How to check for updates on. How to Scan Your Computer for Driver Updates. How to check drivers using Windows

Get started with this quick and easy guide to checking your computer for driver updates and keeping them up to date.

Driver updates may help:

  • Fixed bugs, bugs and other problems with old drivers
  • Improve the long-term reliability of your equipment
  • Improve device performance
  • Unlock and use special features supported by your hardware.
  • Support for the latest hardware and software
  • Improve compatibility with new operating systems
  • Extend the life of your computer

How to find driver updates

This guide shows three ways to scan your computer for driver updates and find out which drivers need updating.

  1. Using the Update Wizard Windows drivers

    How to search for driver updates:

    • Click the button Start, select item Execute, enter mmc devmgmt.msc and press Enter. On Windows 7 or later late version you can simply enter Device Manager in the search field.
    • In the Device Manager window, find the device you want to update. Right click it and select " Update driver" .
    • This will launch the Driver Update Wizard, which will either give you the option to install the update you've already downloaded or allow Windows to search for database data Windows Update available updates drivers.

      Although this seems simple enough, the results usually vary by different computers. There are many messages there that Windows updates do not provide the most Latest updates . Even worse, the process of updating drivers through Device Manager can be tedious and overwhelming for everyday users.

Updating drivers through the manager Windows devices

  1. Visit a PC manufacturer or hardware manufacturer's website

    Almost all hardware manufacturers offer device drivers for download on their support pages. If you have a branded PC like HP or Dell, simply go to their website, find their support page, and enter your model number or service tag to view the results. If you have a custom computer, you will need to visit different manufacturers' websites, depending on the hardware components installed on your computer.

    Even though this is the ideal way driver updates, in the maze of support information, a fair percentage of users are lost.
    Some end up misidentifying Hardware and loading the wrong drivers, and the rest simply give up halfway. So if you manage to download necessary drivers, you can follow the instructions provided to install them successfully on your computer.

Downloading drivers from hardware manufacturers

  1. Usage automatic program driver updates It would be inconvenient if it were possible to automatically scan your computer for driver updates and install them in several simple steps?
    Well, that's exactly what driver update programs will help you do. Luckily, we offer a program that's perfect for your driver update needs.

Scan results from ReviverSoft Driver Reviver

How to find out what Windows OS updates are installed on your PC or server? Of course, you can open “Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs”, or the Update History item in Windows 7/2008 and view the list installed updates, however, with the help GUI You can neither download this list nor search through it. In this case, you need to seek help command line. With the following command you can output detailed list all updates that are installed on this Windows system:

Wmic qfe list

In the results of executing this command, you can see what was installed, by whom and when, in addition, a link to an article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) is displayed. To get a list of installed updates in text form, you can simply redirect the output of this command to a text file, and then open it in your favorite text editor:

Wmic qfe list > updatelist.txt && updatelist.txt

Text file with the name updatelist.txt will be created in the C:\Windows\System32\ directory.

If you need to find out whether a specific Windows update is installed on a given system (for example, KB2544521), you can use find command, redirecting the output to it:

Wmic qfe list | find "KB2544521"

As you can see, update KB2544521 is already installed.

Another way to view installed updates in Windows is to use the “systeminfo” utility. This command, unlike the previous one, will only display a list of KB numbers (in addition to system information). In this case, you can also redirect the output of this command to a text file:

Systeminfo > sysinfo.txt && sysinfo.txt

However, be careful, all these commands display only installed updates and hotfixes for the Windows OS itself; there is no information about updates for any other Microsoft products (such as UAG, Office, TMG, SQL or Exchange) here. To view installed updates for these products, you need to type in the start menu: “ View Installed Updates”, after which a standard window will open, accessible from the control panel.

To search for a specific update, you can type KB and the update number in the search window (in the upper right corner), but the search is not performed very correctly, so sometimes it’s easier to find necessary update by simply browsing the list.

Also, when installing updates, do not forget that they require a system reboot. In Windows 7, after installing updates, it reboots automatically, which is quite inconvenient. Fortunately, it is possible.

Device drivers must be updated promptly so that there are no conflicts or software breakdowns on the computer. You can do this manually, simply by finding the necessary drivers on the Internet, or automatically using operating system and downloaded programs. This article will look at three ways to find and update device drivers.

How to check drivers using Windows

Any version of the Windows operating system can check its drivers for updates. Built-in capabilities are used for this.

At the same time, press the combination “WIN + R” or “WIN + k” on the keyboard on the Russian layout.

A small search window will immediately appear on the screen. Enter the code “sysdm.cpl” into it and press Enter.


