What is the best program to find drivers. Programs for updating drivers. Restoring from a backup

Having the proper device drivers for your devices is very important for the proper functioning of the computer system as well as the connected hardware devices. Drivers are a key component of a computer system, but we often forget about them, which can lead to various performance issues in the long run. Keeping your drivers updated to the latest version will help you get the best performance from your hardware. But it's true, most of us don't update drivers unless Microsoft Updates suggests them.

These free automatic driver update programs make it easy to update your drivers. Use one and you won't have to deal with Device Manager as much, and you won't have to hunt around for the correct driver from your hardware manufacturer.

Important: To update drivers, it is not necessary to use programs; they are intended for convenience, since they can be updated manually, for example, by downloading from your manufacturer’s website or using the disks that come with the purchase of a computer or laptop. Under no circumstances should you pay for these programs.

Driver Booster is the best free driver updater. It is compatible with all versions of Windows and makes updating drivers easy.

Driver Booster can be scheduled to automatically find outdated drivers. When new updates are found, you can easily download them from Driver Booster, so you don't have to go to your internet browser to grab them.

Before installing the driver, you can see how the new driver version compares to the currently installed driver, which is useful.

I like that Driver Booster creates a restore point before installing the driver in case something goes wrong with the installation.

There is an option in Settings to install drivers in the background, which hides the installation wizard and other pop-up messages. This is convenient so you don't have to click as many windows when installing new drivers.

Program in Russian.

Driver Booster works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

DriverPack Solution has a user interface that is easier to use than most of the others on this list. There are only a few buttons and definitely no confusing screens or options.

This program supports bulk downloads and automatic installation, so you don't have to click on any installation wizards.

When you first open DriverPack Solution, you can automatically download and install all drivers or manually choose which ones you want to update.

DriverPack Solution also has basic system information as well as a software downloader that can install some recommended programs on your computer.

Program in Russian.

DriverPack Solution supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

Snappy Driver Installer is another free driver update tool that is a bit like the DriverPack Solution listed above.

You can download multiple drivers for different devices at once. Once they're downloaded, the program gives you immediate access to install updates... with or without an Internet connection.

Snappy Driver Installer is very easy to use and doesn't even require installation. This means that you can use something like an external hard drive to transport and install the downloaded drivers to any other computer.

Program in Russian.

Snapper Driver Installer also has zero ads, no download speed limits, and can install as many drivers as you need without any restrictions.

This program works with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

DriverHub is really easy to use because it downloads and installs the drivers for you and has an entire program section dedicated to recovery if anything goes wrong.

The program itself has a clean interface with several menu buttons. In the settings there are several options for changing the download folder and disabling checking for program updates.

You can keep things simple and install whatever DriverHub recommends, or you can go to advanced mode, to choose which drivers to get, see version numbers, and install alternative drivers (that is, a new driver, but not the current version).

Chapter " Useful programs» DriverHub is not driver-specific, but includes some useful links to Windows utilities such as Disk Management, Task Manager, power supply settings, display settings, etc.

Program in Russian.

Price: Free

Note: you may be asked to install another program during setup, such as a web browser or something else. You can uncheck this box if you only want DriverHub without any additional software.

The DriverHub website says it will work on Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.

DriversCloud (formerly called Ma-Config) is a free web service that contains detailed information about your hardware and software, including outdated drivers.

It works by downloading a program that allows your web browser to collect information from your computer.

On the website you can find categories such as BSOD analysis, My Drivers, Autorun, Network Configuration and other areas you can browse.

Program in Russian.

Price: For free

When you need to update a driver, you can see the complete information about which data of the new driver matches the installed driver. You can see the version number, manufacturer, INF file name and date, and hardware ID.

Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP and Windows 2000 users can install DriversCloud.

Program in English.

Price: For free

Double Driver

When using Driver Talent, I noticed that the program itself installed on my computer in less than five seconds, and most driver updates downloaded very quickly, which was nice.

Driver Talent can be installed on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

Free Driver Scout

Free Driver Scout is an amazing driver because it provides true automatic update .

This means that the program will automatically scans any required updates automatically loads updates and then automatically sets them without requiring any data from you that cannot be said about any other program on this list.

