Driver or device driver What is it, what is it for and how does it work in computing?

driverperhaps a great forgotten nowadays, is a software to which we give very little value and that we do not hesitate to know, despite be present on virtually any device.

East is responsible for controlling a hardware element, whatever type it is, managing to make it work and, moreover, in the best conditions. ¡Imagine what use your GTX 1060 at 6 GB would be if nothing and no one told your computer’s OS how to use it!

Thus, we believe that it may be very interesting for you to meet what exactly are the drivers, what are they for, what types exist and, of course, how you can check that you have them correctly installed and, if not, put a quick solution to the problem.

What is a driver or device driver in computing?

We call driver or controller to any software capable of making the operating system of a device interact with the elements that compose it. That is, it is a program specifically designed for a particular hardware to which it will give a series of characteristics or functionalities to make it work properly.

To achieve this, what is sought is a hardware abstraction in question (chipset, monitor, graphics card…) and granting an interface and of some characteristics that make possible and improve what said element offers.

This can be achieved in two ways, receiving and sending the information character by character or doing it by blocks of a specific size of bytes.

The traditional has always been to use binary language for its programming with an assembly of type ORG 0 with a SYS extension. Although, although it is what we usually find, knowing that this does not always have to be like this, being able to include it in a simple .exe provided that this is your first segment.

This means, therefore, that this is as important as the piece it controls, since, in fact, makes it work and, by the way, allows you to offer us improvementsbut the main thing is to enable the operation of both the most “superfluous” elements and those that make up the very heart of a device such as a smart television or a computer.

This supposes, of course, that a failure with them will often have important and negative consequences; it all depends on what is being controlled in particular because, obviously, a mouse control failure is not the same as a BIOS control failure.

Typically, this resource is created by the same hands that design and manufacture the accompanying hardware. Although it is true that, at a time when app development and online content sharing is so easywe can find unofficial developers and distributors who work to improve drivers for products that, for example, no longer receive support from the brands or simply want to incorporate improvements.

What are device drivers used for? Functions

The function of the drivers is act as intermediaries between an operating system and the device it accompanies. We can make a simile in which the OS would be a painter, the hardware would be the canvas, the driver would be the brush, and the final work, the painting, would be the working piece.

On the one hand, they allow that any element they control works. On the other, that the operating system that you have installed on the same computer as the hardware, is understood with these. That is, a compatibility is created, the OS learns how they work and “adapts” to capture the way they work to be able to reproduce it and for the user to enjoy it.

In any case, each driver is specific to a product model and operating systemso it is essential that we always have the one that is in accordance with the characteristics of our equipment, otherwise, errors will be created or the elements will not even be able to work directly.

Types of device drivers that we can install on our computer

Classifying device drivers might not make much sense because, in the end, they are all completely different, each brand will include different software for its hardware elements, whether internal or peripheral.

Still, we can consider the following:

• of peripherals: Obviously, each type of peripheral will require a different driver and, in fact, two mice, for example, will have two versions or even two software with very different characteristics. Thus, we find printers, scanners, webcams… All with similar parts and others that are very different from each other, even when they are of the same subtype. These usually come with the device in question, either in CD format, with an address to access to download them, etc.
• Ethernet/LAN: They control the devices that are connected by cable to the network.
• Wireless: They are the ones that need those components necessary to make use of wireless networks.
• USB: They enable the use of USB-type ports on our devices and keep them up to date. It is not common to buy them as such, since, today, they are integrated into general equipment updates
• chipsets: Essential for the operation of any equipment, since the chipset is the integrated circuit that makes a particular processor work. You need the drivers to increase the performance of the elements that are interconnected on the motherboard.
• BIOS: There is not much mystery; they are specific to this part of your equipment and tremendously important, as in the previous case, since they support an essential element for your device to work. Even having them, the average user is not advised update your bios if you do not have specific knowledge, then the consequences are serious and costly.
• Audio: They are installed to enable audio or improve its characteristics both in the elements of the motherboard of a computer (or other equipment that contains it), in sound cards or modems.
• Of video: Ditto as in the previous case; they work the video of video cards, either integrated or coupled.

How to view and manage all device drivers on our Windows computer?

After knowing this information it is logical that you want to check if your team is ready in this regard. If this is your case, pay attention because we are going to tell you how you can see, yourself, the drivers that you have installed on your Windows computer. You can see them best programs to update drivers from here.

1. On the icon “This team“, click with the right button mouse.
2. From the available options, click “Manage“.
3. Doing so will cause a new window to open, “Team management“.
4. The area on the left is the content tree. Among all this, click on “Device administrator“, within “System tools“.
5. This will allow you to see, in the central area, all the devices that are connected to your computer grouped by categories (audio inputs and outputs, monitors…). Click on the arrow to the left of each category so that it expands and you can see what elements you have installed.
6. If any of them is not right, an alert will be displayed consisting of an exclamation point. By double-clicking on the element in question you can solve the problem by following the instructions given, which will vary depending on the element and the type of problem in question.
7. double click it also allows you, regardless of whether or not there is a fault, to access the information on each element. It will be the “Controller” the one that interests you in this case, which shows you who the supplier of the driver is, its manufacturing date, the version you have at the moment… In addition, you have options here such as update, disable (so that the driver is still installed but the element is not recognized) or uninstall.
   1. If you are having a problem, our advice is to start with update drivers with the button “update driver“. This is usually enough to repair some irregularity.
      1. If you do, you will see that you are given the choice of how to search for the drivers, with the automatic update or the option to search for ourselves on the computer. If you have downloaded or inserted the necessary elements, click on the latter; if you don’t have them, opt for the first one and the OS will use the internet for the search.
   2. If it doesn’t take effect, you would have to go to “Uninstall the device“, which is much more annoying, because you have to take care, of course, of reinstalling both this and its drivers. The good thing is that, nowadays, Windows is in charge of finding the drivers of practically everything that you need. you have installed, it comes as standard or you add it, so that it will surely be the one who gives you the warning and asks you if you want to search for the corresponding drivers.