More commonly known as a driver, a device driver or hardware driver is a group of files that enable one or more hardware devices to communicate with the computer's operating system. Without drivers, the computer would not be able to send and receive data correctly to hardware devices, such as a printer.
- Drivers At Laptops & Desktops Computers
- Drivers AT Laptops & Desktops
- Drivers At Laptops & Desktops Refurbished
Testing done by AMD performance labs May 04 2020 on Dell 15 G5 SE, Ryzen 7 4800H with RX 5600M 6GB, 32GB DDR4-3200Mhz, AMD Driver 20.01a-354027E, with SmartShift ON vs. The same laptop with SmartShift OFF using The Witcher 3 DX11 Ultra. Downloads drivers from within the program. Creates a restore point before updating.
What devices need drivers?
Hardware devices that are unknown by the operating system or that have features that are unknown by the operating system all require drivers. Below is a list of hardware devices and peripherals that require drivers.
What devices may not need drivers
Today's operating systems have a lot of generic drivers that allow hardware to work at a basic level without needing drivers or software. However, if that device has features unknown to the operating system, it will not work without drivers. For example, you could plug any keyboard into a computer and expect it to work. However, if that keyboard has any special keys or features, they will not work until the drivers are installed.
NoteThe operating systems generic driver may not be updated as often as the drivers from a hardware manufacturer or computer manufacturer.
What happens if a driver is not installed?
If the appropriate driver is not installed, the device may not function properly, if at all. With some devices, the device may work, but all of its features may not work. For example, a computer mouse usually works without drivers, but if it has more buttons than the traditional mouse, those extra buttons will not work until the drivers are installed.
For Microsoft Windows users, missing drivers may cause a driver conflict or an error that is shown in the Device Manager. If problems or conflicts are encountered with drivers, the computer manufacturer or hardware manufacturer releases a driver update to fix the problems. If updated drivers are available, those drivers need to be installed to replace the existing driver code.
Can a driver make my computer do more?
Installing a driver only makes the hardware installed in the computer function properly. If the correct driver is not installed, installing the latest driver for the hardware can take full advantage of the device. However, you cannot install a driver for hardware not installed in the computer and expect it to make your computer faster or more capable. In other words, installing video card drivers for a video card that's not installed in the computer does not give your computer all the capabilities of that video card. In this example, you'd need the video card hardware and the video card drivers to be installed.
Related pages
- Full listing of computer drivers and help documents relating to drivers.
Disk driver, DLL, Drivers CD, Hardware terms, INF, Input driver, Instructions, Mouse driver, Network device driver, Patch, Printer driver, Software terms, System software
19,239 drivers total Last updated: Sep 10th 2020, 00:34 GMT RSS Feed
sort by:
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Shared Library Utility 6.1.0.02040 for Windows 10 64-bit
52downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Power Management Utility 6.1.2.07160 for Windows 10 64-bit
76downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Update Utility 7.4.0.15200 for Windows 10 64-bit
35downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Update Utility 7.4.0.15200 for Windows 8 64-bit
12downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Control Center Utility 6.2.3.04160 for Windows 8 64-bit
32downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Hardware Diagnostics Utility 4.8.0.1325000 for Windows 8 64-bit
17downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Intel ME Driver 8.1.0.1263 for Windows 8 64-bit
6downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Intel SATA AHCI Driver 11.6.0.1030 for Windows 8 64-bit
11downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Intel Chipset Driver 9.3.0.1026 for Windows 8 64-bit
7downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Care Utility 8.2.0.15030 for Windows 8 64-bit
16downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X CPU Fan Utility 1.2.0.03050 for Windows 8 64-bit
24downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Shared Library Utility 6.1.0.02040 for Windows 8 64-bit
7downloads
Sony VAIO SVF15A190X Touch Search Utility 1.1.0.1511 for Windows 8 64-bit
7downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Update Utility 7.4.0.15200 for Windows 10 64-bit
15downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver 1.0.0 for Windows 10 64-bit
70downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel ME Driver 9.5.24.1790 for Windows 8.1 64-bit
6downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver 1.0.0 for Windows 8.1 64-bit
12downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel ME Driver 8.1.52.1496 for Windows 8.1 64-bit
3downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Update Utility 7.4.0.15200 for Windows 8 64-bit
5downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Firmware Extension Parser Device Driver 8.0.2.3 for Windows 8 64-bit
2downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel SATA AHCI Driver 12.8.0.1016 for Windows 8 64-bit
3downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Improvement Utility 1.0.0.04020 for Windows 8 64-bit
1download
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel ME Driver 8.1.0.1248.1514 for Windows 8 64-bit
2downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Wireless State Device Driver 1.0.0.6110 for Windows 8 64-bit
3downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel SATA AHCI Driver 1.0.0.0828 for Windows 8 64-bit
4downloads
Drivers At Laptops & Desktops Computers
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Intel ME Driver 8.1.0.1248 for Windows 8 64-bit
0downloads
Drivers AT Laptops & Desktops
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Update Utility 7.4.0.15200 for Windows 7 64-bit
20downloads
Drivers At Laptops & Desktops Refurbished
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Control Center Utility 5.5.1.12040 for Windows 7 64-bit
10downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Control Center Utility 5.4.2.12040 for Windows 7 64-bit
8downloads
Sony VAIO SVS1311AGXB Control Center Utility 5.2.7.12040 for Windows 7 64-bit
17downloads