Many a times we lose the CD/DVD that we are provided with a respective hardware and after formatting our machine we find ourselves stranded! Even worse when we need an old driver as the
newer one is either incompatible with an older version of the OS that you are running or is faulty.
So here is a list of my favorite sites to help you download the latest as well as the oldest drivers:
Whats Good: Downloading drivers from Download.com is easy: drivers are organized by device type and no registration is required to download drivers, unlike many other driver download websites. Download.com stands out as a driver download website because they've been a trusted source for software downloads for years.
Whats Bad: A lot of software shows up when looking through the listing of downloadable drivers - probably an attempt to advertise certain programs. Most drivers available for download are for newer hardware. If you need to download drivers for older hardware, you'll probably have to try another driver download website.
Whats Good: Searching for and downloading drivers is very easy. DriverGuide.com has a huge selection of hard to find drivers and is good at keeping their driver inventory up to date.
Whats Bad: You're forced to register before you can download drivers which involves multiple questions and "sponsored" offer pages. Free accounts are limited in access to the site and to the number of driver downloads that can be made. More costly "Plus" and "Pro" memberships give greater access to driver downloads. Unless you're looking for a rare driver, finding and downloading drivers yourself is very easy.
Whats Good: Finding the driver you want to download is easy and no registration is needed. Like most driver download sites, drivers are organized by type of device. Drivers are downloaded direct from the manufacturer so they should be trustworthy.
Whats Bad: During my driver download testing, several of the hardware categories had not been recently updated. The newest driver available for download in one category was over six months old! Since the drivers available here are just direct links to drivers on manufacturer sites, I recommend searching for the hardware manufacturer yourself and downloading the most up to date driver.
Whats Good: There's no registration required to download drivers from DriversBay.com and like many other driver download sites, the drivers are organized by hardware making them easy to locate. A big plus at DriversBay.com is the wide range of operating systems that they provide drivers for, something most other driver download websites lack.
Whats Bad: The biggest issue with DriversBay.com is the small selection of drivers. With so few options you may be better off using another driver download website with a bigger driver catalog. Newer versions of the drivers are even missing so smashing its reputation from both ends!
Whats Good: Along with drivers you can get a lot of other maintenance and benchmarking softwares like FurMark etc to even monitor your system's health.
Whats Bad: The poor navigation and the limited selection of drivers available, though other available optimization softwares are good but overhere i'm seeing it from the driver's point of view!
So these are the list of sites that I think are the best and use them myself but there are obviously many more out there so if you have any more to suggest please leave a comment I'll add them even to this list. And as always we are open to your queries and suggestions.
So here is a list of my favorite sites to help you download the latest as well as the oldest drivers:
1- Download.com: Device Drivers
This site has made it reputation on the web by not its driver archives but by its vast range of softwares to offer. It is one of my favorite sites as it is very easy to use & navigate through.Whats Good: Downloading drivers from Download.com is easy: drivers are organized by device type and no registration is required to download drivers, unlike many other driver download websites. Download.com stands out as a driver download website because they've been a trusted source for software downloads for years.
Whats Bad: A lot of software shows up when looking through the listing of downloadable drivers - probably an attempt to advertise certain programs. Most drivers available for download are for newer hardware. If you need to download drivers for older hardware, you'll probably have to try another driver download website.
2- DriverGuide.com
DriverGuide.com is one of the oldest driver download websites. They advertise a catalog of nearly half a million drivers and firmware files.Whats Good: Searching for and downloading drivers is very easy. DriverGuide.com has a huge selection of hard to find drivers and is good at keeping their driver inventory up to date.
Whats Bad: You're forced to register before you can download drivers which involves multiple questions and "sponsored" offer pages. Free accounts are limited in access to the site and to the number of driver downloads that can be made. More costly "Plus" and "Pro" memberships give greater access to driver downloads. Unless you're looking for a rare driver, finding and downloading drivers yourself is very easy.
3- TechSpot: Drivers
TechSpot.com is a technology website offering forums, software downloads, and more, in addition to driver downloads.Whats Good: Finding the driver you want to download is easy and no registration is needed. Like most driver download sites, drivers are organized by type of device. Drivers are downloaded direct from the manufacturer so they should be trustworthy.
Whats Bad: During my driver download testing, several of the hardware categories had not been recently updated. The newest driver available for download in one category was over six months old! Since the drivers available here are just direct links to drivers on manufacturer sites, I recommend searching for the hardware manufacturer yourself and downloading the most up to date driver.
4- DriversBay
DriversBay.com is your standard driver download website. Many drivers are downloaded from DriversBay.com while others are made available for download from the hardware manufacturer's site.Whats Good: There's no registration required to download drivers from DriversBay.com and like many other driver download sites, the drivers are organized by hardware making them easy to locate. A big plus at DriversBay.com is the wide range of operating systems that they provide drivers for, something most other driver download websites lack.
Whats Bad: The biggest issue with DriversBay.com is the small selection of drivers. With so few options you may be better off using another driver download website with a bigger driver catalog. Newer versions of the drivers are even missing so smashing its reputation from both ends!
5- Guru3D
This is my least preferred site due to its difficult user interface and navigation system. I recommend any of the above sites if possible.Whats Good: Along with drivers you can get a lot of other maintenance and benchmarking softwares like FurMark etc to even monitor your system's health.
Whats Bad: The poor navigation and the limited selection of drivers available, though other available optimization softwares are good but overhere i'm seeing it from the driver's point of view!
So these are the list of sites that I think are the best and use them myself but there are obviously many more out there so if you have any more to suggest please leave a comment I'll add them even to this list. And as always we are open to your queries and suggestions.
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