Device drivers can be excluded from scans using Scout's free driver so they don't show up as a need to update in the future.

Another great feature in Free Driver Scout is the ability to backup and restore drivers. The program allows you to back up some or all of your drivers and then easily restore them again if you need to.

Free Driver Scout also includes an extremely useful tool called " OS Migration Tool". You will run this tool if you are going to install another Windows operating system on your computer. It will find device drivers for the new OS and save them in a custom location, such as a flash drive. Then, when you have another Windows operating system installed, you can use the same tool to repair those OS-specific drivers so you don't have to worry about finding device drivers again.

Note. While Free Driver Scout is a very nice program, it didn't find as many outdated drivers as Driver Booster, which is why I chose that spot on the list.

I tested Driver Scout v1.0 on Windows 10, but it also works on Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP.

DriverMax

DriverMax is a free program for Windows that can update outdated drivers. Unfortunately, it is limited in several areas.

In addition to updating old drivers, DriverMax can backup some or all installed drivers, restore driver backups, rollback drivers, and identify unknown hardware.

I found that DriverMax detected significantly more outdated drivers than any other program on this list. I checked the version numbers against the installed drivers and they all seemed to be valid updates.

Note. DriverMax can only download two drivers per day and 10 drivers per month, and can only download one driver at a time. You still can check outdated drivers, but you're limited to how much you can really download. I talk more about why this is not as bad as it may seem.

DriverMax finds drivers for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

DriverIdentifier

DriverIdentifier is an extremely simple but very useful free driver updater.

You can scan for drivers if you don't have an Internet connection, which is great if your network card driver isn't working. When the verification is complete, DriverIdentifier will save the list of drivers in an HTML file.

Just open the file on your computer, whom there is an internet connection so the DriverIdentifier website can cross-reference the results with their databases. Drivers needing an update will have a link updates next to them.

A portable version of DriverIdentifier is also available.

Note. To download driver updates, you must create a free DriverIdentifier account.

DriverIdentifier finds drivers for Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

You can schedule a scan to check for outdated drivers, and then when an update is detected, you'll be taken to a website to download it manually.

Because you need to download updates outside of Device Doctor, you may sometimes need to unzip driver files before using them. You can do this using a file decompression tool, such as the one included with Windows, or a third-party tool such as 7-Zip.

Device Doctor is limited to downloading only one driver per day. It is designed to search for drivers for Windows XP to Windows 10.

If you know any other good programs for automatically updating drivers, please write in the comments.

After reinstalling the operating system or replacing computer hardware, drivers must be reinstalled. Users need to determine the device model and download the software from the manufacturer's official website.When you need to install new drivers for a network card, processor, video card and other components of a PC or laptop, manually searching and installing drivers can take several hours. You can automate the process of installing drivers on Windows using special programs -.

The best programs for installing drivers on Windows

The main advantages of programs for automatic driver update:

1. Full automation of the software search and installation process. You don't need to search for the exact processor or video card model to download the driver. This is a big plus for inexperienced PC users.
2. Save time. The work of searching and installing software is completed in 3-4 clicks.
3. Support for all component manufacturers.
4. The ability to create backups to restore previous versions of equipment software.

DriverHub

DriverHub is a free software for scanning your system for driver updates. The application is available for Windows 7, 8 and 10. The program is not supported on Windows XP.

The DriverHub interface has been translated into Russian. This significantly simplifies the process of navigating and working with the application.

The utility's database contains more than a million drivers for video cards, motherboards, processors, etc. The application software is downloaded from the official websites of manufacturers. Thanks to this, users can be calm about the security of the system.

Key features of DriverHub:

1. Searching and installing drivers is the main function of the program. This tool allows you to update drivers and find missing hardware software. The search takes no more than 2 minutes.

2. View your download history. In this section you can view the driver download history for a particular device: version release date and developer. Also in this section you can open the folder where the installed driver is located.

3. Rollback to the previous version of drivers.

4. Operating system management. From the DriverHub interface you can launch Windows management tools: Control Panel, Task Manager, Console, Network Management, etc.

The DriverHub program can be downloaded on the official developer website ru.drvhub.net or on the website https://www.softsalad.ru/.

