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by Answerbag Staff on October 24th, 2009

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What does the term computer driver mean?

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  • by Tom McNamara on October 24th, 2009

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    Professionally Researched. (What's this?)

    The Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems all behave differently under the hood. One of the ways in which Windows distinguishes itself is in how it handles drivers.

    Driver Basics

    Drivers are files that an operating system uses to recognize and communicate with an external device such as a printer or mouse, or an internal component such as a video card or sound card.

    Driver Behavior

    When you attach a printer or mouse, Windows will take a few seconds to attempt to recognize it with its own drivers. If it does not, it may check the Internet for and then prompt you to supply the required drivers.

    Driver Availability

    Drivers usually come on a CD packaged with a device. You can also usually find them at the manufacturer's website. The drivers available on the Internet are usually more up-to-date than the packaged drivers.

    Driver Maintenance

    Drivers need to be kept up-to-date; sometimes an older driver does not allow the full functionality of the device, or it causes errors with the device, or there are security issues. Windows Update will usually do this for you, and you can set Windows to check the update service periodically and automatically.

    Driver Fallbacks

    Sometimes Windows can load a "generic" driver, particularly with video cards, if it cannot obtain the vendor-specific one. These are usually only meant to be used temporarily until you install the proper driver.

    Source:

    Driver Definition

    Finding and Installing Drivers

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