The Ultimate Guide To Fixing Your Windows Driver Issues — Prime Chale

Windows driver issues have long been a problem most Windows users face. For most people, updating through the Windows Update settings will solve all issues, however, many people like myself have horror stories to share. Regardless of which category you are in, this article makes sure you can fix any windows driver issues in your PC based on my experience.

What are Drivers and Why are they Important?

Any computer system comprises two parts: the hardware and the software. However, since there are so many hardware manufacturers with different processes and functions, there exists a need for a link for the hardware and software. The link, known as a driver, tells the operating system which hardware it is, and its function. The lack of a driver, an incompatible driver, a corrupted driver, or an out-of-date driver may cause your computer to become buggy. For example, your computer sound may stop working if the sound driver is problematic, while a missing graphics driver may cause your computer display to be laggy, pixelated, blurry, and generally uncomfortable to look at.

Furthermore, driver issues may leave your computer vulnerable, inoperable, or loss of data. While it sounds like a doomsday, you typically won’t have driver issues as long as you don’t mess unduly with your operating system, or take a few precautions before you do.

TL:DR = Drivers are a tiny bunch of softwares that tell your PC how to use a hardware. Pretty much all hardware on a PC has a driver, and they are must-have. They can be a headache when problematic.

My Windows Driver Horror Story

The nightmare with my PC driver began when I got an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) detachable laptop. My woes started when I tried to update the drivers on it (not that it was necessary). I downloaded a random driver update utility online and ran it. Lo and behold! — it broke my PC. The laptop became inoperable and as I didn’t have a system restore point, I was pretty helpless and could not regain my files. Contacting Microsoft Support was pretty useless as well, and they were trying to get me to pay for more support. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve my files using command prompt but that’s for another article. I installed a new Windows 10 on it, only to discover that after using the inbuilt Windows Update utility, the chipset, the graphic, the sound and the camera were not working properly.

I also tried the website of the manufacturer and discovered that the manufacturer offered no support. They had no driver, sent email but received no reply, and called but was told to buy another PC from them. I spoke to Microsoft Support again but no help was given. Afterwards, I waded into the murky waters of the internet to solve my problem, but got more confused. I tried all sorts of advice from articles, forums, support websites, and more. Alas, I had to do a lot of trial and error to fix my Windows driver issue which took me over two weeks to fix and made me reinstall Windows 10 more than five times.

The Moral of my Story:

• Don’t MESS with your driver. Drivers rarely need updating, and if you need to, Windows will tell you.
• NEVER use any driver updating software. They cause more harm than good, and have you pay more than $60 for harming you more. Even if the scan tells you your driver is ancient, never update it. Afterwards, these drivers try to upsell you by saying your system has issues. It is basically a tech support scam.
• ALWAYS have a system restore point. It saves a whole lot of trouble.
• ALWAYS backup your files online. I use both Google Drive and OneDrive as I’ve been burnt by both driver issues and ransomware attacks. Needless to say I lost valuable files both times and had to restart finished projects.

However, you don’t have to experience a horror story like mine as long as you follow the steps in this article, I outline the best practice to follow to fix your driver issue whether you are a beginner or not. That said, let’s go into the steps you should follow to fix your driver issues. If you have any driver nightmare as well, please share in the comments.

Determine Your Driver Issue

The first step in fixing your Windows driver issue is to determine which particular driver is problematic. For example, if your Bluetooth is not working, first check if it is the driver or you simply forgot to turn on the physical Bluetooth switch key. Of course, for you to read this article, you probably already did that.

The easiest way to check for any problematic driver is through the Device Manager. Follow these steps to check:

Now that you know which driver has an issue, we can move to the first method to solve your driver issue. If you have any issues with this step, let us know in the comment.

Steps in Fixing Any Windows Driver Issue

1: Update Using Windows Update

The tried and true method to fixing your any driver issue, whether sound, graphics, Bluetooth or more is using the inbuilt Windows Update utility. Search for “Windows Update” in the Start Menu, select ‘Update’ and ‘Download’ and sit back while the PC updates itself. If it doesn’t fix your driver issue, restart your computer a few times and repeat this process.

• Open device manager
• Scan for hardware changes under the Action Tab.

2: Fix Using Device Manager

Sometimes, Windows Update doesn’t fix your driver issue, especially if your computer is not made by popular manufacturers like HP, Dell and Lenovo. If Windows Update doesn’t work, then you can still try updating using Device Manager by following the following steps:

• Navigate to the problematic driver, right-click and select ‘Update Driver’.
• Select ‘Browse My Computer for Driver Software’.
• Click ‘Let Me Pick from a List of Available Driver on My Computer’
• Navigate to and select ‘Have Disk’ and navigate to the folder where the driver is (unzip it if it’s zipped).
• Select the file that ends with .inf and install when prompted.
• If the driver is missing under the categories, go to the action tab, select ‘Add Legacy Hardware’ and follow the Installation Wizard to install as prompted.

