Drivers
What Is a Driver?
A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices require a driver program.
A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only
its driver recognizes.
Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed—no further installation or configuration is needed.
Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft Windows operating system. You may need to install drivers if you:
lUpgrade your operating system.
lReinstall your operating system.
lConnect or install a new device.
Identifying Drivers
If you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problem and, if necessary, update the driver.
Windows XP:
1. Click Start and click Control Panel.
2. Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance® System® Hardware ® Device Manager.
3. Scroll down the list of devices and check for an exclamation point (a circle with a [!]) next to the device name.
If an exclamation point appears next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver (see Drivers).
Windows Vista:
1. Click Start ® Computer.® System Properties® Device Manager.
2. Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a [!]) on the device icon.
If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver (see Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities).
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
Using Windows Device Driver Rollback
(Custom Test
only)
The Dell Diagnostics obtains configuration information for all devices from system setup, memory, and various internal tests, and it
displays the information in the device list in the left pane of the screen.
NOTE: The device list may not display the names of all the components installed on your computer or all devices attached to your
computer.
Parameters
(Custom Test
only)
Allows you to customize the test, if applicable, by changing the test settings.
NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities media may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing
software appropriate for your operating system.
NOTE: The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your
administrator to continue.
NOTICE: The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and UtilitiesmediaprovideapproveddriversforDell™computers.Ifyouinstall
drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.