DriverMax

DriverMax is a convenient utility for automatically installing driver updates. The program supports more than 2 million devices from popular manufacturers. Distributed free of charge for the Windows operating system (XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10). The interface is completely translated into Russian.

Key features of the DriverMax program:

1. Check and install driver updates. The process takes 2-3 minutes.

2. Backup. This tool allows you to create a Windows restore point or backups for specific drivers. Thanks to this, you can restore the operating system with all installed drivers in case of failures.

3. View information about your computer. On the main screen in the utility interface, information about the system is available: Windows version, processor, amount of RAM and hard drive size.

Driver Talent

Driver Talent is a simple utility for automating driver updates on Windows. You can download and install the program absolutely free. The application interface is designed in a minimalist style and supports the Russian language.

Driver Talent program features:

1. System scan. You can start scanning on the main interface screen. Upon completion of the driver search process (2-3 minutes), the utility will offer to download and install the detected updates.

2. Backups. A tool designed to create backups for individual drivers.

3. Preloading. The function allows you to preload drivers for your computer or import/export to another device. In this case, the automatic installation of the software does not start.

Device Doctor

Device Doctor is an application for updating device drivers on Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and XP. The program is distributed free of charge. The main drawback of the utility is the lack of Russian language.

Drivers for more than 13 million devices are available in the Device Doctor database. The total size of all drivers is more than 3 terabytes. The database is replenished every week.

Device Doctor features:

1. Scan the system and then install driver updates.

2. Creating backup copies of individual versions of installed drivers.

3. View the software download history for the equipment.

For many users, installing and updating drivers is a rather tedious and complicated task. A manual search often leads enthusiasts to third-party sites, where instead of the treasured software, viruses are caught, third-party spyware applications and other unnecessary programs are installed. Updated drivers optimize the operation of the entire system, so there’s no need to shelve the update!

Universal driver update programs

To make life easier for both your personal computer and yourself, just download a program that will independently find and update the required driver on your PC. Such applications can be either universal for any component or intended for a specific hardware manufacturer.

One of the best programs to update your device drivers. The application is easy to use, so even an inexperienced user will understand the friendly interface. The Driver Pack is distributed free of charge, and you can download the program from the official website of the developer, which describes in detail the intricacies of the search system and describes the basics of use. The program works with any components and finds the latest drivers in a huge database. In addition, the Pack also includes additional programs that will allow you to get rid of viruses and advertising banners. If you are only interested in auto-updating drivers, then specify this option during installation.

DriverPack Solution independently identifies the equipment, establishes a correspondence between the found devices and the drivers that are in the database

• convenient interface, ease of use;
• quick search for drivers and updating them;
• two options for downloading the program: online and offline; The online mode works directly with the developer’s servers, and the offline mode downloads an 11 GB image for further use of all popular drivers.

• installs additional software that is not always needed.

One of the most popular applications for downloading drivers and optimizing the system. Driver Booster is distributed in two versions: the free one allows you to quickly search for drivers and update them in one click, and the paid one opens up new options for program settings and unlimited download speed. If you prefer high-speed downloads and want to automatically receive the latest updates, then pay attention to the paid version of the program. It is distributed by subscription and costs 590 rubles per year. However, the Free version is inferior only in speed and additional game optimization features. Otherwise, the program always looks for excellent drivers that download quickly and install just as quickly.

There is an extensive driver database that is stored online

• high speed even on weak computers;
• the ability to configure an update queue and set priorities;
• low consumption of PC resources when running in the background.

• technical support only in the paid version;
• lack of auto-update of the application in the free application.

The free DriverHub utility will appeal to lovers of minimalism and simplicity. This program does not have a wide range of settings and does its job quickly and silently. Automatic driver updates take place in two steps: downloading and installation. The user can give the right to operate the program independently or is free to choose a driver from those offered for download by the application.

It is possible to roll back the driver to its original state using the restore function

• ease of use, user-friendly interface;
• ability to store download history and updates;
• daily database update;
• convenient rollback system, creation of recovery checkpoints.

• small number of settings;
• offer to install third-party programs.

