Have you ever had to use your drivers?

@writersedge (22563)
United States
September 8, 2008 9:01pm CST
The guy who fixes our computer says I need to get the drivers. Start up is extremely slow and he can find no reason for it. My husband took this computer out of the boxes and set it up. He has no idea where the drivers are; he probably threw them away. I've had the computer for 4 years. If he didn't throw them away, I don't know what he did with them. I haven't seen any odd discs floating around. I see where I can buy them. But it says drivers $39.00 for one machine and then it says it again for a total of almost 80 dollars. It looks like the same set of drivers twice. But it is hard to tell from an order blank. I see also that it says using the drivers can cause some problems, too. So have you ever used your drivers or the person who repairs your computer used drivers and started all over again? Did it cause other problems? Did it fix your problems? Should I pay for both sets or just one?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@razor123 (979)
• India
9 Sep 08
The drivers of your computer are the most important thing for your computer. Whenever you do a format for your PC that is wipe out your operating system and install the OS again you need to install all the required drivers after that in order for your computer to run properly. Your drivers are for your motherboard basically. The different drivers are audio, video, network etc. Without the audio driver installed you won't be able to listen to any music or any kind of sound. Without the video driver you will not get good clarity and also not be able to play many movies and stuff etc. So drivers are a must for your PC as it interfaces your hardware with your software basically. I have all the driver CD's required for my computer. So please get your self one and keep them safely now. If your PC start up is slow format your PS as there could be some viruses that are eating up your computer resources which could be causing it to start slow. That would be my best suggestion. Many a times when my PC gets slow I format it.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Thank you very much for that explanation.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
I hope so, too. I have to email my hours and stats to my boss every weekend or I don't get paid, so this is very important for me. Thanks and take care.
@razor123 (979)
• India
9 Sep 08
You most welcome writersedge. I'm glad I could be of some help to you. Hope things get sorted out soon for you and your computer works perfectly fine.
1 person likes this
@bestcj (278)
• Philippines
9 Sep 08
I still keep all the drivers for my computers. But if someone ask me to repair there computer by reformatting it then i will also ask for the drivers because its very important. For your problem you don't need to pay for a driver you can actually download it for free in manufacturer's website. If that's driver but if it's a program its definitely not for free.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Dell has a price on the drivers. Have to pay it to download it. Dell manufactured my computer. I didn't ask for reformatting. He can't find the problem, so he wants to. Not sure it will help. It's always been slow.
@bestcj (278)
• Philippines
9 Sep 08
maybe his not referring to driver but the actual recovery disk where you can restore the computer to factory settings. I'm sure that's is not for free. But if the problem is drive only Dell also have a website where you can find driver for there hardware. But operating system and some programs you have to order recovery disk
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Maybe he is talking about a recovery disc. I will have to ask him, that is a good question. Thanks.
@Sikh_Boy (230)
• United States
9 Sep 08
I personally think that the guy is making sale out of you guys. U don't need a driver cd or anything but u need you backup disk which actually comes with all the computers / laptops. If your husband accidentally threw it - then you might have to contact the laptop company's customer service and ask them where you can get a backup disk. on the other hand drivers are startup files which are often installed in the computer itself so that if you plug any plug & play devices you can easily start using that device without going through the hassle of installing drivers using r the cd. hope this helps !
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Thanks. I don't think our Deacon that married us and has fixed our computer in exchange for just a nice meal is trying to rip us off. I think he feels something is corrupted and he can't find it. He's tried and tried. I deleted some files and maybe I deleted too many. Maybe he meant recovery discs. He asked my husband for the discs that came with the computer. But since either they forgot to pack them or my husband threw them away, maybe that's why he wanted the drivers or maybe some recovery discs. I don't care what he does as long was we get the bugs out of this thing. I've been living with too many problems from this computer for too long.
@douchrti (176)
• United States
10 Sep 08
There are some good responses here to help you. You can also try driverguide.com. Its a reputable and helpful site. Theres also a free piece of software called RadarSync. Make sure you unselect the additional addons they try to give you during the install. Your puters makers site or microsofts dnload site is a good place too.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
10 Sep 08
Interesting, I've never heard of any of those. I learned a lot just now. Thanks and take care.
@PearlGrace (3171)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Hi writersedge. I am clueless on this one. I have certainly heard of drivers and the importance of having "the right ones" but I don't think I've personally experienced a problem because of not having the correct ones. Here goes my ignorance but I thought there were several drivers already loaded on computers that are uninstalled unless a person chooses to install them. Could it be that the ones you need are already on there but they just haven't been installed? If I trusted the person who told me this, I guess I'd buy them all, just to be safe. Good luck on this one, writersedge.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
10 Sep 08
The problem is in startup. So I would think they would be installed unless there are some spares. My Computer is from Dell. I suppose I could call them and ask them if they had some spares put in. But if a virus happened or a worm, wouldn't having them in the computer instead of on discs make it so they would be corrupted, too?
• United States
10 Sep 08
Oh, gosh, I have no idea about that one, whether the drivers would also be corrupt. But it sounds like the comment below mine from douchrti knows alot more about this subject. And if there's a free website somewhere, that sounds pretty good. Good luck, writersedge. Hope you get this problem straightened out. And yes, if I were you, I would definitely call Dell and hang on for how ever long to talk to a "real person" about this issue.
@reoko10 (578)
• United States
9 Sep 08
No I have never had that happen to me, but I know when to but a computer all the pices come already put together the only thing in the box is the montior, the cpu,the key borad, the mouse, and the spekers oh yea also the recovery dics.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
I think the recovery discs may be what he's talking about. My husband doesn't think there were any discs anywhere, but he didn't look for any and he tends to throw all the paperwork we get with anything out. Like the watch he bought me that had a guarantee for a year. He threw out the guarantee. A month later, it quit and now I'm out a watch.
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
9 Sep 08
I don't know a lot about computers but i think nearly all programs or most have drivers, I am not sure but I know they are pretty much important, I let my techy look after all that for me or i wouldn't be here...
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
9 Sep 08
Well, the problem is that my husband threw them out or lost them. So my techy would like to do something, but it looks like I have to pay for new drivers first.
1 person likes this