Downlaod NVIDIA Drivers

Odds are, if you have a computer that you got from a store, or even built yourself, it has one or more NVIDIA components on-board.  NVIDIA is known for their Video Cards, and also for their more integrated hardware, like chipsets on many of today's popular motherboards.  What that translates to is a single set of parts that are vital to your PC's operation.  Parts that - when they have problems - need fixing, fast.

What are NVIDIA Driver Problems?

One of the interesting things about NVIDIA is that they do not publish any documentation for their hardware, which means that programmers can’t create their own drivers for NVIDIA products. Which also means that any inherent problems with the original drivers can’t be fixed by an outside programmer. So end users have to wait for the company to fix the driver problems and upload the new, problem-solving drivers online.

According to internal e-mails from Microsoft, NVIDIA drivers were responsible for approximately 30-percent of reported Windows Vista crashes. The driver issues weren’t limited to just Vista. End users experienced crashes in PC and mobile functionality across the board.

Downloading or Updating Drivers though NVIDIA.com

If you suspect your drivers as the culprits of your crash problems, there are a couple of ways you can go about updating them. First, since there is only one source for the drivers, you should go directly to NVIDIA’s web site at http://www.nvidia.com.

1. Go to the Download Drivers drop down menu and select Download Drivers.
2. Option 1 is a manual search for the driver. Use this one if you know exactly what driver you are looking for. Enter your product type, series, product, operating system, and your preferred language in the drop down menus and click Search.
3. The search results page will include information on the new driver version including what it fixes and an existing support section. If this is the correct driver, click Download and follow the installation instructions.

See What you need Automatically

If you're not sure what NVIDIA drivers you may need, you can do a simple search and NVIDIA will tell you if any of your driver programs are outdated and need replacing.

1. Go to the Download Drivers drop down menu and select Download Drivers.
2. Option 2 is an automatic search for the drivers your system needs. Click on the Graphics Drivers button. And wait while the web site determines what driver updates your system needs.
3. The search results page includes information on all the new driver versions your system requires. It will tell you what issues in what programs the driver fixes. Click Download and follow the installation instructions for each driver.

Update Drivers Through your PC's Device Manager

You can also use your PC’s Device Manager to update NVIDIA drivers in Windows XP and Vista operating systems.

1. Click the Start button and right click on My Computer (XP) or Computer (Vista).
2. Left click Properties.
3. For XP users, click on Hardware in the System Properties window and then click on Device Manager. If you are running Vista, your Device Manager is located under Properties.
4. Expand the Display Adapters menu and right click on your NVIDIA video card.
5. Make sure “Search automatically for updated driver software” is selected.
6. Windows will begin to search for the updated drivers. If one is available, you can have your PC automatically install it.

Who is NVIDIA?

NVIDIA  is a manufacturer and developer of graphics processing units (GPUs), chipset technologies (sets of integrated circuits that perform all sorts of related functions), wireless communications processors, and digital media player software. These products are used in PCs, mobile devices, workstations, and video games.

Some of NVIDIA’s more well-known products include:

• GeForce : graphics processors for PCs used in the Microsoft Xbox console and and Sony’s PlayStation3 console
• Quadro : graphics processors for workstations designed for CAD and digital content creation
• nForce: series of integrated motherboard chipsets

What are Drivers?

Drivers are, in a way, translation programs.  They mediate communication between hardware and the computer's operating system, usually Windows.  Like all software, drivers are susceptible to problems or to becoming outdated.