Vista - Atheros Driver

I am running Vista 64 bit on my laptop.

I have "Atheros Driver Installation Program" on my list of programs, showing an install date of 8/7/09. I do not recall installing this program. Can anyone tell me if this was part of an auto update from Microsoft?

My computer has started to run slow the last few day I am wondering if this is why. Am I safe to remove this to see if that is where my problem is?

Thanks!

ckb

ckb1183:

It's a Wireless driver.

Atheros Driver Installation Program Software Informer: Latest version download, news and info about this Atheros Wireless Driver program.

If you don't use wireless, seems like you could uninstall it ok.

I'd already spent some time on their site but couldn't find the answers I was looking for. I am set up wireless so yes naturally I don't want to lose that.

I'm still interested in more feedback as to how this got on my system and if it's necessary on top of what was on my computer when I bought it 4 months ago.

Thanks!

Generally drivers improve performance of the hardware you have installed, and occassionally Vista does download new drivers. The slowdown you are experiencing can be caused by any number of issues. Firstly, open up msconfig and diable unneeded startup items. Google any you don't know, such as "hkcmd (which is safe to disable) intel startup item disable".

Use an updated antivirus suite. I use Norton 360 v3.5. Scan your pc and then download any new updates for windows.

Thank you so much for your input - I'll give that a try to see if it helps.