Driver updates in general...

Hey guys, I currently have a desktop which I never update.. and I mean never.. because I never have had to update drivers in order to play the games I enjoy. However I just bought my 1530 and I want to know that it's always giving me it's top performance so I plan on updating the drivers as much as possible.

Now I know that after I reformat (following the guide on here), I'll just go to the dell site and plug-in my service tag and download those drivers... and then probably have to manually update certain ones... but I still am confused with some things... like...

1. In the future, when there are updates for all of these drivers, or when I upgrade hardware and it doesn't match my service tag anymore... where do I go to do a complete driver update?

2. Will "Windows Update" alert me on its own, or should I just keep checking the Dell site, or maybe something else?

3. If I choose to reformat when I get the 1530 and follow the Bloatware removal guide, I read somewhere that certain drivers must be manually updated, like the video, bluetooth and ethernet driver... is that true?

4. Pathetic, I know... but what is an ethernet driver?

Thanks so much guys and lol I'm terribly sorry with how pathetic my skills sound... the funny thing is... around here people think I'm one computer savvy guy, but on the NBR forums, I'm a little scrub! Anyway, lol, help is appreciated, thanks.

~B

 

As you may already know, driver updates are for mostly fixing bugs (compatibility issues) and sometimes (but not always) performance tweaks. Therefore it’s a good idea to update your drivers regularly.

1. I don’t think you’ll do any hardware upgrades to your notebook that will need a different set of drivers than what you already have. Because the most common notebook upgrades (Memory, HDD and rarely the CPU) don’t require drivers. (unless you change something like your Wireless Card or Bluetooth adapter. which is highly unlikely. Even so, you can still find drivers from DELL website since most probably you'll be using a standard DELL replacement part)

2. Windows updates will only notify you of any standard Windows driver updates, it will not notify you of any 3rd party updates (the drivers found on DELL site) , therefore Yes, you have to check the DELL site. However there are exceptions, but very rarely.

3. I haven’t read the bloatware removal guide for M1530, but usually after a clean install you have to manually install some of the drivers (depending on what devices you have). But it is very easy, don't worry about it.

4. Ethernet driver is your wired network card (LAN) driver.