License: Free to try

Driver Detective is a useful utility developed and distributed by PC Drivers HeadQuarters, Inc.. The tool helps you keep all your hardware drivers updated with the latest and most compatible versions. Driver Detective claims to have access to 11 million device-related drivers, including 2.5 million manufacturer-specific drivers of companies such as Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, HP and so on.

Device drivers play a critical role in ensuring the smooth functioning of your computer. Every piece of hardware requires having its corresponding driver for the specific operating system installed on your computer.

How does Driver Detective help you?

Most hardware devices are shipped along with their respective device drivers, by the manufacturer. You will even find Microsoft Windows automatically detecting drivers of most common hardware through its plug and play features. Even with these provisions, it is still quite likely that you may have driver woes with Windows that result in symptoms like slow performance, blue screen errors, and problems in detecting hardware.

Driver Detective helps you keep your system updated with the latest and error-free drivers. Its user interface is simple and friendly, even for novice users.

System Requirements

Driver Detective needs a bare minimum processor speed of at least 200 MHz. The program recommends having 256 MB or higher of RAM, and 22 MB of hard disk space for the program to install and run.

Installing Driver Detective

The installer of Driver Detective is just 0.99 MB and can be quickly downloaded for free from here. The free download installs a trial version of the software that helps you test the scanning abilities of the utility. You may register for a full version license if you find the scan results impressive.  The trial version enables you to conduct a scan and see the results. To implement the updates shown in the result, you would require a full version.

After you have downloaded the installer, double-click the file to install Driver Detective on your system. Follow the screen instructions in the wizard to install the program within minutes.

Please note that Driver Detective needs .NET Framework 2.0 on your computer. If you don’t have it, the installation process will automatically download and install the software for you.

Driver Detective in Action

When you double-click the program icon and start the program, the first thing you will notice is a clear and clutter-free user interface with neatly arranged menu buttons. The startup screen of the program shows you a broad overview of your system hardware. The details include your system’s manufacturer and model details, system RAM, processor model, and most importantly – the BIOS version.

The startup screen also has a summary result of the last scan done your computer, if any, with a statistic showing the number of drivers which are up-to-date and those which aren’t.

You will also notice a section that provides news related to the drivers and hardware on your system, which is updated by a feed received from Driver HQ.  Last, but not least, you will see a  large blue “Scan Now” button. One click on this and Driver Detective zooms into action.

During the Scan

On clicking the “Scan Now” button, you are immediately led to the scanning window, where you see the status of the scan as it happens. The total process occurs in three stages.

1. Scanning your computer: Here your computer is scanned and surveyed in detail for all hardware installed on it, and any associated drivers. You will notice “traffic light” shaped icons indicating the status of the process, as well as a bar indicator showing progress of the scan.
2. Connecting to Driver HeadQuarters: The program connects to the Driver HeadQuarters database to check for any newer versions of drivers and the validity of those found installed on your computer. An interesting feature here is that the program and the database together take care of any updates in drivers from a large number of manufacturers.
3. Retrieving results: After comparing the version of drivers found on your computer with those available in the Driver HeadQuarters database, the program retrieves and compiles the final scan report. Apart from outdated drivers, the program also detects any erroneous drivers installed on your system, and suggests a fix for them in the report.

Driver Scan Report

At the end of the scan, the status of device drivers on your system is shown to you in an easily actionable format. On top of the screen, you will see a summary statistic of the scan.  Just below the Scan Summary, you will find the detailed status of drivers installed on your machine, with a legend indicating the status of the driver.

For drivers that do not exist and those which are outdated, you will find a link beside it to download the latest version from Driver HeadQuarters. There is also a facility beside each driver to know more details, or you can ask the Driver HeadQuarters customer care team about the specific driver.

Please note that, to download drivers through the program and take advantage of customer care services you will need to register and obtain a user license.

Additional Features

The Driver Detective database identifies products from certain popular manufacturers such as HP, Toshiba, and Dell. When you install Driver Detective on any one of these computers, then the very first time you open the tool, you are directly taken to a screen that enables you to select the exact model of your computer to ensure the most efficient detection of drivers on your computer.

Other Salient Features of Driver Detective:

Machine Intelligence: The program is intelligent enough to detect your system manufacturer and model, and download drivers specifically designed for the model.

Scan Technology: With years of experience, Driver Detective claims to have the most extensive database of drivers, with a highly evolved scanning technology.

Driver Backup: The program comes with a feature that lets you backup all the installed drivers on an external storage device, like CDROM, USB flash drive and even a network drive. This feature comes in handy for system recovery and Windows reinstalls. To backup your drivers, click the History icon at the top of the Driver Detective window.

Next select the drivers you want to backup and then click Next to launch the Driver Backup Wizard.

Integrated Customer Care: A highly responsive customer care is always at the disposal of Driver Detective users, to whom queries can be raised from within the program with a simple mouse-click.

Windows Vista Upgrade Wizard: The program has a module that helps users download the requisite drivers before they upgrade their system to Windows Vista.

Self updating software: Driver Detective users need not worry about upgrading the software and its database regularly. The database is updated meticulously at Driver HeadQuarters to which the program connects and does its tasks.

Conclusion

Managing computer hardware drivers and keeping them updated is as important as doing regular software maintenance. Keeping each device driver updated manually can be a humungous task considering the number of devices with multiple manufacturers. A reasonably priced solution like Driver Detective is a great since it automates the task of updating drivers to a great extent. The user interface and integrated customer support make it very easy to use for even beginner computer users. Click here to download now.