Technical Level : Intermediate
Summary
Windows 10 continues the tradition of hardware compatibility by providing support for a vast collection of devices available within the Windows ecosystem. Hardware detection in particular is an important part of the out of the box experience. Driver software which makes this happen, allows your hardware to function by communicating with the operating system. In this article, we take a look at installing and updating drivers in Windows 10.

Details

I recently installed Windows 10 on an HP Elitebook to see how well the most recent Windows 10 build performs. The Elitebook is a fairly recent model notebook which includes an assortment of hardware technologies. Out of the box though I did not get a complete system, for instance the Intel HD Graphics 3000 was not detected and I was instead limited to the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter.

Apart from this, I had wi-fi ready, which mean, I could connect to the Internet right away.

  1. How to Install Video Card Drivers Windows 10: Driver Series #2. The tutorials presented in this collection of driver installation videos can be used independently when individual drivers have.
  2. Reinstall graphics or video driver in Windows 10. Step 1: Right-click on the Start button on the taskbar and then click Device Manager to open the same. Step 2: In the Device Manager, expand Display adapters to see your graphics, video or display card entry. If you have multiple video cards, all of them will appear here.

Installing drivers through Windows Update

Windows Update is the premier starting point to resolve most common driver issues you might experience immediately after installing Windows 10.

Simply launch it from Start > Settings > Update and Recovery and click Check for Updates

or

Dell provides Windows 10 drivers for their desktop and laptop computers via their Drivers & Downloads  page. Enter your Dell PC Service Tag or Express Service Code, browse for your device manually, or choose to Detect Product  for the automated process. Important Drivers you should get after installing Windows 10. When you perform a new install or upgrade, you should download the latest software drivers from the manufacturers website for your computer model. Important drivers include: Chipset, Video, Audio and Network (Ethernet/Wireless). Dell Audio Drivers Today I am going to share one of the most important and useful drivers for our Dell PC user that is Dell Audio/Sound, the driver. You can get Dell Audio/Sound driver for windows 10 from here absolutely free. Here we provide Dell Audio Software for Dell Laptops user which helps to improve. How to update Graphics Drivers. In Windows 10, click on the Start button to open the WinX Menu and select Device Manager. Expand Display adapters to see your graphic card details. In my case below, you will see an Intel as well as a NVIDIA GeGorce entry. This means that my laptop switches between these two hardware depending on the need.

Press Windows key + R

Type: ms-settings:windowsupdate

Hit Enter

Click Check for updates (make sure you have an active Internet connection).

Immediately, Windows Update will detect your system configuration and download all the appropriate drivers for your system. As you can see in the above screenshot, my Intel HD 3000 Graphics was installed automatically. I did not even have to reboot the system. In addition to other hardware components were also detected and installed which includes my LAN adapter and card reader.

Important Drivers you should get after installing Windows 10.

When you perform a new install or upgrade, you should download the latest software drivers from the manufacturers website for your computer model. Important drivers include: Chipset, Video, Audio and Network (Ethernet/Wireless). For laptops, make sure you download the latest Touch Pad drivers. There are other drivers you will probably need, but you can often download these through Windows Update after have a working Internet connection setup.

How to find and download drivers from the manufacturers website:

Drivers can normally be found in the Support section from the manufacturers website where you will find a Software and Drivers sub-section. The method to find it will vary depending on the brand. You can go to your favorite search engine then enter the following query 'model and make drivers download' example: 'hp 8460p drivers download'. This will often provide a direct link.

Normally, you might not find native Windows 10 drivers. If this is the case, use the latest Windows drivers available for your model. So if they only have Windows 7 drivers, try using those. Make sure you download the right drivers for your architecture (32 or 64 bit).

Proceed to download the appropriate drivers after selecting your version of Windows. The manufacturer might list two versions of the driver, always choose the latest.

Again, the procedures will vary, but as long as you can find the drivers and download section, normally available within Support, you should be able to get to the drivers. If you are reading this before upgrading, try having the essential drivers in advance.

Install drivers using Device Manager

If your driver was not detected or installed by Windows Update, you can try installing the driver manually if you have a compatible version. Windows 10 and previous versions of Windows such as Windows 7 share the same driver model, so it should work.

Press Windows key + X

Click Device Manager

Once device manager is open, select the device, right click it and click Update Driver Software

This will launch the update driver software wizard, which presents two options.

  • Search automatically for updated driver software - its possible Windows might have the driver software if you have not checked it yet, if its taking too long, then the next option is usually best.
  • Browse my computer for driver software - if there is a compatible driver and you already have the driver files, then all you need to do is point to it and Windows automatically install it for you.

Here I have selected to use an existing driver, browse to where the driver is located on your computer, whether that is a partition, network share, thumbdrvie or install disc. Make sure the option to Include subfolders is checked.

