Driver Update Software Reviews

5/5

If you have read the review on this site about Driver Detective, then you will surely recognize the interface and features for Driver Whiz. Both have very similar interface. On the positive side in respect to this software, its features are far more superior than Driver Detective’s. If in case you encounter having to choose from the two, we would recommend Driver Whiz.

Features:

Like all other driver update software, Driver Whiz allows you to search your computer for defective and/or outdated drivers. You can use Scan Intelligence to prioritize the recommended driver updates and create an EZ Migrator CD. Just a little issue with the interface though is that it complicates the process a little bit. It does everything in the opposite direction of how other driver update software do the same task. Regardless of this, the program does good at its being a driver update software.

Ease of Use:

The features mentioned were very easy to use. Because it has a simple interface, you can never be lost at what you wanted to do whether just to scan for outdated drivers or do the update. Though others have criticized its user interface, for a non-technical user’s point of view, everything is pretty straightforward. You can easily find the features that you need most and they are not hard to memorize.

Effectiveness:

Driver Whiz is really a whiz at detecting defective or outdated drivers. Other driver update software scans and detects too many outdated drivers but you end up finding more than half of it being false positives. With Driver Whiz, it is a different scenario. Of its scans, majority were actually out-of-date. It is also effective in looking for the corresponding updates and doing the update itself.

Help and Support:

Driver Whiz comes with many help and support features. Each of these help and support features are important in their own ways, depending on who is using the system. You can use a very user-friendly manual or you can use a contact form within the app that allows you to contact the manufacturer directly. There are also several articles that you may find under its knowledgebase button under “help”. Feedback from your online inquiry to them is rather slow, but what’s good is that they get back to you to answer your questions.

2/5

If there were driver updater software that have very simple user interface, then Driver Checker would be the exact opposite. It was built with an unnecessarily complex interface. It has eight different tabs on the left hand side: Update, Backup, Restore, Uninstall, Export, History, Options and Submit. With too many tabs yet without anything to tell what these tabs will exactly do once you click on it, you are left with a guessing game trying to click on a tab just to know what it does.

Features:

Like any other driver update software, Driver Checker has backup, restore and uninstall in its features. You can export a driver snapshot to and load it onto another computer in case you don’t have Internet connection. It has Scan History which lets you see the previous downloads and installs. You can also ask for assistance from their technicians in case you are having trouble with the software, and later read their replies. The descriptions under Submit and Export are quite confusing. It would be great if they are explained clearly on the next versions.

Ease of Use:

With its complex interface, the first impression is not impressive at all. The unclear descriptions for many of its features make this program hard to use. The “Export Your Current Driver Snapshot” feature is quite inconsistent because this was made to support computers with no Internet connection. However, step 3 of the same features says “Copy the Driver Snapshot File to a computer with an Internet connection” which requires your computers to be networked. If one computer in the network has an Internet connection, then it would have been a lot easier to just enable the Internet on the computer.

Effectiveness:

You would expect a driver update software to be able to scan for defective or outdated drivers. However, a driver update software that has more than half of its scans being false positives is really not a good indication of its effectiveness. If you trusted the scan and proceeded with the update, then you would end up doing more damage to your computer than fixing it.

Help and Support:

Driver Checker also has help and support both online and built in the program. They have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. You can contact the manufacturer either through a contact form on their website or through the submit feature within the program. Their help and support feature can be one of the positive sides of the software. You are assured of a response once you try to contact them.

2.5/5

DriverMax, among the previously reviewed driver update software, is the most unique of all. This is because of how it presents the features in its graphical user interface. Oftentimes we see just a large “Scan” button and the rest of the menu laid in smaller buttons either on top of the window or at the leftmost part. DriverMax however, presents its features in four dropdown menus. Another unique characteristic of DriverMax is that it requires you to provide an email address, a username, and a password. This is an odd feature for a driver update software because some people might be tempted to think that it will use your private information.

