What are device drivers? Device drivers are, in the simplest terms, pieces of software code that tell the operating system how to use hardware correctly.

Since every manufacturer's hardware is different, each manufacturer must make device drivers for each piece of hardware in order for the various operating systems to use the it.

Some device drivers are already included in Windows. That is why occasionally Windows will detect new hardware and set it up with the proper device drivers without the user doing much of anything. The same is true with a new Windows install. The hardware that Windows already has device drivers for is automatically setup during the install. However, not all device drivers are included in Windows.

What do I do about devices that Windows didn't have device drivers for? If Windows didn't have the device drivers for a piece of hardware, it lists it in the device manager as 'Other' or places a yellow exclamation mark next to it to warn the user that there is a problem with that item.

Ideally, a person has a new piece of hardware with the original device driver disk that shipped with the hardware. Also, in a perfect world, the hardware would have device drivers for the specific version of Windows that the user is using. However, it's not a perfect world; Device driver disks get lost, people update Windows versions, hardware manufacturers go out of business and never write device drivers for the latest version of Windows, etc.

Simply put, in order to get a piece of hardware to work with your version of Windows here's what needs to happen:

1. Your hardware needs to be working. One of the most frustrating things imaginable is to spend hours or days searching for a device driver for something that is broken and won't function whether you find the correct device drivers or not. Computer hardware doesn't always show outward signs of being bad. For example, a bad video card can have a giant burn mark on it or a microscopic fracture that has rendered it useless. One is easy to spot right away, the other is not.

2. The device drivers have to exist. Yeah, I know it's hard to believe but the truth of the matter is that some device drivers were never written for certain versions of Windows and never will be. No matter how long you search, you simply will not find device drivers for it, ever.

3. The correct device drivers have to be installed properly. We all know that humans were not born with the natural knowledge and ability to install device drivers correctly. Some device drivers come in a nice friendly installer package that more or less installs itself, others are nothing more than 'bare' driver files zipped up in a .zip file that need to be manually installed.

I know it all sounds like bad news, but there are places out there willing to help. PerfectDrivers can make your device driver search a bit easier. TheTechBoard can provide more personalized help with specific issues about not only drivers, but any computer issue.