Click Next and wait while the wizard completes the installation.

Using Compatibility Mode to Resolve Driver problems

If both Windows Update and driver update prove unsuccessful, the next option is Troubleshoot Compatibility. Troubleshoot Compatibility provides a simple way to make older drivers work under modern versions of Windows by making the driver believe it is being installed on a supported version of Windows.

The first thing you need to do is point where the setup files are located. If you are installing from a thumb drive or CD/DVD. Launch File Explorer (Windows key + E) and open the location where the setup files are stored.

Right click the setup file for the program, this can be designated as setup.exe or something similar. Click Troubleshoot Compatibility

This will launch the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter wizard which will check for issues.

Select the option “Troubleshoot program”

Depending on the problems you are experiencing when attempting to install or use the software, check off the problems. In my case:

  • ‘The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won’t install or run now’
  • The program requires additional permissions.

Click Next

Select a version of Windows the program is known to work in. I notice the program works great in Windows Vista (with Service Pack 2), so I will select that option. Click Next

Proceed to run the through the programs setup routine by clicking Test the program….

Follow the on screen instructions to install the program as you normally would.

If all is successful, click the option at the end of the wizard ‘Yes, save these settings for this program’

Wait while your settings for the program are saved.

Click Close.

If you have a driver such as your video card automatically installing upon completion of installation and checking for Windows Update, try disabling automatic driver installation using the instructions in the following thread:

Go to the hardware developers website, download the appropriate driver for your model then install in compatibility mode using the instructions above.

How to install your printer:

Resources:

How to Update Device Drivers Quickly & Easily

Tech Tip: Updating drivers manually requires some computer skills and patience. A faster and easier option is to use the Driver Update Utility for Dell to scan your system for free. The utility tells you which specific drivers are out-of-date for all of your devices.

Step 1 - Download Your Driver

To get the latest driver, including Windows 10 drivers, you can choose from a list of most popular Dell downloads. Click the download button next to the matching model name. After you complete your download, move on to Step 2.

If your driver is not listed and you know the model name or number of your Dell device, you can use it to search our driver archive for your Dell device model. Simply type the model name and/or number into the search box and click the Search button. You may see different versions in the results. Choose the best match for your PC and operating system.

If you don’t know the model name or number, you can start to narrow your search down by choosing which category of Dell device you have (such as Printer, Scanner, Video, Network, etc.). Start by selecting the correct category from our list of Dell Device Drivers by Category.

Dell 7010 video driver windows 10

Need more help finding the right driver? You can request a driver and we will find it for you. We employ a team from around the world. They add hundreds of new drivers to our site every day.

Tech Tip: If you are having trouble deciding which is the right driver, try the Driver Update Utility for Dell. It is a software utility that will find the right driver for you - automatically.

Dell updates their drivers regularly. To get the latest Windows 10 driver, you may need to go to Dell website to find the driver for to your specific Windows version and device model.

Step 2 - Install Your Driver

After you download your new driver, then you have to install it. To install a driver in Windows, you will need to use a built-in utility called Device Manager. It allows you to see all of the devices recognized by your system, and the drivers associated with them.

How to Open Device Manager

  • In Windows 8.1 & Windows 10, right-click the Start menu and select Device Manager

  • In Windows 8, swipe up from the bottom, or right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose 'All Apps' -> swipe or scroll right and choose 'Control Panel' (under Windows System section) -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager

  • In Windows 7, click Start -> Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Device Manager

  • In Windows Vista, click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Device Manager

  • In Windows XP, click Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager button

How to Install drivers using Device Manager

  1. Locate the device and model that is having the issue and double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.

  2. Select the Driver tab.

  3. Click the Update Driver button and follow the instructions.

Dell Optiplex 790 Video Drivers Windows 10

In most cases, you will need to reboot your computer in order for the driver update to take effect.

Tech Tip: Driver downloads and updates come in a variety of file formats with different file extensions. For example, you may have downloaded an EXE, INF, ZIP, or SYS file. Each file type has a slighty different installation procedure to follow.

If you are having trouble installing your driver, you should use the Driver Update Utility for Dell. It is a software utility that automatically finds, downloads and installs the right driver for your system. You can even backup your drivers before making any changes, and revert back in case there were any problems.

Dell Graphics Driver Download

Try it now to safely update all of your drivers in just a few clicks. Once you download and run the utility, it will scan for out-of-date or missing drivers:

Dell 9020 Video Driver Windows 10

When the scan is complete, the driver update utility will display a results page showing which drivers are missing or out-of-date. You can update individual drivers, or all of the necessary drivers with one click.

For more help, visit our Driver Support Page for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.