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Driver Repair

Scenario

You notice a connected device, hardware, or connection just isn't working as it should or isn't working at all, you've checked the Windows update, the GPU updater, and even restarted the system but nothing seems to be helping. 

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A couple of things to know when it comes to the drivers on a computer:

1.) There is always the possibility of bad hardware

2.) Hardware may no longer be supported

3.) The driver could be fine, the device/hardware may need new parts

 

Good news, I have encountered this issue a few times and successfully repaired it. I will go over a few different ways to repair a driver that's not working properly:

1.) Go through device manager

2.) Check Windows update

3.) Nvidia Geforce (skip if you do not own an Nvidia GPU)

4.) Download a new driver from the device's official website

5.) Use Intel's driver support assistant

Windows update clipart

Let's get to it

Solution 01: Windows Update

Now I know you have probably already gone to settings and clicked 'check for updates' but I will show you how to do a deeper and more comprehensive check. I do this when bigger updates are out for Windows and I have not received them yet.

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Method 1.) Go to Windows Update and make sure 'Get the latest updates as soon as they're available' is on, then check for updates again (this may require a system restart)

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Method 2.) Go to Windows Update>Advanced options, then make sure the following options are on:

1.) Receive updates for other Microsoft products

2.) Get me up to date(this one is if you want the system to restart to apply an update as soon as possible, this is your preference)

Now check for updates again

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Method 3.) Go to Windows Update>Advanced options>Optional updates, check if any of the available updates are for the driver you need and download them

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Those are the methods that I use and work if the issue is the Windows update

Solution 02: Device manager

This method isn't an advanced solution but does require knowing which driver you need to repair, when you open device manager you get a list of every driver that has been installed on the system along with every driver not currently in use. The main drivers are easy to spot like Bluetooth or Wifi/ethernet because they have basic names. Individual devices can be tricky especially if you have used, for example, multiple keyboards from the same brand like Razer or Asus. Without further ado, let's get into this solution.

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Step 1.) Open device manager, this can be done by either pressing Win Key+X or right-clicking the start menu icon. This will bring up the 'second' start menu. Once open, select 'Device Manager'

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Step 2.) Once open, find the driver you are having issues with, I will be using my Bluetooth driver as an example

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Step 3.) Right-click the driver and select 'Properties' then click on the 'Driver' tab then 'Update driver'

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Step 4.) This is split into two parts: the automatic search and the manual search. If you have downloaded the driver from the product's official website, select the 'Browse' option then locate and select the file.  If you have not manually downloaded the file, select the 'automatic' option, this will search the web for any available drivers. In my experience, the auto-update rarely finds anything unless a driver is far behind on updates or has just been installed.

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If you are unsuccessful in finding the driver using either of the search options, you can try to uninstall the driver and restart the system, this will reinstall the driver upon restart. Just right-click the driver and select 'Uninstall'

 

That's all there is for using the device manager to find driver updates, if you need help finding a driver manually, contact me and I will do my best to find the driver for you.

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Device manager
Updating drivers
Windows 'second' start menu
Search for driver updates

Solution 03: Nvidia Geforce

Skip if you do not need this solution

Perhaps the driver you need is for your Nvidia Graphics card, I will walk you through the process of using the Nvidia GeForce Experience app, along with using the official website to download the driver you need or a previous driver if the current one is too buggy for you.

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Before we begin, the Geforce driver has two versions, the 'Game Ready' and the 'Studio' driver

Game Ready Driver: For gamers

Studio Driver: Used for creative apps like video editing and Photoshop

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If you are someone who does a bit of gaming and editing, I recommend getting both, it doesn't harm the system.

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Now onto the solution

Method 1.) Using the GeForce Experience App:

If you don't already have the app, you can download it here:

 Install it, open it, then go to the drivers tab.

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Click the 3 dots next to check for updates and select the driver you want to download, if there is no driver available, click 'check for update' after manually choosing the driver.

 

Method 2.) Manually downloading from the website:

If the experience doesn't have a driver to download but there is an updated version ready, go to the official download website here: 

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Search for the correct driver for your system and download it.

Once the driver has been downloaded, install it as you would any program.

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If you need help finding the correct driver, contact me and I will be happy to assist you.

 
 
 
Choosing the Nvidia driver
Manually choose driver to download

Solution 04: Download from the official hardware/software website

Still having issues trying to get the correct driver software installed? Another option is to look for the manufacturer's website for direct downloads of the driver(s) this is a very simple solution but requires a bit of knowledge about the device you need a driver for:

1.) Name of device

2.) Model/serial number

3.) Operating system

4.) May require more info depending on the device

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This can be tricky for those who aren't very tech-savvy but shouldn't be a problem as long as the device still has the information sticker attached. Contact me and I will be happy to assist you.

Solution 05: Using Intel's driver assist tool

This solution will be using the Intel Driver Assist tool

Step 1.) Go to Intel's download page here:

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Step 2.) Install and launch the assistant, it will take you to the official website to scan the system for the outdated and missing drivers along with giving you all the information for your system

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Step 3.) If the assistant has found any outdated drivers, select the 'download all' option and wait for all drivers to download, if you install than as they complete it may cause errors with the other drivers due to partial downloading

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That's all there is when using the Intel assistant, reach out to me with any questions or concerns about any of the solutions and I will answer as many questions as I can

Intel driver assist homepage
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