Notebooks or portable personal computers have fast become an essential accessory for most professionals working in different fields. Just like in a normal computer, you need different device drivers to enable the software applications and hardware installed on, or attached to, your notebook to communicate with each other.
What are notebook device drivers?
Notebook device drivers are basically small software programs that translate instructions and requests sent from a software application to a language that is understood by a hardware device. Here, software application can be any application that you may be using such as, Microsoft Word or Excel, Adobe Flash, Media Player and so on. Hardware devices can be internal components, such as graphic cards, webcam, and audio card, and external devices, such as printer, scanner, and fax.
When an instruction reaches a hardware device, the device executes the instructions sent to it, such as play an audio/video file, print a document, or display an image on the notebook monitor.
Different Types of Notebook Drivers
Most people opt for branded notebooks from companies like HP, Sony, Lenovo, Dell, and Toshiba. All notebook model series by any of these or other notebook manufacturers come with their own set of specific hardware components, designed especially for that particular model.
All hardware devices and components installed in a notebook require device drivers to function properly. Some of these components can use generic or preinstalled drivers that are included in the operating system. These components include:
• Keypad/keyboard
• Touchpad/mouse
• Monitor
• RAM
• Chipset
• Hard drive and CD/DVD ROM Drive
Although the built-in drivers enable you to use these hardware components and devices, to experience their full functionality, you will have to install specific drivers from their manufacturers. On top of this, some hardware components and devices function only when their specific driver is installed on the notebook. These include:
• Graphic, audio, and network adapters
• Imaging devices
• Printer and scanners
• Modems and routers
How to obtain specific drivers
You can easily download drivers for your devices from various driver databases available on the Internet. To make sure you download the correct device driver for your notebook hardware, you need to know:
• Notebook model
• Type and model of device for which you need the hardware
• Device manufacturer
• Operating system of your notebook
• Device driver version you need to download
Most notebook manufacturers provide drivers on their websites. Therefore, if you have the above details, you can easily download drivers from the manufacturer websites. You can also download the drivers from other trustworthy online driver databases.
Some manufacturers also provide bundle drivers for their notebooks. These are quite useful, when you are installing your notebook from scratch. Individual device drivers are useful to fix driver related issues or fix driver problems that may occur while you use your notebook.
