Do you know that when you run your computer, you put hundreds of driver files into action? All these files try to communicate with your operating system (OS) in order to make your system run. When more than hundred driver files try to communicate at a time, it is obvious that a certain communication collision will result into software driver conflicts. This driver conflict can wreak havoc on the productivity and performance of your PC. This article discusses the ways of troubleshooting computer problems from driver conflicts.
Software-driver conflicts can lead a variety of issues such as Blue Screens errors, hard drive crash, system crash, etc. These kinds of conflicts might occur when a single file creates some problem or when two files fail to play well together. If you experience the aforementioned problems in your computer, especially after installing or updating a driver file, then it is easy to trace the root of the problem. As you can establish which driver file is causing the problem.
To troubleshoot the Software-driver conflict issue, you just need to remove or uninstall that new driver package. Sometimes, you can remove new drivers automatically by using the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. The panel is available only in Vista and XP. If that panel doesnt help, then you can use the Windows Device Manager. The Device Manager lets you remove even those files that dont show up in the Add/Remove Programs Window.
Windows Vista
If you use Windows Vista, then to access the Windows Device Manger, perform the following steps:
Select Start
Click on Control Panel
Click on System And Maintenance
Then select Device Manager
Select the User Access Control Dialog
Click ‘Continue to open the Device Manager.’
Windows XP
If you use the Windows XP, then perform the following steps:
Open the Control Panel
Click Performance And Maintenance
Then click System
Select the Hardware tab
Then select the Device Manager option
Once you enter the device manager, you can find the driver that is creating trouble.
Double-click the driver
Select the Driver tab at the top
Then select Uninstall.
If you use Win 98 or Win 2000, then you require manually removing the drivers using the Device Manager. But to access the device manager, you have to use a different route.
Click Start
Click Control Panel
Next, select the problematic driver
Hit Remove
Now you need to install fresh drivers for the software or hardware
Restart your computer
Now the Windows will first try to locate the software or hardware and then it will find driver for it
Otherwise, Windows might ask you to point the drivers manually, which you can do by using the driver disk or CD
If you don’t have the CD of the driver then, there are various automated tools through which you can download the drivers.
Note: you must download the drivers from the official sites only.
The Device Manager not just allows you to uninstall corrupt drivers, but it also shows up faulty drivers in your computer. There is a yellow exclamation mark feature that shows you the drivers with issues. Thus, you can know beforehand which of the softwares are having software-driver conflicts so that you can immediately update the drivers. Keeping the software drivers updated is a very imperative precaution, which is mandatory for troubleshooting computer problems.
In computers, when conflicts occur, the software fails to communicate with the hardware and, as a result, various hard drive errors might occur. These errors range from minor PC performance lags to various major issues such as hard drive crashes. If you are using a modern PC, then by simply using the Add/Remove Programs in the control panel you can find and remove faulty drivers. But if you use Windows XP or Windows Vista, then use Device Manager to keep a track of the faulty drivers.
