How to Build Your Own PC - Save A Buck And Learn A Lot  9  Chapter 10: Configuring Windows XP       9  Dealing with Driver Problems

Problems with Driver CDs 1 Using Safe Mode to Deal with Driver Issues

Second, examine the manufacturer’s website for a new driver and run that program instead. Be sure to save all your downloaded driver files or updates to a CD. Also, I think it helps to create a text file on your backup CD that describes the file and its purpose. For example, we downloaded the file vs-winXP.exe. We might add some text such as:

“vs-winXP.exe. Downloaded from viewsonic.com. This file installs the monitor information for the ViewSonic A70f+ monitor in Windows XP. Just double click on the file vs-winXP.exe and it will install the monitor information. After doing that under Device Manager... Monitor, we’ll see the A70f+ is recognized.”

You’ll appreciate these notes to yourself if you need to repeat the same procedure several years later.

Third, find the device in Device Manager and use the Hardware Update Wizard by selecting “Update Driver” to add the driver for the device. If it won’t automatically find the driver, and you have a CD or know the location where you’ve saved the downloaded driver files, select “Install from a list or specific location” and try running “Update Driver” again.

Fourth, sometimes running Windows Update will find a better driver for the device.

Windows offers a neat feature that allows new drivers to be “rolled back” which essentially uninstalls them and goes back to using the previous driver the device was using. That could be handy, if you find a new driver doesn’t work properly with your system.

Problems with Driver CDs 1 Using Safe Mode to Deal with Driver Issues