Features:

Aside from detecting and updating your deffective or outdated drivers, DriverMax adds another feature that allows you to detect unknown hardware. Although this is already a feature in Windows Device Manager, it is quite interesting that the same feature is also included in a driver update software. Apart from that, DriverMax also allows you to view detailed information about your hardware. It also shows a summary about the installed drivers. Other features include backup, restore and rollback your drivers and many more. A few addons to the features include viewing of your hardware’s popularity or rating. It also includes an analysis of the details of your online account, but this feature brings little impact on its entire functionality as a driver updater.

Ease of Use:

As described earlier, DriverMax presents its graphical user interface in a unique way. It’s quite impractical because it makes it even more difficult to use. An improvement of the future versions might be to re-design its interface to at least lay out its menus like any other driver updater software do. It takes far too long to find a feature that you might want to use, and the risk is not worth the wait. On the positive side, the look and feel of the interface is simple and it uses the correct color combination for its theme. Again, the issue with the layout will still eat out a lot of positive attributes for the software.

Effectiveness:

Because of the way it presents its menus, we can describe it as quite disorganized. We can expect a few mishaps also when it comes to the basic functionality of detecting outdated drivers and eventually updating them. There were false positives on the detection and again, it was expected. However, it was minimal.

Help and Support:

The most common need of a newbie user would be to find out how to actually use the software. Although DriverMax has a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, there is no information on how to actually use it. The included a users forum on their website but there were not enough posts that could help the users. Phone numbers were provided but it is more accessible to the resident of the country. Otherwise you will be charged with long distance fees  by your telecommunications provider. On their website, you can only contact them through a contact form.

Summary:

DriverMax is another driver update software that has the basic functionalities but has a very odd layout. It has limited support, and has a few false positive detections. However, this software is quite promising and it sure can rise up the ranks if they plan out their design and features better for the next versions.

4/5

Driver Genius is a driver updater that has a simple and self-explanatory graphical user interface. It is designed to be as familiar as possible to Windows users. It contains menus that contain buttons for features laid on the left hand side in a green or blue taskbar. The actual contents are on the right side. On a quick look, the interface can trick you into thinking that you had opened aWindows menu and not a driver updater software. However, this programalso suffers similar issues that are common to Windows programs: having too many tabs on the left side of the window. It has nine tabs: Backup Drivers, Restore Drivers, Uninstall Drivers, Update Drivers, My Downloads, Options, Live Update and Help. It would have been better if these tabse were combined leaving only three: Home, Driver Tools, and Options. It is simpler, and easier to navigate.

It is quite difficult to evaluate Driver Genius because of its unique qualities in comparison with other driver updater software. Although it has the basic features that any other driver updaters have, its graphical user interface differs from the rest. By the word different, we mean that it presents the features in a very unique way that can surprise users that are used to the common representation of menus of other driver updaters. Although being unique can make a product more attractive to the consumer, what Driver Genius presents can cause first time users to be confused. It becomes hard to find the necessary functionality for searching and updating drivers. Evaluating it in the future will also be difficult because it shows features that are different from the most commonly used driver updater functions. Meanwhile, let’s try to examine the features that fall in the same category with other driver updaters.

Features: 

Features include Backup, Restore, Uninstall, and Updating of your drivers. It also allows viewing of a log of the previous downloads that you made. What’s fascinating is that it also includes security features that interacts with your antivirus software (if one is installed) to detect and clean the virus in case it tries to download a driver. This security feature is quite essential specially now that tons of viruses are created day by day.

Ease of Use:

If the graphical user interface were made simpler, Driver Genius would be a lot easier to use. Since the features are quite self-explanatory, it should have invested on the navigation so that the features are easier to access. The next versions should have simpler interface so that the features will not be hard to find.

