Why You Need To Update Motherboard Driver

It’s important to keep all the different device drivers updated. You will find that an outdated driver will cause problems in your different devices. Your hardware will work more efficiently and reliably when you keep drivers up to date. Everything from your video cards to mouse has a driver.

People often overlook the motherboard but to neglect an update for your motherboard driver can cause you lots of unnecessary problems. When you update your motherboard driver you ensure that all the hardware installed on your computer system works seamlessly.

Identifying Your Motherboard

Before you try to update the motherboard driver you want to know what model you are working with. You can use the software on your computer to locate the exact type of motherboard you have. One option with most Windows operating systems is to click on start, then click on Run. In the dialog box type dxdiag. Click enter and you should see the system information you need.

If you have Windows System Information pre-installed in your computer then you should be able to use this to find the type of motherboard you want. Another way to find the motherboard is through the Device Manager in the Control Panel.

If software cannot help you then you will need to look at the motherboard look for a model number or manufacturer name. This usually comes on a white sticker on your motherboard. Hopefully you still have the manual that came with your motherboard this will have all the information you need including the chipset.

Using The CD

Your motherboard most likely came with a CD when it was installed. This CD has driver files for many different motherboard types. This is why when you want to update your motherboard driver you need to the exact model.

If you update your motherboard driver with the wrong driver file it won’t work properly. If you don’t have a CD on hand then knowing the motherboard type will still help you to update the motherboard driver.

You can look online for the files you need to help update the motherboard driver. When downloading files for this purpose make sure to save the files to your desktop. Failing to do so will make the process much harder as you hunt for the downloaded files. You will most likely need to uncompress the file, you can use WinZip or a similar program to do this by extracting the files.

There may be more than one file. You will need to use the .inf file to update your motherboard driver. Click on this file and choose the option to install. Remember that you need to make sure you have the right .inf file so double check when downloading the software that you have the right one for your motherboard. 

Automatically Updating

If you don’t have software and would like your computer to automatically search for new drivers for your motherboard then you will need to do this manually. First click on the Start button. Click on My Computer and then click on Control Panel. You will find the Device Manager here.

In the device manager you will find all the devices on your computer, such as your printer, mouse, and video card. Your motherboard should be one of the listed devices. Right click on the motherboard and then click on properties. In the properties window you should see a tab for a driver.

There will be an option to update motherboard driver. Follow the instructions and you will have successfully managed to update the motherboard driver. Whatever method you use to update the motherboard driver make sure that you reboot the computer afterwards.