This command will bring up the system properties window. This is where you search for updates to all drivers on your computer. First, go to the “Hardware” tab.

Then look for the “Device Installation Options” button. Click on it.

Customize this window for automatic download drivers. Select “Yes, do this automatically.” Then the system will search for absolutely all drivers on the computer and update them independently. If you select any other item, then some of the drivers will always remain unupdated without your intervention. Click “Save”.


How to check drivers manually

To manually search and update drivers, go to the Control Panel via Start.

Find the “Hardware and Sound” section and enter it.


Now go to the “Device Manager” subsection. Please note that only administrative users have access to this section. account, this cannot be done through the guest room.


The window that appears will display all devices that are connected to the system. Right-click on any of them and click on “Update Drivers”.


There are two update options available to you:

  • Search for drivers on your computer if they are installed but lost;
  • Automatic search on the Internet.


If you are looking for drivers on your computer, you will have to specify the directory where the driver is located. Most often, the address is automatically searched by the system.


Automatic search for drivers is performed without your participation. It's enough just to wait a little. If the search does not produce results, then it is better to resort to an independent search for the driver on the Internet on the developer’s website.


How to check drivers using a special utility

There is a lot of software that allows the user to update and search for drivers in a timely and fully automated manner.

One such utility is AIDA64. This convenient program, which itself will check for uninstalled drivers, updates, errors during installation and other problems. You can download it on the official website http://www.aida64.ru/download

Go to the website and click on the “Download” button. On the top multi-colored panel you will see the “Download AIDA64” tab, there are several types of this program, select the “Extreme” type.


Installation will not take you much time; you need to agree to the license, select the installation directory, folder name and other parameters. The whole process will take about a minute.

As soon as the installation of the program is completed, go into it and find the “Update Drivers” button. This is quite a long process, but this utility copes with the task better than the built-in tools of the system.

Now you know how to find drivers for all devices on your computer, update them, and do it all fully automatically.


Microsoft is constantly working to improve Windows 7, developing new versions of programs, new versions of device drivers, all kinds of patches and bug fixes. All of these new and improved features are immediately available online, so you should check for updates in Windows 7 as often as possible.

The main site to check for updates for Windows 7 is the Windows Update website, which you can download from the menu in your Internet browser window. Start paragraph All Programs > Windows Update.

This site should be visited regularly to identify new ones that have appeared. important components who can do Windows system 7 even more reliable and secure.

Windows 7 Update Tool

Windows 7 comes with a tool automatic update, capable of downloading and installing updates automatically. Those who prefer to know everything that happens with their computer can customize the behavior of this tool to their liking. The steps required for this are given below.

  1. Click the button Start, enter the string in the search field Update centre and then select the option from the list of search results Windows Update. A Windows Update window will appear with information about your current update status and an option to view installed updates.
  2. Click the Configure settings link to display the dialog box Settings.
  3. Activate one of the following options in the section Important updates to specify how Windows 7 should update.
  • Install updates automatically (recommended). This option tells Windows 7 to download and install updates automatically. If enabled, Windows 7 will check for new updates on a designated day and time (for example, daily or every Sunday). It is better to choose a day and time when no one uses the computer.
  • Download updates, but installation decisions are made by me. If you enable this option, Windows 7 will check for new updates, automatically download them if available, and then display an icon in the notification area to indicate that the updates are ready to be installed. Clicking this icon allows you to view a list of downloaded updates and uncheck those that you do not need to install.
  • Look for updates, but the decision to download and install is made by me. If you select this option, Windows 7 will check for new updates and then, if available, display an icon in the notification area to let you know that there are updates ready to download. Click this icon to view a list of these updates, uncheck the ones you don't want to download, and click the Start Download button to start the download process. Upon completion of the process Windows boot 7 will display an icon in the notification area indicating that there are updates ready to be installed. Clicking this icon and then clicking the Install button will install these updates.
  • Don't check for updates (not recommended). By activating this option, you can prevent Windows 7 from checking for new updates.

4. Click the button OK for the new settings to take effect.

Attention

Some updates require a reboot after installation. In such situations, if the Install updates automatically option is activated, Windows 7 will automatically restart the system. This may cause problems if there are any open documents with unsaved changes or a program that must run continuously. You can avoid such problems by saving your work at all times, setting up automatic logon, and placing programs that you want to run at all times in the Startup folder of the Start menu.

On a note

Any rejected update will still appear in the View Update History window. To make it invisible, right-click on it, select Hide Update from the context menu, and then click Cancel. If you later want to make it visible again, just display the Windows Update window, click on the Restore hidden updates link, then in the Restore hidden updates window, check the box next to the update you are interested in and click on the Restore button.