Technical Vocational Education

Computer Systems Servicing 9

Second Quarter

INSTALL DEVICE DRIVERS

AND UTILITIES

Prepared by

MARILOU F. ANGADOL
 Information Sheet

INSTALL DEVICE DRIVERS AND UTILITIES

Lesson 1: Device Drivers

What are Device Driver?

• A device driver is a special kind of software program that controls a specific hardware device attached to
a computer. Device drivers are essential for a computer to work properly.
• driver is a software component that lets the operating system and device communicate with each other.
• Without drivers, the computer would not be able to send and receive data correctly to hardware devices
such as a printer.

What devices need drivers?

Hardware devices that are unknown by the operating system or that have features that are unknown
by the operating system all require drivers.
Below is a list of common hardware devices and peripherals that require drivers.
✓ Card reader ✓ Printer
✓ Controller ✓ Scanner
✓ modem ✓ Sound card
✓ Motherboard chipset ✓ Video card
✓ Network card

What devices may not need drivers?

Today's operating systems have a lot of generic drivers that allow hardware to work at a basic level
without needing drivers or software. However, if that device has features unknown to the operating system,
it will not work without drivers. For example, you could plug any keyboard into a computer and expect it to
work. However, if that keyboard has any special keys or features, they will not work until the drivers are
installed.
o CPU o Heat sink o Monitor
o Disc drive o Joystick o Power supply
o Fan o Keyboard o RAM
o Hard drive o Mouse

What are the types of device drivers?

BIOS
BIOS (basic input/output system) is, by definition, the most basic computer driver in existence and is
designed to be the first program that boots when a PC turns on. The BIOS is stored on memory built into the
motherboard and is designed to boot the hardware connected to the PC, including the hard drives, video
display output (whether it be video card or on-board), keyboard and mouse.

Motherboard Drivers
Motherboard drivers are small programs that are read by either Windows or Linux and allow for basic
computer functions while inside the operating system. These drivers normally include programs that allow
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broadband ports, USB ports and I/O ports for the mouse and keyboard. Depending on the make of the
motherboard, the drivers may also have basic drivers for video and audio support. BIOS are not the same as
motherboard drivers.

Hardware Drivers
Hardware drivers are programs that are designed to allow pieces of computer hardware, such as
expansion slots, to function on a computer. Video cards, sound cards, network cards and other expansion
cards come with driver discs to ease the installation process of the hardware. Other devices, like certain kinds
of digital cameras and MP3 players, have PC drivers programmed into their software for easy use on most
makes of personal computers.

Virtual Device Drivers

Virtual device drivers are different than most drivers. Unlike the majority of drivers, which allow pieces
of hardware to work with a particular operating system, virtual device drivers emulate a piece of hardware
and essentially trick the computer into thinking that it is reading from a piece of actual hardware. A particularly
popular use for virtual device drivers is with reading .iso files without having an actual disc, using one of these
drivers to emulate a CD or DVD drive.

Generic and OEM Drivers

▪ Generic drivers - the device driver is probably a generic one if it comes with the operating software.
Generic device drivers can be used for one particular device type no matter who manufactured it.
Windows 10 comes packed with multiple generic drivers, so your hardware can work right away
without downloading and installing additional software.
▪ OEM Drivers (Original Equipment Manufacturer) - drivers that were written by manufacturers for
their devices. These drivers usually placed in a CD and bundled with the devices upon purchase.
They may also be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.

Lesson 2: UTILITY PROGRAMS

UTILITY PROGRAM
Utility program is a system application that
executes a specific task, generally pertaining to optimal
maintenance or operation of the system resources.
Operating systems such as Windows, macOS and Linux
come with their own set of utility programs to maintain and
execute different utility functions such as formatting,
compressing, scanning, exploring and much more. Utility
programs also assists with the management of computer
functions, resources and files.

What are the Functions of Utility Programs?