Alternatively, you can disable the driver by right-clicking on it, and selecting ‘disable device’. Restart the computer, and manually ‘enable device ‘ the driver back. This trick works wonders, especially if the driver was previously working but stopped working all of a sudden. For a more extreme version of this trick, select ‘Uninstall device’, restart the computer, and then click on ‘Scan for Hardware Change’ under the Action tab.

3: Fix Driver Issues Using Computer Manufacturer’s Driver Update Software or Website

Hopefully, you should have fixed your driver issue before you reach this step because this is where the process starts to get complex. I’d suggest taking your PC to a professional or a very computer-savvy relative or friend if you are not particularly tech-savvy. Alternatively, you can comment and drop your mail or other relevant information in the comment section and I’d try to help.

However, if you are a DIY kind of person, then you can update all problematic drivers by going to your manufacturer’s website and downloading the driver update software most computer maker offers. More often than not, this process solves the problem. Also, you can download the particular driver you need manually on your manufacturer’s website. These files usually come with a utility to automatically install them, and if it doesn’t, install the driver using Device Manager. If you download the driver manually, be sure to select the right device and OS before downloading.

To save your time, we have collated the direct link to manufacturers’ driver support website below.

• When the application has successfully scanned your computer, you’ll see a window showing a list of drivers missing or corrupted. Select ONLY the driver(s) to be updated. Also, under the apps tab, unselect all other adware apps like Opera, Avast and the likes.
• Select update. You can now sit back and enjoy. DriverPack will make a System Restore Point in case anything goes wrong, and then update the driver.

If you can’t find your manufacturer, search the name on Google, click on the official website and look for the driver support page.

4: Update with Driver Pack

• To check your device ID, open the Device Manager.
• Navigate to the problematic driver, i.e. the Bluetooth or Network Adapter Option, category, and select your Bluetooth Device. If you can’t find your Bluetooth device in this category, then click on the Other Devices category, and select the unknown driver under it.
• Right-click on the problematic driver and select Properties.
• Windows will inform you it doesn’t have the appropriate drivers — that’s error code 28. Click the Details tab, click the Property box, and select Hardware Ids in the list.
• You’ll see a string of letters like PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_22B0&SUBSYS_813E103C&REV_22. The first one is your Hardware ID.

In the scenario that you can’t find the Bluetooth driver on your manufacturer’s website, you should consider downgrading your operating system to Windows 8 or 8.1, or even Windows 7 and see if it helps. However, if all the previous steps still don’t work, then you can try Driver Pack, a third party free utility. I generally don’t recommend third party utilities for updating drivers, as almost all of them are either harmful, useless or a scam. However, Driver Pack is a one-eyed man living in a land of the blind. It’s much better than its counterparts as it is completely free and doesn’t try to upsell you, but it does try to get you to install a lot of useless adware which you have to manually deselect.

However, if the previous steps don’t work, then you probably have no option than to use Driver Pack. Follow these steps to use the software.

Alternatively, you can also use Driver Pack offline software (currently 23GB and increasing). It’s best if you are driving a lot of computers. However, I don’t think it is effective for detachable laptops as compared to desktops and conventional laptops.

5: Update with Microsoft Catalog Update

However, in the unlikely case that one of the steps above still did not update your driver, then you can try and download the driver from Windows Update Catalog. You’ll most likely find the Driver you need on the Microsoft Catalog Website, as all Manufacturers have to submit their driver to Microsoft and Windows backup driver from PCs.

However, this step is not for the faint of heart as it involves a lot of trial and error. I was able to solve my driver nightmare using this method, but I spent about three days downloading drivers one after the other, manually installing it, and testing it out. Of course, there were many misses along the way, and I had to use the System Restore Point a few times. However, the advantage of this method is that even if your OEM does not have driver support, you can use the Microsoft Catalog Update to find an appropriate driver from the hardware manufacturer, or a similar hardware.

To use the Microsoft Update Catalog, you need to know the Device ID or Hardware ID of the problematic driver. Search for your problematic driver device name, or better still, the Hardware ID by following these steps:

6: Enable All Support Service for the Driver in Services

Sometimes, for some driver like the Bluetooth Driver, the problem may not be with the driver, but the process, as well as other supporting services for the driver. You can sort this out by combing through Services and starting the appropriate services, or force starting all services (it saves time) and see if the driver works.

For example, to start the support service for a Bluetooth driver, type ‘Services’ in the Start Search, then select Services to access the Windows Services Manager. In the list find Bluetooth Support Service, right-click on it and select Start. (If the Start option grayed out, then click Restart.) Right-click Bluetooth Support Service again, and this time select Properties.

Set the startup type to Automatic. Click Apply, then click OK.

Conclusion

We have come to the end of our guide. I hope my experience helps out in fixing your Windows driver issues. There is always a solution for driver problems, as long as you keep at it. It took me a while to figure it out, but I did. Just remember my lesson from my experience — don’t MESS with your driver without due cause; NEVER use any driver updating software; ALWAYS have a system restore point; and ALWAYS backup your files online. If you have a driver story, tips that work for you, or need any help, be sure to comment.

Originally published at https://primechale.com on November 11, 2020.