Install Drivers

• Step By Step Contents
  • Step 1 - Initial Decisions
  • Step 2 - Purchase Computer Components
  • Step 3 - Gather Your Tools
  • Step 4 - Computer Case Preparation
  • Step 5 - Getting To Know Computer Motherboards
  • Step 6 - Installing The CPU
  • Step 7 - System Memory
  • Step 8 - Motherboard Installation
  • Step 9 - Power Supply Installation
  • Step 10 - Computer Wiring
  • Step 11 - Hard Drive Installation
  • Step 12 - DVD Drive Installation
  • Step 13 - Graphics And Peripheral Cards
  • Step 14 - Initial Bootup
    • Install Windows XP
    • Install Windows Vista
  • Step 16 - Finalize Install
  • Step 17 - Troubleshooting

After setting up the computer, you need to install drivers. For example, Intel chipset drivers, sound card driver, keyboard driver, graphics card drivers (with computer technology suppliers like AMD, ATI or NVIDIA driver downloads) and install printer driver. Some drivers come with the operating system, other driver devices need to be added - all need to be set up. The driver is a program that controls the device and has its own set of commands that communicate with the operating system.

It's time to finalize your setup and install drivers. At this point you should have Windows installed and running on your computer. You should also have your computer case all closed up and arranged where you want it. The last thing we need to do is to install drivers. This will require the DVD's or CD's that came with your computer components. An Internet connection will be required for the Windows updates.

These steps are not in a specific order, just the order I like to do things in.

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The first thing I like to update is Windows itself. Now, depending on the version that you installed, this can be a lengthy or a short process. Windows 8 and Windows 7 can take some time (reports of more than one hour). For Vista installs (and yes there are still some systems using Vista) it can also take time to install Service Pack 1: up to an hour. If you installed Windows XP without any service packs, this can also take over an hour. Note, you may need to reboot after the update, or during. There are two ways to do this. First, you can go directly to the Windows update page that is located here: Windows Update. Note that to use Windows update, you will need to use Internet Explorer.

The other method is to go through Windows itself.

1. Click the Start Button
2. Select Help and Support
3. Under the Heading "Pick A Task" - select "Keep your computer up-to-date with Windows Udpate"
4. You will be taken to Microsoft's Update page

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Install Motherboard drivers. You will use the DVD or CD that came with your motherboard to do this. Insert the DVD into the drive, and it should automatically start up. The screen that you will see will differ based on your motherboard, but you should see an options that says something to the effect of "Install Drivers". This is what we want to do here. Go through the install wizard, and you will probably need to reboot after it is complete. Here are some popular motherboard manufacturers and their support pages.

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Install Graphics Card Drivers

Install Graphics Card drivers. If you installed a graphics card, you will need to update to the latest drivers. You most likely got a DVD with your graphics card, however I would recommend going online and getting the latest drivers, as they change frequently. You will either need ATI, or Nvidia, depending on which card you bought. Their English support pages are here:

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Sound Card Drivers

You will need to select the driver based on your operating system, and the card that you installed.

Install Sound Card drivers. Again, use the DVD that came with your sound card to install the drivers. Here is a list of some of the most common manufacturers and their driver pages...

Those are the main components that you will need drivers for. At this point, your drivers are updated, and that's about the end of the guide. Congratulations on building your own computer!

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