Is it better to use the Driver updates from Microsoft or The hardware vendors

[Dj Toonz]

Hi all, I see when I do a windows update for my MSI wind XP home SP3 machine
that I'm using now, even after updating the hardware on the device with the
latest drivers from MSI it still show's up that I've got 5 drivers that
needs updating i.e the usb drivers, The bluetooth drivers, Wifi Driver, The
sound driver & the Graphics driver. When I bought the machine on Tuesday, I
just switched the machine on & put in a username & password that I would
like to use & installed the USB adsl modem & went to MSI's support pages for
the device & downloaded & installed the Drivers which were newer then the
one's what were on the device & rebooted the device then went to update the
machine, i.e internet explorer 7, Media player 11 & the updates, On the
hardware section that's where it shows up the 5 update for the device, but
on the desktop Machine that I've got running XP pro sp3 installing the
device updates from Microsoft kills the device's that the drivers say it
needs to update. i.e sound, graphics are all messed up. so on that I don't
bother installing them I just use the don't show this update again for this
device, but for the MSI machine, I don't know to either install the windows
updates for the device or just click on don't show this update again for the
device, does anybody use the drivers from Microsoft and do they work cheers

 

[DL]

Do NOT install driver updates from MS update unless its specifically MS
Hardware
Configure MS Update for critical drivers only
Driver updates from HW vendors are not neccessary unless the specific update
addresses a problem or it gives greater functionality.
If it aint broke why fix it?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I see when I do a windows update for my MSI wind XP home
SP3 machine that I'm using now, even after updating the hardware on
the device with the latest drivers from MSI it still show's up that
I've got 5 drivers that needs updating i.e the usb drivers, The
bluetooth drivers, Wifi Driver, The sound driver & the Graphics
driver. When I bought the machine on Tuesday, I just switched the
machine on & put in a username & password that I would like to use
& installed the USB adsl modem & went to MSI's support pages for
the device & downloaded & installed the Drivers which were newer
then the one's what were on the device & rebooted the device then
went to update the machine, i.e internet explorer 7, Media player
11 & the updates, On the hardware section that's where it shows up
the 5 update for the device, but on the desktop Machine that I've
got running XP pro sp3 installing the device updates from Microsoft
kills the device's that the drivers say it needs to update. i.e
sound, graphics are all messed up. so on that I don't bother
installing them I just use the don't show this update again for
this device, but for the MSI machine, I don't know to either
install the windows updates for the device or just click on don't
show this update again for the device, does anybody use the drivers
from Microsoft and do they work

If you want the best support for any product/service - you go to the actual
manufacturer/providers of said product/service.

In other words - unless Microsoft made the product in question (video card,
hard drive, motherboard, sound card, network card, etc and so on) - you
would be better off going elsewhere for drivers to install into Windows.
Yes, Microsoft created/supports Windows - but they do not support the third
party products (be it hardware or software) you might install for Windows to
use - that is the original manufacturer of each product's responsibility.

 

[Dj Toonz]

Why does windows update show drivers for hardware, when people know that the
drivers from the companys who make the device's i.e sony / acer / dell / msi
or the likes know that drivers from them are more up to date then the
drivers on the update page from Ms. The drivers from Ms are dated 2004 when
the drivers from Msi are dated 23/2/2009 and the drivers what were installed
when I bought the machine were dated the 2008, that's why I updated the
drivers to the latest one's and now the netbook works better cheers

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi all, I see when I do a windows update for my MSI wind XP home SP3
machine that I'm using now, even after updating the hardware on the
device with the latest drivers from MSI it still show's up that I've got
5 drivers that needs updating i.e the usb drivers, The bluetooth
drivers, Wifi Driver, The sound driver & the Graphics driver. When I
bought the machine on Tuesday, I just switched the machine on & put in a
username & password that I would like to use & installed the USB adsl
modem & went to MSI's support pages for the device & downloaded &
installed the Drivers which were newer then the one's what were on the
device & rebooted the device then went to update the machine, i.e
internet explorer 7, Media player 11 & the updates, On the hardware
section that's where it shows up the 5 update for the device, but on the
desktop Machine that I've got running XP pro sp3 installing the device
updates from Microsoft kills the device's that the drivers say it needs
to update. i.e sound, graphics are all messed up. so on that I don't
bother installing them I just use the don't show this update again for
this device, but for the MSI machine, I don't know to either install the
windows updates for the device or just click on don't show this update
again for the device, does anybody use the drivers from Microsoft and do
they work cheers

In general, I've found it best *not* to download the "Driver"
updates from Windows Update, unless they're for a hardware device
originally manufactured by Microsoft. Device drivers provided by each
component's manufacturer's web site are likely to perform better and
offer more features than will the watered-down, "generic" drivers that
those manufacturers provide to Microsoft for distribution via Windows
Update.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Paul]

Why does windows update show drivers for hardware, when people know that
the drivers from the companys who make the device's i.e sony / acer /
dell / msi or the likes know that drivers from them are more up to date
then the drivers on the update page from Ms. The drivers from Ms are
dated 2004 when the drivers from Msi are dated 23/2/2009 and the drivers
what were installed when I bought the machine were dated the 2008,
that's why I updated the drivers to the latest one's and now the netbook
works better cheers

It's one of the mysteries of life, why those drivers are offered,
when everybody knows they stand to brick their computer by using
them. The latest fiasco was the "Ideacom driver", which many people
were offered, even though they don't have any Ideacom hardware.
I think that was eventually removed from the list.

http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=74648.0

By the way, yesterday I discovered an interesting tool on the MSI
web site. I have an MSI CD-RW burner, and tried to find a firmware
update for it "the conventional way". I searched the support page
and no firmware was offered for my exact model of burner.

Then, I noticed them offering "Live Update 3", a program which
apparently checks the hardware on the computer, and then digs up
appropriate stuff. I installed the package (a hefty download), then
it offers to scan for updates on a regular basis. I set the scan date
for one minute past the current time, and it went to work like it is
supposed to. It found new firmware for the burner, and the package even
offered to prepare a FreeDOS floppy for the update. After I was done,
I uninstalled the LiveUpdate package (as there is not likely to be
any more firmware for the burner).

So if the support page for your MSI product doesn't appear up to date,
it is always possible they're hiding the updates, to be found by
the LiveUpdate option. (I'm not really crazy about the notion of
adding software to the computer for that purpose, but at least
it worked, and nothing broke. It didn't "fix" my burner problem,
but that was an outside chance anyway.)

Paul

 

[Walt]

Why does windows update show drivers for hardware, when people know that the
drivers from the companys who make the device's i.e sony / acer / dell / msi
or the likes know that drivers from them are more up to date then the
drivers on the update page from Ms. The drivers from Ms are dated 2004 when
the drivers from Msi are dated 23/2/2009 and the drivers what were installed
when I bought the machine were dated the 2008, that's why I updated the
drivers to the latest one's and now the netbook works better cheers

Computer manufacturers tend not to upgrade drivers. At least in my
experience. I have a 3 year old Dell and not one driver has been
updated. According to various "driver" programs I have as many as
9 to 15 outdated drivers. Most of which don't work on my Dell. Some
even say go to Dell to get the new driver and when I get there no new
driver. I've come to the conclusion that the above poster is right,
"if it ain't broke don't fix it".