Overall, utility programs can be broadly categorized into four parts:

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• System Utilities
Some of the system utility
programs are memory
manager, antivirus and firewall,
registry checker and cleaner,
package installer and explorer.
Also, with the help of such
system utility programs, users
can execute functions that are
crucial for smooth running of an
operating system.

• File Management Utilities

File management utilities
include tools such as data archivers, software backup tools, file compression tools and managers. With
the help of these, users can manage their data in the form of files and folders. These utilities help users
to sort out, store and categorize files according to the requirement.

• Storage Device Management Utilities

Storage device management utility programs provide solutions for enhancing disk capacity, such
as disk clean-up, partition management, formatting, disk space allocation, defragmentation, etc. With
the help of this utility program, users can compartmentalize systems and external drives for efficient
management of programs and files that are stored within.

• Miscellaneous Utilities
Apart from these three utility program categories, there are various other programs that help in
managing business operations. Some of these programs include data generators, HTML checkers and
hex editors, to name a few.

Lesson 3: INSTALLING DEVICE DRIVERS AND UTILITIES in

WINDOWS

Hardware devices need drivers to function properly. Most of these drivers are installed automatically
by Windows. However, if this is not the case these drivers need to be installed by the user. Opening
the Device Manager (available in the Control Panel) will tell the user which hardware drivers need to be
installed by marking them with a yellow exclamation mark.

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Device Manager
- is a Control Panel applet in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It
allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the
computer.

Every good manufacturer provides a CD or DVD containing the

drivers for the most used operating systems in both 32-bit and 64-bit
versions), along with some additional tools and useful software.
Windows operating systems usually finds the necessary drivers in the
Microsoft® database and install them automatically, but if a driver is
not found, you have to use the provided manufacturer disk.

HOW TO INSTALL DEVICE DRIVERS AND UTILITY PROGRAMS

O Installing from a CD or DVD.

• It is recommended to use drivers provided by the manufacturer,

particularly for the chipset and graphic card, which usually provide better
performance. In the instructions below, learn how to use the CD or DVD
that came with your piece of hardware in Windows

o Installing Windows drivers from the Device Manager

1. Insert the driver disk into your optical drive.
2. Click “Start”, right-click on “Computer” and select “Properties ”.
3. In the left menu, select “Device Manager”.
4. Find the hardware with a yellow exclamation mark or a device you want to install new drivers
for from the CD or DVD. Right-click on it and select “Update Driver Software ”.
5. Click on the “Browse my computer for driver software” button.
6. Click on the “Browse” button and select the optical drive.
7. Click on the “Next” button. The drivers are being installed.
8. Wait until the process finishes and then click on the “Close” button.

o Installing Windows Drivers using the setup file

1. Insert the driver disk into your optical drive.
2. Open the Optical Drive and double click on the exe file or the setup file.
3. Most device drivers and third party utility drivers will open an installation wizard that will help
you install the software.
4. Restart the computer after installation.

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O Installing from a USB device (e.g. flash drive)

• Driver or utility files maybe copied to a USB flash drive then can be
installed from that drive.
• Once the drive is connected to the computer, open the USB flash drives
and look f or the driver or utility files.
• Once the drivers are found on the drive, you must determine how the
drivers are packaged. If the directory contains executable files or a setup
file, you can install the driver using an executable. If the directory contains
.inf files, you can install the driver using an inf or use the "have disk" option during the install.

O Downloading and Installing a Driver/Utility Program

• Drivers and utility programs can also be

downloaded from the device manufacturer. If you
downloaded the driver on the same computer where
it is to be installed then open the folder where it was
downloaded.
• Once the drivers are found on the drive, you must
determine how the drivers are packaged. If the
directory contains executable files or a setup file, you
can install the driver using an executable. If the
directory contains .inf files, you can install the driver
using an inf or use the "have disk" option during the
install.
• If you're downloading drivers to install on another device, you can copy or extract the files to a USB
flash drive and connect it to the other computer.