How To Make Sure That Drivers are Up-To-Date?

Hit Winkey-R and type in "control printers." Then, right-click your computer icon and select Device installation settings. Check to see if "Yes (recommended)" is selected.



This is the default setting so if you haven't changed it then Windows is already downloading software when you install your installed devices.

If you want precise control over what Windows update does, hit Winkey-R and type in "gpedit.msc" then follow these instructions:

Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10

Remember that enabling the policy disables downloading drivers because, well, that's how engineers think.

If you or someone else on an admin account hasn't turned anything off then downloading new drivers when Windows updates is the default for the non-configured state.

The only reason to manually download a driver or BIOS update would be to address a specific problem you were having or to ensure compatibility with a currently unsupported system component that you were wanting to install.

Edit: Like Digerati says below, the exception is video drivers. Windows installs basic video drivers but the video drivers that are specifically designed for a certain video card are usually much more capable. You set automatic updates for these drivers through the video card's own maintenance software.

Except (maybe) for graphics drivers, my general philosophy for hardware drivers (especially for computers that have been running fine for months or longer) is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Drivers don't suddenly go bad. If I just bought the new hardware, I will typically install the latest drivers. But once the HW is installed and working, there typically is no need to worry about drivers.

The exceptions include graphics drivers, particularly if you regularly play the latest and greatest games. But if you just do typical "office" type tasks, email, update social media, surf the internet, watch videos, even then new graphics drivers are rarely needed.

Motherboard BIOS updates rarely need updating either. Typically new BIOS updates are released to add support for new CPUs or new RAM, for example, that came out after the motherboard left the factory.

But if you have made no hardware changes, no need to update the BIOS firmware either.

I agree with MPR and the default is for Windows to check, and update if necessary. But you can always go out to the site for your hardware and check for new drivers there. But even if a new one is there, I recommend checking the changelog for the new driver and see if any change affects you. If not, again, don't fix what is not broken.

You are overthinking this. As you have already been advised, if your system isn't crashing, hanging, or running very slowly then your drivers are probably working as designed. Unnecessary driver updates sometimes cause problems themselves by introducing new bugs and incompatibilities with older hardware. Basically, if your computer is running OK then don't mess with it.

If you want to check for driver errors, go to Device Manageer and expand the sections, looking for error messages. If you want to check if your system has any updated drivers available, download CCleaner and run its driver updater function. The free version won't install them but this is exactly what we want -- just to see what's available.

If there are any new drivers listed you can then go to Acer and find the drivers specific to your computer model. As you have already been advised, read the documentation. New drivers need not be installed unless they address a specific problem, correct a bug in a previous driver, close a security hole, increase the system's functionality, or are necessary for component compatibility. To reiterate -- if it's not broken then don't fix it.

Have you got another set of dots between these two (like in the area I've attempted to circle)? That would be the thread menu.