Windows has long been plagued with system reliability issues stemming from device drivers. This is due in part to the immense breadth of hardware devices available for the PC, each one of which requires a device driver to interface the hardware with Windows. Making matters worse, Microsoft had the need to evolve the operating system to improve operating system reliability, which necessarily required evolving existing device drivers.
Fortunately, Windows 7 drivers a highly-compatible with the Vista driver subsystem, so the large base of existing, stable Vista drivers can be used with Windows 7. Of course, many users avoided upgrading to Vista and remained on Windows XP.
Upgrading (or reinstalling) Windows 7 now necessitates locating, downloading and installing the right device drivers to support Windows 7. Windows 7 drivers aren’t yet available for many uncommon devices; however, Windows 7 driver support for common devices is very good out of the box.
Of course, using genetic Windows 7 drivers will leave many features disabled or non-functional, especially specialized devices like multi-media PC controls, for example. So, I recommend the following approach to dealing with Windows 7 driver issues:
1. Begin with the built-in Windows 7 drivers for common devices (network, motherboard, USB, display, etc.)
2. If you find a particular device isn’t working, try Windows Update to see if a new Microsoft update has been published for your device (not likely, but worth a quick try).
3. Visit the hardware vendor’s or your PC vendor’s website to their Support or Download area, and look for a Windows 7 or Vista driver. Make sure you choose the right one. Pay particular attention to 32-bit vs. 64-bit Windows matching your system.
4. Failing those options, you may also want to consider 3rd party tools such as Driver Robot, which automates location and download of the software for your PC’s devices (especially useful for non-technical users who just want the driver issues to go away quickly and easily).
While nothing’s perfect, Windows 7 provides the most stable, robust driver subsystem ever. The broad availability of Vista drivers should bridge the gap nicely until more native Windows 7 device support becomes available in 2010 and beyond.
