PC question: What in a pc is a 'driver'?

Question

Is this hardware like CD Burners or inbuilt software or added software such as Nero?

If i think i may have a faulty driver, which are the most common ones on a computer?

I run windows xp home edition

Thanks

associated with this problem i get the dreaded BSOD which either states IRQ_LESS_EQUAL_THAN or DRIVER_IRQL_LESS_EQUAL_THAN or something like that

Answer 1

A driver is a bit of software that instructs windows how to use and handle a piece of hardware, like a CD-rom, printer, scanner etc.

If you have a faulty driver there could be hundred's of possibilities unfortunately, what device is not working correctly and are you getting an error message assocaited with your thoughts?

Windows has pre-installed ones, but other newer hardware may have a CD with which you put amended drivers onto the machine.

Try re-installing the faulty device's CD.

Answer 2

I can answer your original question - but have no idea about the specifics of your error msgs.

In a computer, there is primarily hardware and software.

Hardware runs a wide gamet of things - monitors, CPUs, memory, hard disks, keyboards, game controllers, scanners, printers, etc.

Software is the instructions that tell the hardware what to do.

One of the most important pieces of software is the operating system. Just a few examples of operating systems are Windows Vista, MacOS X, Linux.

Each operating system has a central piece - frequently called a "kernel" - which needs to talk to the hardware to tell it what to do.

A driver is a particular kind of code, called by the kernel, that knows how a specific kind of hardware works.

Sometimes, a vendor (producer) of hardware - say Seagate - produces different drivers for each family of products they produce. Usually one finds the vendor produces variations of the drivers, depending on whether the hardware is plugging into MacOS, Windows, Linux, or other machines. Sometimes special drivers are needed for newer, or older, variations of the operating systems.

Contemporary OS producers try to either include drivers from groups of vendors, or produce a kernel that uses well documented interfaces, along with generic drivers that can work with generic "USB" device specifications, etc. These drivers enable one to "plug and play" many common hardware items without having to download new devices.

However, there are times when a vendor finds they can make their device run faster, or more correctly, by providing updated or specialized drivers. Often you will see this happen with hard drives and video cards.

Answer 3

Drivers are software that tell your computer how to work with your hardware, like your printer, monitor, cd burners. What makes you think you have a faulty driver? Are you getting hardware errors on anything specific? To see if you are having hardware errors, the easiest thing to do is
1. Right-click on My Computer and go to Properties.
2. Click on the Hardware tab.
3. Select device manager.
If you don't see any yellow exclamation points, your computer is probably okay.
If you still think you are having a problem, include your specific problem so somebody can help you. Good luck.

Answer 4

a driver is a piece of software that enables your computer to use your hardware ie printer or burner. the stuff that comes with the cd has the drivers, software to run your hard ware, but also comes with other software like your scaning programs for some printers and or some type of program so you can fax stuff with printers and your nero or mad dog with burners. you can find just the driver for hardware to make it work with your computer on the net by going to the manufacturer website like dell or sharp and not have all the extra stuff that comes with the cd.

Answer 5

Drivers are Code that enable you to run differnt periphials on your machine like printers and scanners , or any external device.
Software that is downloaded comes with the drivers that enable the program to function.
On occasion the different companys will update drivers to work with different equipment other than the ones intended. Many people do a regular check at the manufactures web site to make sure they have the latest updates to software that includes any new drivers for there software.
Don

Answer 6

Drivers are as described above.

the most likely 'problem' drivers (in no particular order) are graphics, sound, modem.

HTH