Updating Video Drivers

Modified on Tue, 17 Dec at 11:50 AM

You will first need to determine the Name, Manufacturer, and Version of your video card and driver.

  1. Press the Windows Key + R (the Windows Key is a physical key on the keyboard with the Windows Logo)
  2. In the Run dialog box that appears type DxDiag and click OK
  3. Once the DirextX Diagnostic Tool window appears, you will want to click on the tab lablled 'Display'.  
  4. The Name and Manufacturer of your video card will be listed under the Device section on the left
  5. The Version of your video card driver will be listed under the Drivers section on the right
  6. Visit the Manufacturer's website and use the Name of your video card to obtain the most up-to-date driver available. If you requires assistance with updating your video card driver, please contact your Manufacturer.

Below you will find two of the most common Video Card Manufacturers

 ATI  Main Site  Driver Support Page
 NVIDIA  Main Site  Driver Support Page

 


If you are using a laptop or a desktop system with an integrated video card (meaning that your video card is not a separate card that is installed in an AGP or PCI-E slot), you will need to visit the website for your system manufacturer in order to download the most recent video card driver.

Below is a list of websites for common laptop system manufacturers:

 Acer America  Main Site  Driver Support Page
 Dell  Main Site  Driver Support Page
 HP  Main Site  Driver Support Page
 Sony  Main Site  Driver Support Page
 Toshiba  Main Site  Driver Support Page

 


I have downloaded the most up-to-date driver for my video card, now what?

Once you have located and downloaded the latest video driver for your system, we recommend uninstalling your current video driver before updating to the latest driver you just downloaded. ATI has a driver removal utility you may download to uninstall your ATI driver. NVIDIA recommends using the Windows Add and Remove programs utility for their drivers.

However, not all driver packages will appear in that section, in which case the driver will need to be uninstalled through Device Manager

For Windows XP
To uninstall through Programs in the Control Panel:

  1. Click on the Start button and select Control Panel
  2. In Control Panel, click on Add or Remove Programs
  3. Under Currently Installed Programs, select the driver package for your video card and then click Change/Remove
  4. Follow through the installation wizard and then allow your system to reboot once it has finished.

To uninstall through Device Manager:

  1. Click on the Start button and right-click on My Computer, then select Properties from the menu which appears.
  2. In the left column, click on Device Manager
  3. In the Device Manager window, click on the arrow next to Display Adapters, and your video card should appear underneath
  4. Right-click on the video card and select Uninstall from the menu which appears
  5. Click OK in the Confirm Device Uninstall window which appears, and then reboot your computer when prompted

For Windows Vista, 7, 8, & 10
To uninstall through Programs in the Control Panel:

  1. Click on the Start button and select Control Panel
  2. In Control Panel, click on Uninstall a Program
  3. Under Uninstall or Change a Program, select the driver package for your video card and then click Uninstall/Change
  4. Follow through the installation wizard and then allow your system to reboot once it has finished

To uninstall through Device Manager:

  1. Click on the Start button and right-click on Computer, then select Properties from the menu which appears
  2. In the left column, click on Device Manager
  3. In the Device Manager window, click on the arrow next to Display Adapters, and your video card should appear underneath
  4. Right-click on the video card and select Uninstall from the menu which appears
  5. Click OK in the Confirm Device Uninstall window which appears, and then reboot your computer when prompted

My system has rebooted, how do I install my new up-to-date video card driver?

Most video card and system manufacturers provide their drivers as an executable package, which means that the file can simply be double-clicked to run. If the file that you downloaded is an executable (with the .exe extension on the file name), simply double-click on the file to run the installer for your video card driver and follow through with the installation wizard.

If the downloaded file is in a compressed format such as a ZIP file, the executable will need to be extracted from the archive before it can be run. This can be accomplished by right-clicking on the compressed file and selecting "Extract All".

Once the installer has completed, you will need to reboot your computer in order for the update to complete. You can verify that your video card drivers are updated properly by running the DxDiag utility again and making sure that the driver date is more recent than what it had displayed before.