Need free drivers for your hardware but not sure where to look? There are plenty of websites selling programs and services that download drivers for you but, obviously, drivers for free is a better deal.
Free driver downloads are certainly available but where do you find them?
Before looking at where you can download free drivers, know that free drivers are the norm, not the other way around. Don't let those costly driver download programs and websites fool you with pricey software programs and subscription fees. Charging for driver downloads is a scheme that no one should fall victim to.
Here are the different ways you can download free drivers for your hardware, ordered in the same way you should look for them:
Directly From the Hardware Manufacturer
The first and best place to look for free device drivers is from the hardware manufacturer's website. These are the original drivers that the manufacturer itself is handing out - go there before you look anywhere else. You simply download them and then update the driver on your computer.
For example, if you've just purchased a Logitech webcam for your computer, you can visit the Logitech Support website to find and download the right driver that it needs in order to work correctly.
Using a Trusted Software Sharing Website
In the rare situation that you can't find drivers for your hardware at your hardware manufacturer's website, there are several other driver download sources available. This might happen if the company is out of business or you're looking for a driver for a very old piece of hardware. No matter the reason, you shouldn't have to pay for it.
Updating a driver is a very easy task that anyone can do.
Through a Free Driver Updater Tool
That said, there are driver downloader-updater programs out there that can be useful, at very least to save you time. Fortunately, there are lots of free ones that are just as good as any you might pay for.
While most of them work in almost the same way, our favorite is Driver Booster. This program will scan your computer for all the missing and outdated drivers that it can find, and then will download the right driver for you. All you have to do is click a few buttons and confirm the installations.
Things to Remember About Downloading Drivers
So, remember, all drivers are free! You should be able to download nearly any driver direct from the driver's source - the manufacturer - without incurring any cost whatsoever. However, even if you can't, the other options from above are usually very beneficial for finding free drivers.
Please know that you do not need to update your drivers on a regular basis. If you're not experiencing issues with your hardware, and you're not looking for additional features, then you don't need to update your drivers at all.
For example, if your sound no longer works, it's possible the sound card driver has been corrupted or removed, in which case you can reinstall the sound card driver. However, if your sound card has been working fine, there isn't a requirement to update it even if it could be updated to a new version.
Some people are wary about updating device drivers, maybe because they've had a bad experience in the past or because they're afraid it will make their device stop working. This is another reason you shouldn't worry about updating the driver for a device that doesn't obviously need the update.
Driver Genius is a comprehensive application that scans your system for driver problems. It can then download the drivers you require and updates your system accordingly. It can also backup and update your drivers in a few clicks.
Driver Genius has a clean user interface that gives you plenty of information without looking too cluttered. It is easy to install and use and has a backup function in case you need to restore lost or incorrect drivers.
Key features include:
- One click updates for all drivers.
- Driver backup tool.
- Automatically check for driver updates.
- Hardware temperature monitor: protects your CPU, GPU and HDD.
- System information tool: detailed hardware inventory.
- Remove invalid or useless drivers.
- One click driver restore: packages all drivers to an executable auto installer.
Overall, Driver Genius is an easy program to get to grips with and requires almost no technical knowledge to use; it will prompt you at every step of the process. It has a few nice features too, such as the driver install/uninstall function and the ability to schedule scans for out of date drivers. It is also worth mentioning Driver Genius has the ability to be integrated with your antivirus to automatically scan downloaded drivers for viruses.
1.0.0.128
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
A generic driver to troubleshoot Bluetooth connectivity
Driver easy pro license. This software is very simple to use, has a quick system analysis function and can automatically download and update your system’s drivers. Driver Easy Pro Serial Key DriverEasy Crack creates automatic restore points and driver backups and then it allows you to schedule scans and install drivers individually or all at once. Furthermore, the tool scans your PC for out-of-date, missing, and mismatched drivers and downloads and installs the up-to-date versions. This tool can update and maintain your Windows PC’s drivers automatically with a few clicks.
6200 votes- PROS: Creates a restore point, Forces Bluetooth to work
- CONS: May not work on all PCs
Beta (64 bit) 1.0.0.98
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
A generic driver to troubleshoot Bluetooth connectivity
1667 votes- PROS: Creates a restore point, Forces Bluetooth to work
- CONS: May not work on all PCs
6.4.0
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Driver Booster Free
1275 votes- PROS: Simplifies updating your drivers (2 clicks), Updates are done quickly, Schedules periodic scans and launches with Windows, Creates automatic restore points, Automatic background driver installation op, Free, Developer offers a pro version for which you can buy a license key
- CONS: Doesn’t give information about the drivers that are installed
2.3.2
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Analyze and update your drivers
1531 votes- PROS: Downloads driver updates, Scan scheduling, Back up and restore drivers
- CONS: Forces a restart, Not very attractive, Must register to download driver updates
4.1
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Excellent driver backup software
241 votes- PROS: Back up and restore drivers, You can select which drivers you want to back up, Save drivers to folder, .ZIP file or .EXE. , Print and save list of drivers
- CONS: No help, No other configuration options
10.0.1
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Backup & restore device drivers in case of computer crashes, reinstallation or other disasters.
