Why is it often said to obtain new or updated drivers from the manufacturer,
not from the Windows Update site?

David

Getting the driver from the manufacturers website assures that it is the
latest version. By the time the manufacturer gets a driver to Microsoft and
it is posted to WU, there may already be another, newer, driver available.

Another issue is that, most users do not usually go to the manufacturer for
a driver, unless there is a problem with the hardware device. The only time
a driver should be installed is if there is a problem or the new driver
enables a feature that the user wants.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"David P." <dgprozzoLEAVE@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uqFYjQcnIHA.3400@xxxxxx

> Why is it often said to obtain new or updated drivers from the
> manufacturer, not from the Windows Update site?

"David P." <dgprozzoLEAVE@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uqFYjQcnIHA.3400@xxxxxx

> Why is it often said to obtain new or updated drivers from the
> manufacturer, not from the Windows Update site?

Some of the drivers provided by Microsoft on Windows Update are
Microsoft generic drivers and often do not work as well as the vendor's
drivers. Also, some generic drivers are made in such a fashion that they can
be used for many different devices, which mean they are not optimized for a
single device.
Drivers provided to Microsoft by the hardware vendors, for download via
Windows Update, sometimes do not show up on Windows Update until quite
awhile after they were provided to Microsoft. In some cases, they show up
after newer drivers have been offered via the vendor's website.
In any event, unless you are a gamer seeking ever higher performance
levels and increased video effects, you should not update your drivers if
you are not experiencing any problems that are keeping you from doing what
you wish with a particular program.
The same applies to flashing your BIOS. If your BIOS does not need to
be updated to accommodate new hardware, larger drives or support your
current system there is no need to change it. If the flash fails you can use
your computer as a nice doorstop since the BIOS is the first thing that runs
during the boot process. You may be lucky and only have to replace the BIOS
chip, but then again, some motherboards don't have removable BIOS chips. I
was troubleshooting a hardware issue a few months ago and Dell insisted I
update my BIOS. I refused. Dell insisted. I said OK, fine, do as you wish.
The next day one of Dell's field technicians showed up to replace my
motherboard.

C.B.


--
It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the underprivileged
and unfortunate among us.

To add, in the past winupdate has supplied corrupt drivers and incorrect
version numbers

"David P." <dgprozzoLEAVE@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uqFYjQcnIHA.3400@xxxxxx

> Why is it often said to obtain new or updated drivers from the
> manufacturer, not from the Windows Update site?