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What to Update 

Drivers are just software programs that give instructions to such things as , your Modem, mouse, video card, sound card. As with any software now days, they are continuely updating this software to either, fix bugs in the programs or to improve the performace of a card or a program or to update your Virus protection and to work better with Windows. Some Drivers require the latest version of Direct X, installed on your machine, before you install the new driver, they will tell you that and give you a link to the new Direct X required. The Device Manager lists all of the hardware that needs drivers ( link to a http://mikescomputerinfo.com/"deviceman.htm">picture of it ).

Some Software, have Live Updates built into the Programs, where it can automaticly update itself, others, you need to know some information about the certain Hardware or Program, such as the Name and Version of the hardware and or program. Generally if you Click the Help button in a Software Program and then click the About button, it will give you the Version Number . You should look in your Computers Manual for Information also. For Hardware, check the Properties of your hardware in the Device Manager(link to a picture of it) go to Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager. Norton System Works 2000(link to a picture of it) has a System information feature which will give you, alot of information, also System Information ( link to picture of it ) in Windows System Tool section, located in Accessories.

Once you have the Name and Version, you can go to their Web site and in the Support Section, you will find Patches, Updates and or Driver Files. For instance I have a Voodoo3000 PCI Video accelerator card in my Computer, The Company is 3Dfx, the name of the card is Voodoo 3000 for a PCI slot, when I bought it the Driver files were Version 1.04, so I went to 3dfx.com ( there may or may not be a link here, they are going out of business) went to the Driver section (surprisingly they were listed up front, most of the time you have go to the support section) selected my card and it took me to the driver which is now Version 1.07, I downloaded it to my downloads file, closed out of everything, went to the driver file and installed the updated driver, simple as that and it will help with the performance of the card, add some new features and have less errors with Windows.

As with Drivers, Programs are updated regularly to improve performance and to keep up with the updates Microsoft does to Windows. I think Updates are great, when I buy software and there are no updates that worries me, it makes me wonder if the Company really cares about its product or are they just in it for the money or did they really do it right the first time. Once you buy and install a program, go to the Manufactures site and seach for the Program, then the Update section or download section. Usually all you have to do is, download the patch, Virus check it, then unzip it and install it. Some programs have Live Update features right in their software programs, click a button and it will search for the right update and install it for you. With Games, if you play online, the software will be updated by the Web Site you use for Gaming. To find the Version of software you have, usually, if you go to the Help-About section , it will give you the Version there. In Games, it is different, best is to check the Manufactures Faqs page on where to look.