How to Locate Vista Drivers for Your Devices

People were excited when Microsoft announced the release of Windows Vista. Unfortunately, many of these same people were disappointed when they had problems finding drivers for some of the peripherals that worked just fine with XP. Surprisingly, Vista was released with over 30,000 driver possibilities, as compared to the 12,000 released with XP. Of course, many more devices were used on computers in 2006 (the year Vista was released) than 2001 (the year XP was released). The total number of drivers on Vista doesn’t matter if you can’t locate the one driver you need for your device.

Step 1:
Turn on the automatic updates for your Vista computer. Among these important updates, you’ll find new drivers for both new and old equipment. You can change the settings for updates by clicking: "Start," "All Programs," "Windows Update" and "Change Settings." Choose your desired option, and place a check in the box next to "Include Recommended Updates When Downloading, Installing or Notifying Me About Updates" in the "Recommended Updates" section. Save your settings by clicking "OK."

Step 2:
Tell Vista to get updated drivers for specific items, since Vista won’t automatically download "optional" drivers. Click the "Start" button, "All Programs" and "Windows Update." Find and click "Check for Updates." Next, select "View Available Updates" to see the list of updates Vista thinks are optional. Place a check beside the updates you want to install, and click the "Install" button.

Step 3:
Visit the manufacturer’s website to locate drivers for the component you want to use. At the manufacturer’s website, run a search for the driver or look through the support pages for your component to find the needed drivers. Download and install the new driver.

Step 4:
Grab the driver from another Vista or XP computer. Run a search for the driver to locate it on the computer, then copy it to a USB drive or have your friend email the driver to you. Save the driver to your computer, then install it. The XP driver may only provide basic functions, but basic functions are better than no functions.

Step 5:
Visit websites like RadarSync, Windrivers or Download Drivers to locate the drivers you need (see Resources below).

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