A driver is a piece of software that basically tells Windows how to run the various hardware components of your PC – sort of like telling it how to drive it or control it, hence the name “driver.” Without the proper drivers, Windows cannot use your hardware, so these little programs are very im

portant. Each device or hardware component will require its own driver.

If you are installing new hardware and it won't work, then you may have forgotten to install the driver. But if you are experiencing malfunctions with your hardware that was working before, you may find that updating a driver or reinstalling it will correct the problem. In this case, you may find that you have to remove the old driver before you can get the newer version to work correctly.

Here is how to remove old drivers from your computer system via Device Manager.

1.) Go to the My Computer icon and right click on it. Select Properties.
2.) On the window called System Properties that will appear, click on the tab at the top called Device Manager.
3.) Find the appropriate device in the list of devices on your computer.
4.) Click on the device in question.
5.) Click on the driver for the device in question.
6.) Click on “Remove.”
7.) Reboot your computer.


You can now go ahead and install the same driver or install an updated or newer version of the driver in order to get your hardware working again. If the device is still not working, check for conflicts in Device Manager and if you find any, correct that problem. To learn how to resolve conflicts in Device Manager, please see the Be Your Own IT article on that topic for a walk through!