Driver Updates

[Guest]

For the life of me I cannot find a site without a broken link for a Realtek
RTL 8139/
801x Fast Fam. Ethernet NIC driver update. I have ver. 5.641.209.2006 but
according to DriverAgent.com it is out of date. HELP! please

 

[Malke]

For the life of me I cannot find a site without a broken link for a
Realtek RTL 8139/
801x Fast Fam. Ethernet NIC driver update. I have ver. 5.641.209.2006 but
according to DriverAgent.com it is out of date. HELP! please

Is your ethernet working? Yes? Then leave it alone. Best practice with
drivers is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I certainly wouldn't be
relying on something like DriverAgent.com to govern my actions regarding
updating drivers.

The only time you really need to update drivers is if the new drivers will
give you some added functionality. You normally only see this in video and
sound drivers, and even then if you're not a gamer trying to squeeze every
last bit of speed to get the framerates up you wouldn't bother doing this.

Oh, and don't ever install a driver from Windows Updates either.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thank you Malke, I will let it be. But the update to my systems Realtek AC97
Audio
made a nice improvement and had a cool little surround toy that showed what
the
SRS TruSurround can do w/ just two speakers et subwoofer!!!

 

[Malke]

Thank you Malke, I will let it be. But the update to my systems Realtek
AC97 Audio
made a nice improvement and had a cool little surround toy that showed
what the
SRS TruSurround can do w/ just two speakers et subwoofer!!!

Well, that's what I said wasn't it - "The only time you really need to
update drivers is if the new drivers will give you some added
functionality". So you got added functionality with new sound drivers.
Rarely is there added functionality with ethernet drivers.

But you do what you want. I just gave you my opinion about what was best.

Malke

 

[Rock]

Thank you Malke, I will let it be. But the update to my systems Realtek
AC97
Audio
made a nice improvement and had a cool little surround toy that showed
what
the
SRS TruSurround can do w/ just two speakers et subwoofer!!!

Improved functionality with a sound card driver is one thing, but what more
would you expect with the NIC driver? If the computer connects to the
internet and is stable in the connection there's not much more to want, and
why mess with changing something that's working ok?

 

[Guest]

Darn! Rock, you too have already answered the question...lesson learned-
stick to the same browser when doing the XP NG thing : )

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Darn! Rock, you too have already answered the question...lesson
learned- stick to the same browser when doing the XP NG thing : )

Nope, what you should do "when doing the XP NG thing" is stay away from
browsers entirely. I see that you are using the web interface to read this
newsgroup. It's the slowest, clunkiest, most error-prone method there is. Do
yourself a favor and switch to a newsreader, such as Outlook Express, which
comes with Windows. See
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you Ken, I will try to do just that.

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Rock]

Oh, and Rock (foundation)...not messing with you, but what is an NIC
driver
as it
seems to make music @ 128 kbps sound true enough. I mean at my age, one
half
of one hundred, my system is used for pretty basic stuff and I am still
learning this
computer world : )

NIC is the common abbreviation for Network Interface Card.

One half of one hundred...lol...is that in dog years? You're just a baby.
Now were it half a century, that is indeed old.

Have fun and as Ken posted move away from the web interface for accessing
these newsgroups. Use a newsreader.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rock. Got Outlook up and running...very nice. Is O. E. a better way to
view e-mail too ?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

One half of one hundred...lol...is that in dog years? You're just a
baby. Now were it half a century, that is indeed old.

Excuse me? I am nineteen years older than that "half a century." I think
anyone who is half a century old is just a kid! ;-)

In another four years, I will have been using computers for half a century.

 

[Rock]

Thanks Rock. Got Outlook up and running...very nice. Is O. E. a better way
to
view e-mail too ?

Outlook doesn't do newsgroup access. It actually uses Outlook Express. I
can't say if OE is a better way for email. I haven't worked in Outlook. In
XP I used Netscape, then after I moved to Vista I didn't bother installing
Netscape, I use Windows Mail which is the redo of Outlook Express for Vista.
They finally changed the name to something reasonable. So I can't compare
OE with Outlook for email.

 

[Galen Somerville]

Outlook doesn't do newsgroup access. It actually uses Outlook Express. I
can't say if OE is a better way for email. I haven't worked in Outlook.
In XP I used Netscape, then after I moved to Vista I didn't bother
installing Netscape, I use Windows Mail which is the redo of Outlook
Express for Vista. They finally changed the name to something reasonable.
So I can't compare OE with Outlook for email.

I never install Outlook unless the user is an MS Office freak who wants to
tie everything together. OE may not be the latest and greatest but it gets
the job done.

Galen

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Rock. Got Outlook up and running...

Do you mean Outlook Express? Outlook Express and Outlook are two very
different programs. Microsoft did nobody a favor by giving them such similar
names, thereby confusing thousands or millions of people.

Fortunately in Windows Vista, Outlook Express has been renamed "Windows
Mail," so this confusion may eventually go away.

very nice. Is O. E. a
better way to view e-mail too ?

Which program is best for E-mail is a very personal choice, and depends on
what features are inportant to you. Personally I prefer Outlook to Outlook
Express, but others feel the other way around. Still others prefer Eudora,
Pegasus, etc. I recommend trying several and deciding for yourself which
*you* like best.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Paul Johnson]

Do you mean Outlook Express? Outlook Express and Outlook are two very
different programs. Microsoft did nobody a favor by giving them such
similar names, thereby confusing thousands or millions of people.

Given how utterly insecure both of them are, I'm not sure this is a bad
thing. At least with the naming collision you could warn people not to use
mail or news readers that start with "Outlook" as a good safety precaution.

Fortunately in Windows Vista, Outlook Express has been renamed "Windows
Mail," so this confusion may eventually go away.

What was the rationale for Microsoft changing MS Mail's name to Outlook
Express in the first place? Did they think they were fooling us into
thinking OE was a new product or something?