The program is for those who are used to controlling everything on their own. Even if you are an inexperienced user, you can always easily monitor the progress of updates by making adjustments to the program. The free version allows you to manually update drivers, while paid versions can work automatically. Foreign development has two paid subscriptions. Basic costs $20 and works for a year with an updated cloud database. This version also supports customization and one-click auto-update. The same features are available with a 10-year LifeTime subscription for $60. Users can install a paid program on five computers at the same time and not worry about driver updates.

SlimDrivers also allows you to make backups for system recovery

• the ability to manually control each update element;
• The free version is not spammed with advertising.

• expensive paid versions;
• complex fine-tuning, which is unlikely to be understood by an inexperienced user.

The domestic development of Carambis Driver Updater is distributed free of charge, but allows you to use the main functions by subscription. The application quickly finds and updates drivers, saving your download history. The program is characterized by high speed and low requirements for computer hardware. You can get the full functionality of the application for 250 rubles per month.

An important advantage is full technical support by e-mail and telephone

• the license applies to 2 or more personal computers;
• technical support around the clock;

• Only the paid version works.

An English-language utility that quickly and without unnecessary settings identifies your hardware. The user is presented with the opportunity to make backup files, a user-friendly interface and two versions of work: free and pro. Free is distributed free of charge and provides access to manual driver updates. In the Pro version, which costs around $11 per year, updates occur automatically based on user-specified settings. The application is convenient and very friendly to beginners.

The program collects detailed information about system drivers and generates a detailed report in TXT or HTM formats

• simple interface and ease of use;
• fast driver loading speed;
• automatic file backup.

• expensive paid version;
• lack of Russian language.

Driver Magician was once a free app, but now users can only get a 13-day trial period, after which they must purchase the program for $30 for permanent use. The application does not support the Russian language, but it is quite easy to understand due to the small number of tabs and functions. Driver Magician just needs to specify the operating system so that it can begin selecting and installing the necessary drivers. You can choose from a file backup function in case something goes wrong.

The program can save and then restore other files, except drivers: folders, registry, Favorites, My Documents

• simple but old-fashioned interface;
• full functionality in trial version;
• automatic search for drivers for unknown devices.

• lack of Russian language;
• unhurried speed of work.

Programs from component manufacturers

The programs will allow you to automatically update drivers for free. In addition, there is technical support that will answer your questions almost any time of the day.

Intel Driver Update is designed to install and update drivers for Intel devices involved in your personal computer. Suitable for branded processors, network devices, ports, drives and other components. The hardware on a personal computer is recognized automatically, and the search for the necessary software is carried out in a matter of seconds. The main thing is that the application is free, and the support service is ready to answer any request, even at night.

The application installs on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

• official program from Intel;
• quick installation of drivers;
• a large database of alternative drivers for various operating systems.

• Intel support only.

A similar program to Intel Driver Update, but for AMD devices. Supports all known components, except the FirePro series. It is worth installing for those who are the proud owner of a video card from this manufacturer. The application will monitor all updates in real time and inform the user about new updates. AMD Driver Autodetect will automatically detect your video card, identify it and find the optimal solution for the device. All you have to do is click the “Install” button for the update to take effect.

This utility does not work with Linux systems, Apple Boot Camp and AMD FirePro video cards

• ease of use and minimalistic interface;
• fast download and installation speed of drivers;
• Auto-detection of video card.

• a small number of opportunities;
• AMD support only;
• lack of FirePro support.

NVIDIA Update Experience

NVIDIA Update Experience allows you to automatically download updates for your graphics card from Nvidia. The program not only offers support for the latest software, but also allows you to optimize games on the fly. In addition, when you launch any application, Experience will offer a number of interesting functions, including the ability to take screenshots and display FPS on the screen. As for downloading drivers, the program works perfectly and always notifies you when a new version is available.

Depending on the hardware configuration, the program optimizes the graphics settings of games

• stylish interface and fast speed;
• automatic driver installation;
• ShadowPlay screen recording function without loss of frames per second;
• support for optimization of popular games.

• Works only with Nvidia cards.

Table: comparison of program capabilities

Many of the programs presented in the list will simplify the search and installation of drivers with just one click. You just have to take a closer look at the applications and choose what seems most convenient and suitable in terms of functions.