2 votesBeta 3.6
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Automatically update the drivers on your system
139 votes- PROS: Very easy to use, Fast system scans, Built-in backup and restore utility
- CONS: Might not include the particular brand or mode you use
2.3
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Scan your PC and all connected devices to find any old, missing, or corrupt drivers and update them to the latest version.
93 votes5.0.1
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
The Most Complete Driver Update Utility
86 votes- PROS: Very easy to use, automatic installation of updates, growing driver database, backup and restore wizard
- CONS: License terms (1 Yr, 1 PC)
11.10.1.11897
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Keep your PC's drivers updated automatically
96 votes- PROS: Scans quickly, Ability to backup and restore drivers, Scheduling function
- CONS: Extremely limited trial version
3.0.0.0
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Remo Driver Discover - Update out dated drivers, backup and restore drivers, fix driver related errors
5 votes
Advertisement
# | Name | Version | Votes | Rating | Platform |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Double Driver | 4.1 | 241 | 7.6 | Windows |
2 | Bluetooth Driver Installer | Beta (64 bit) 1.0.0.98 | 1667 | 7.4 | Windows |
3 | Driver Booster Free | 6.4.0 | 1275 | 7.3 | Windows |
4 | SlimDrivers | 2.3.2 | 1531 | 7.2 | Windows |
5 | Bluetooth Driver Installer | 1.0.0.128 | 6200 | 6.9 | Windows |
This handy application is on the plain side, but it lets you easily manage the hardware device drivers installed in your system. My Drivers has a straightforward interface with easy-to-navigate buttons and file-header menus, although we appreciated the inclusion of the extensive help files.
The program impressively extracts all drivers or only the non-Microsoft versions with the click of a button. The list of drivers is displayed in the upper panel and includes name, version, date, and manufacturer. Select a driver to see more information in the lower panel. My Driver lets you search for the latest updates and lists those with newer versions detected. You can choose which you want to download and the program creates a folder for you to install the update. The program allows the user to create a backup copy of any or all listed drivers, and has tools for restoring and deleting drivers.
The trial version is limited to 15 days, but that should be enough time for intermediate to advanced users to see if this easy-to-use driver-management utility suits their needs.
What do you need to know about free software?
Back up, restore, update and remove your device drivers using this application wrapped in an intuitive interface, which finds drivers online automatically
What's new in Driver Magician 5.21:
- Some minor tweaks
Dealing with computer drivers isn't exactly the type of job appropriate for less experienced users, therefore finding and installing the right drivers for your devices is something that should be left to professionals and specialized software.
One utility that is designed to handle this delicate task is Driver Magician, an application that can manage all the device drivers on your system. It can perform a variety of operations to make sure your computer has the latest updates.
Driver Restore Free Full Download
First of all, there's the backup utility. Driver Magician can save all your drivers and it offers you three choices in this respect: you may back up the files to folders, to a compressed file, to a self-extractor or to an auto-setup package.
The program also has a much needed restore function, which means you can easily install drivers from a previous backup. During our test it took just a few minutes to do so and everything worked without a glitch.
But perhaps the best function of this tool is the update feature that checks the drivers version installed on your computer and allows you to download and install newer versions on the fly. Nonetheless this process can take some time if there are several updates to be done, because you can only upgrade to the latest version only one driver at a time.
All things considered, Driver Magician does an excellent job when it comes to handling computer drivers. It has some very useful backup and restore capabilities, the driver update feature also works a treat so this software can easily be one of the recommended choices from its category.
Filed under
LIMITATIONS IN THE UNREGISTERED VERSION- 15 days trial
- Nag screen
- Pentium 166MHz
- 32 MB of available RAM (64 MB recommended)
- 5 MB of available disk space for installation
![Driver Restore Free Download Driver Restore Free Download](https://images.sftcdn.net/images/t_app-cover-l,f_auto/p/fdbbdba8-9b52-11e6-9664-00163ec9f5fa/3989223949/driver-restore-screenshot.jpg)
top alternatives FREE
top alternatives PAID
This enables Disqus, Inc. to process some of your data. Disqus privacy policyDriver Magician 5.21
add to watchlistsend us an update- file size:
- 4.4 MB
- filename:
- DriverMagician.exe
- runs on:
- Windows 10 32/64 bit
Windows 2003
Windows 8 32/64 bit
Windows 7 32/64 bit
Windows Vista 32/64 bit
Windows XP 32/64 bit - main category:
- System
- developer:
- visit homepage