Updating Device Drivers

As a relative old-timer (going back to Win95) I've learned a few rules
I've followed in the past and I'm not sure whether they still apply in
Vista, but I suspect they do. This
has to do with old vs. new methods of driver installations and updates.
Back in the old days, drivers could be installed using the "Add Hardware
Wizard" but I've noticed a warning on Vista's wizard that this is only for
advanced users or when an installation CD is not available. This is an
improvement to avoid confusion but would be even more helpful if it replaced
"installation CD"
with "installation program either on CD or previously downloaded".

When it comes to driver updates, I'm not sure if Microsoft's current
instructions
are at all useful and may in fact mislead the novice. According to this
link:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...901033.mspx#ETF
Microsoft first recommends using Windows Update but if you choose to do it
manually you should use device manager, click on "update driver" and follow
instructions. The problem is that driver updates are now provided simply as
newer versions of install programs, and these programs historically can't be
run from device manager. My guess is that the above newly created Microsoft
"help" information for Vista applies more to Windows 3.1 than Vista.
Specifically, one should neither use Windows Update nor Device Manager to
update drivers. Most computer manufacturers want you to obtain driver
updates from them as the driver on Windows Update may not be ideal and could
cause problems. Also, to my knowledge Device Manager still can't be used to
run installation programs. With the advent of "*.msi" install files, things
get even more confusing since if one tries, correctly, to run an install
file by browsing to it with the "Run" box, the msi file is not even visible
since it's not a conventional program file so the user must make all files
visible first.

Now for my questions: if one has downloaded a driver update (i.e. new driver
version) on a *.msi file should you first uninstall the old driver(s) from
Device Manager before running the file? Should you also first delete
Folders located in c:/Program Files that were put there by the original
hardware install? Or should you just run the *.msi and hope for the best?

Hi Ronc,

Except for a few cases, notably video drivers, generally it is just ok to
run the msi file. It will overwrite the existing driver files with the new
set. The issue "back when" was that files were often not overwritten, but
were appended or placed in multiple locations, leading to confusion by the
system when it went to access a driver file or one that supported it. It'd
invariably grab the wrong one and the poor user would get the inevitable
crash.

Most video card manufacturers still recommend removal of the existing set
before updating for similar reasons, and because updating for them is easier
when the fileset is not currently in use. I've not found it to be terribly
critical to do so, as I'm able to overwrite in most instances, but I'm just
relating why.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Ronc" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:O%238BCEUkIHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> As a relative old-timer (going back to Win95) I've learned a few rules
> I've followed in the past and I'm not sure whether they still apply in
> Vista, but I suspect they do. This
> has to do with old vs. new methods of driver installations and updates.
> Back in the old days, drivers could be installed using the "Add Hardware
> Wizard" but I've noticed a warning on Vista's wizard that this is only for
> advanced users or when an installation CD is not available. This is an
> improvement to avoid confusion but would be even more helpful if it
> replaced
> "installation CD"
> with "installation program either on CD or previously downloaded".
>
> When it comes to driver updates, I'm not sure if Microsoft's current
> instructions
> are at all useful and may in fact mislead the novice. According to this
> link:
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...901033.mspx#ETF
> Microsoft first recommends using Windows Update but if you choose to do it
> manually you should use device manager, click on "update driver" and
> follow
> instructions. The problem is that driver updates are now provided simply
> as
> newer versions of install programs, and these programs historically can't
> be
> run from device manager. My guess is that the above newly created
> Microsoft
> "help" information for Vista applies more to Windows 3.1 than Vista.
> Specifically, one should neither use Windows Update nor Device Manager to
> update drivers. Most computer manufacturers want you to obtain driver
> updates from them as the driver on Windows Update may not be ideal and
> could
> cause problems. Also, to my knowledge Device Manager still can't be used
> to
> run installation programs. With the advent of "*.msi" install files,
> things
> get even more confusing since if one tries, correctly, to run an install
> file by browsing to it with the "Run" box, the msi file is not even
> visible
> since it's not a conventional program file so the user must make all files
> visible first.
>
> Now for my questions: if one has downloaded a driver update (i.e. new
> driver version) on a *.msi file should you first uninstall the old
> driver(s) from Device Manager before running the file? Should you also
> first delete Folders located in c:/Program Files that were put there by
> the original hardware install? Or should you just run the *.msi and hope
> for the best?
>
>
>