivers and the most up to date? Thoughts?

 

[USAFRet]

No, absolutely not.
Nor any other automagic driver updater.

None of them.

In the rare instances when you need a new driver for something, go get it directly from the manufacturer.

These updater things can and do get new drivers 'just because'. When often, there is NO need.

 

[Colif]

No, don't use these things... unless you like having chance of getting wrong drivers installed on PC and want to reinstall windows for the hell of it

The only programs I trust to get the right drivers are written by the makers of the hardware.
And even then they need to be watched as many of the Motherboard updating apps will want to install a whole bunch of extra apps you don't need.

Programs like Geforce Experience and Intel Driver support assistant are safe as they only do specific makers.

Offering driver updating software seems to be the new niche for software makers who used to make other programs supposedly designed to make PC work better. Windows is getting so good at fixing itself that they getting pushed into new ways to make money. So far only Norton has gone to next step which is insert a crypto mining app in their program

 

[nbartolo7]

In the rare instances when you need a new driver for something, go get it directly from the manufacturer.

That's the problem though. How will I know if I don't have these programs to tell me?

 

[USAFRet]

That's the problem though. How will I know if I don't have these programs to tell me?

You don't need to, unless you see an actual problem.
And then, only if a new driver version addresses that specific problem.

Is the system running fine right now?
If so, leave it alone.

 

[nbartolo7]

You don't need to, unless you see an actual problem.
And then, only if a new driver version addresses that specific problem.

Is the system running fine right now?
If so, leave it alone.

 

[Bob.B]

• Drive Booster
• Iobit advanced system care

Or will they do more harm than good?

I feel like, the few times I used these programs, they always find drivers to update that I wouldn't have found myself. Sometimes they find 23 drivers out of date, which saves me the impossible task of checking 23 different official manufacturer's websites to see if all my hardware components are up to date. So, they do save a lot of time, but with regards to their reliability I don't know if they are any good, or if they find the correct drivers and the most up to date? Thoughts?

I suppose you could use them as a scanner then it's off to the maker's sites to see what the update is about and if you need it.

Might be best not to upgrade stuff just because there is a newer version.

 

[USAFRet]

I suppose you could use them as a scanner then it's off to the maker's sites to see what the update is about and if you need it.

Might be best not to upgrade stuff just because there is a newer version.

No.

I wouldn't have them on my system at all.
For any reason.

 

[Bob.B]

No.

I wouldn't have them on my system at all.
For any reason.

I've never looked at either of the apps.
If they load a bunch of different features I doubt I would want them.
If it's just a scanner and your option installer I might let it scan just to see what it said.

 

[Colif]

If you just want to know what drivers are installed on PC now
Download and run Driverview - http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html
All it does is looks at drivers installed; it won't install any (this is intentional as 3rd party driver updaters often get it wrong)

When you run it, go into view tab and set it to hide all Microsoft drivers, will make list shorter.

now its not as easy as the programs who offer to find the drivers, but I feel its safer to look yourself armed with what driver version you have now. If you ever unsure, you can always ask on here... I pretty good at finding them now.

Don't update working drivers, only update drivers if you are having problems. Loading new ones can just cause problems you didn't have before.