DriverPack Solution Online is a simple and fast way to find and download one or another “vital” driver for a webcam, video or audio card, Wi-Fi adapter, printer, etc.

The free program DriverPack Solution is designed to automate the processes of installing, updating, and searching for drivers in the Windows OS environment, and is distributed by the developer in several versions, including online and offline versions. The advantage of the latter is that to download almost any necessary driver for a sound card, network card, wi-fi, etc., an Internet connection is not required - all drivers are already in the DriverPack Solution program database, which can be written to a disk or flash drive , and be extremely useful from time to time, for example, when reinstalling the operating system. With all this, the main disadvantage of the offline version of DriverPack Solution can be considered the volume of the full database - almost 11 GB, which is unlikely to be acceptable for users with a slow or limited Internet connection.

In order not to download the entire driver database, but to find and install only those that require updating or are missing from the system, the developers offer an alternative solution in the form of an online version, which is absolutely free, easy to use, and its distribution is less than 3 MB in size. Its only drawback (if it can be considered such) is the strictly mandatory presence of an Internet connection.

And so, how to find and install the necessary drivers using DriverPack Solution Online:

• Download the program (from the official website or from us);
• We launch the program, and we see something like the following (we strongly recommend choosing manual installation);

• In the “Install Drivers” menu we see a list of drivers that require updating (example in the screenshot), but we do not click the “Install All” button!

for the reason that I kindly suggest that we install some additional programs into the load (checkmarked in the screenshot), to open the list of programs, click on the “Software” menu (in the screenshot).

Thus, if you chose automatic installation at the initial stage, then along with the drivers, the programs marked with check marks (albeit not bad ones) would end up on the computer.

Then we just have to wait for the download and installation process to complete, click “Finish” and the process is complete.

In conclusion, let’s clarify this point - many users probably noticed on the left side of the DriverPack Solution Online menu the button “Do you want to disable Windows tracking?”

By clicking this button, after a short period of time, we see the message “Windows surveillance has been successfully disabled”, while the button works not only in Windows 10, where the problem of user data confidentiality is especially relevant, but also in other versions of the operating system from Microsoft - Windows 8 and Windows 7, in this regard, a reasonable question arises: “what exactly is disabled, and does this function work at all?”

This functionality works, but completely blocking the channel for transmitting user data (telemetry data) to Microsoft is extremely problematic. This is because, along with well-known data transmission channels that DriverPack Solution Online blocks (for example, some Windows updates, blocking requests to a number of currently known IP data collection servers, disabling various types of services responsible for sending “diagnostic data” ", prohibition of sending error reports to Microsoft, etc.), there are a number of channels that are still unknown, and besides, from time to time Microsoft introduces new ways of collecting data (for example, with the release of the next update), etc. Therefore, it is a priori impossible to completely disable surveillance in Windows, especially with regard to the Windows 10 OS.

Not all users are PC savvy. When they need to install software for their computer hardware, they have a question: “Is there a utility for installing Windows 7 drivers?”

Driver installation programs

Many such utilities and programs have been developed. Let's look at the TOP 5 best tools for installing firewood on a PC.

Driver Genius

Driver Genius is an excellent application for installing drivers online on Windows 7. It has several useful features:

• Creating a backup copy of installed drivers.
• Search and removal of non-working, faulty firewood.
• View information about the hardware installed on your computer.

The only drawback of the program is its cost, equal to $29.95.

This application was created by one of the developers of DriverPack Solution. It contains a huge software base. There are two versions of Snappy Driver Installer:

• Lite. The application downloads the necessary firewood from the Internet.
• Full. The program already contains an extensive software base. This distribution weighs about 40 GB.
  The application is free and supports many languages.

Auslogix Driver Updater is another good solution for automatically installing drivers on Windows 7. It has a nice interface and a good system scanner. The only negative is that the program is paid, and it is impossible to update drivers without purchasing a license.

The last application in my review is Mohican Driver. Among its functions it is worth noting:

• Identification of equipment, search and installation of software.
• Creating a software backup.
• Removing firewood.
• Identification of unknown devices.

You can use Driver Magician for free for 13 days, then you need to buy a license.

Conclusion

If you don’t want to manually search for software, use programs for automatically installing drivers for Windows 7 from this TOP.