[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Why, how and where to update your Windows 8 drivers here

[klkl]

I have been told multiple times, NEVER to update drivers via windows update. That I should always update drivers directly. comments?

[Xach]

I have had no trouble with any drivers and Windows 8..... Yet.

Not a single install on my older systems needed any extra drivers so far.

Windows 8 seems to be pretty solid as far as i can tell I can plug in a printer and it loads and I print.

I don't remember this being the case in the past so I would try Windows Updates on 8.

[Tamos99]

Pro tip: Right click the bottom left hot corner, click on Device Manager.

I put Windows 8 on a 3 y/o Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop. To get all the touchpad bells and whistles like scroll zones I had to find a somewhat obscure update on the Dell website. It was worth upgrading, though... the Dell is noticeably faster.

[TinyLittleTimmy]

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I have been told multiple times, NEVER to update drivers via windows update. That I should always update drivers directly. comments?

I always install all the windows updates (hiding the language packs) then if something doesn't work like the Card Reader or Wifi then I go to the manufacturer's website, type the model of the computer, and download the drivers for just the parts that aren't working, but if you stick with a good name brand like ASUS you won't need to download any drivers cause Windows already has all the latest drivers for all the biggest name brand parts found in those PCs/Laptops.

[unhappyhpowner]

Good article--except, unless you were dumb enough to buy an HP product--in my case, a dv6t 6100 with an AMD hd 7400 video card--for which HP doesn't have a driver for Win 8--they referred me to Microsoft who bounced me back to HP--and AMD says not my job, man--so I have a fairly high end laptop which only can use the Intel on-chip graphics--with no date even on the horizon when one of these folks will step up to the plate for customers and make one available--and not one of them warned anyone ahead of time--otherwise I would have stayed with Win 7--nowi t's a true PITA to switch back--three major companies dropped the ball totally--lousy customer service.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[JohnUSA]

After thoroughly trying and testing Windows 8 I did not like this new OS.
It is very poorly designed, many features have been changed unnecessarily, and it seems that Microsoft just changes layouts and locations around just to be different and new instead of leaving things as they are for easier use for all current users.
I found Windows 8 irritating to use, and the design is just horrible, cumbersome and illogical.
To summarize, Windows 8 is trash and I will never want it, and when I bought my new laptop recently I made sure that I got Windows 7.
Microsoft need to dramatically improve this new OS and release a properly designed and much friendlier new Windows 9 ASAP.

[rbudd2]

JohnUSA nailed it. Amen and Amen to John!!!

I am sick & tired of Microsoft changing things, just for the sake of change,
based on what their supposedly intelligent people THINK that they know what WE want!!!!!

[tomcam]

I love Windows 8. I took the time to learn a few keyboard shortcuts and now I get to settings and apps faster than I could on Win 7. It really sped up everything too. You can tell that there has been some mods to the file system because copies and moves are faster now. Updating my laptop and desktop in place went flawlessly.

[cal67]

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Good article--except, unless you were dumb enough to buy an HP product--in my case, a dv6t 6100 with an AMD hd 7400 video card--for which HP doesn't have a driver for Win 8--they referred me to Microsoft who bounced me back to HP--and AMD says not my job, man--so I have a fairly high end laptop which only can use the Intel on-chip graphics--with no date even on the horizon when one of these folks will step up to the plate for customers and make one available--and not one of them warned anyone ahead of time--otherwise I would have stayed with Win 7--nowi t's a true PITA to switch back--three major companies dropped the ball totally--lousy customer service. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

I can't speak specifically to your laptop, but while playing around with the Windows 8 Developer version I tried it on some older hardware just to see how it would work. While doing so I found that for some graphics cards that had no Windows 8 drivers, the Windows 7 or XP drivers did not work. I had to go back to Windows 2000 drivers and they worked perfectly. So... based on my experience, you could try some older drivers. The latest is not always best.