A useful free tool that can scan your PC to detect and update outdated drivers
A useful free tool that can scan your PC to detect and update outdated drivers
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What is Driver Booster Free
Driver Booster Free is a freeware application that can update a device driver on demand or be scheduled to ensure that all of your drivers remain current.
Device drivers are necessary programs that ensure that Windows can communicate with the underlying hardware that your system comprises. When drivers are up-to-date, everything runs as expected. When drivers are outdated, you may experience bad, odd or suboptimal behavior and/or not have access to the latest hardware or operating system features. Many device drivers are updated regularly, and ensuring that all of yours are current can be a hassle. That’s where Driver Booster Free comes in.
Driver Booster Free can help ensure that you avoid conflicts, your hardware runs optimally and you have access to the latest features. The program is also completely free to use as often as you like. Simply run the program. It will scan your computer for device drivers, compare each one against an online database and then provide you a list of those drivers that are outdated. You can then choose to update some or all of them. Driver Booster Free will download the latest version and install it.
The scanning process is quite fast and very user-friendly. You can execute this scan manually whenever needed, but the scheduling option makes it much more convenient. This way, the program ensures your drivers are current without you having to think about. There’s always the concern of incompatibility and false positives when it comes to driver updates. This issue is intensified when automating the process. Fortunately, Driver Booster Free provides you granular control over what does and doesn’t update automatically. It also integrates with the Windows Restore feature. A restore point is made prior to every change, and if incompatibility occurs, you can simply roll back to a previous point.
A downside to Driver Booster Free is that its reporting isn’t verbose enough. The log will inform you if an outdated driver is found and updated, but that’s it. It would be nice to get version numbers and update notes. Instead, you’ll have to find that information on your own. Another point to consider is that a program like Driver Booster Free is becoming less useful as Windows becomes more sophisticated. Windows is pretty good at this kind of thing now, and hardware manufacturers have gotten a lot better as well.
Pros
- Simplifies updating drivers
- Supports scheduled operation
- Supports the Windows Restore feature
Cons
- Lacks ideal logging and reporting