Effectiveness:

After doing a full system scan with Driver Genius, there were quite a few drivers that it detected to be out of date. There were false positives which means that the drivers were not really out-of-date. On the positive side, more than 90% of what was detected were really out-of-date. In some cases, we sometimes download corrupted versions of drivers. It compromises our computers when we install corrupted drivers. That is why Driver Genius also has a backup and restore utility which allows you to save the previous versions of your drivers and restore them later when you need them.

Help and Support:

Driver Genius has a very comprehensive help feature built within the program. It also has a solid support feature from their website. You can either use a contact form to raise an issue or email them for it. The very useful user guide and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section is also included. This makes it a lot easier to find what we needed to know about the software.

Summary:

Driver Genius is driver updater that is quite complete when we talk about the features. The only issue identified is in its graphical user interface (GUI). If the next versions would handle the interface problem, then it will be a great tool for its users. Improving the navigation for the program would make it a lot better and more usable.

5/5

Driver Detective is a software that you can use to help you detect what drivers are outdated or defective in your computer. It scans printer drivers, sound card and video card drivers, digital camera drivers, display drivers and many more. It is packed with features that make it easier for you to acquire the correct drivers for your computer.

Features

Like other driver updaters and driver scanners, Driver Detective has the basic feature to help you fix your driver needs. Its user interface is plain and simple and it presents the most important feature in a manner that you will never miss. The “Scan Now” button is the only button that exists in the main interface, which makes it easier for you to scan for driver problems. Another key feature that is remarkable with Driver Detective is that it automatically identifies what your computer or laptop brand is. This allows it to better identify the correct driver for your computer. If you’re worried about the installer, then this will make you happy: it only consumes 1MB of space. Even an old floppy disc can contain it.

Ease of Use

Driver updaters have the primary function of identifying the outdated and/or defective drivers on your computer. This is what Driver Detective has banked on. That is why it only has one big button on the main interface: “Scan”. You’ll never miss finding that very important functionality. Because it automatically identifies the brand of your computer/laptop, you don’t have to do an extra effort. You just have to click on “Scan” and it does the job of finding the outdated drivers for you. When scanning, it presents a colourful interface with graphical representation of the scanning progress. After scanning, it shows the results in a presentable manner which also includes a chart to give you an overview of the number defective/outdated drivers compared to the correct ones. It then leads you with a wizard type interface showing you only one button, “Next”, so that you won’t have to click anywhere else. It then proceeds to downloading updates to your drivers.

Effectiveness

Driver Detective is quite great compared to other driver updaters. Because the most up-to-date information about different drivers is located at their server, you are assured that the scanned results are correct. Having correct identification of the outdated/incorrect drivers allows it to download the appropriate drivers, and this makes Driver Detective a great tool for your driver needs.

Help and Support 

Driver Detective’s help and support is comprehensive. Since the main interface is self explanatory, it places the help button at the secondary interface and it is impossible to miss because it uses the correct representation and color combination for the icon. It has many options for help: you can see a list of topics, you can search for topics, or you can ask someone from their headquarters from which the response time is also good.

3.5/5

Have you recently bought a new gadget; an external hard drive or a web cam perhaps? Were you able to make it work? If you answered no, then you might have a driver problem. Oftentimes when we are faced with a device that is not working despite the fact that it is newly bought, we go back to the store and demand a replacement. We insist that it is still covered with warranty, only to find out that the replacement still doesn’t work. If that’s the case, then the hardware device is not the problem. It is the driver.

Drivers are special sets of instructions or codes that are set up in a computer so that it can interact with a specific hardware device such as a DVD writer. It allows your operating system to use and control your device. Drivers exist because not all operating system providers can create operating systems that readily include all computer codes for any device. No one can possibly predict what an IT manufacturer produces. Other hardware devices also change to include better performance and service. To cater to these new and upgraded products or devices, the computer codes to control them are distributed separately. Others are bundled with the devices themselves. Since these drivers serve as controllers to a particular device, it should be able to communicate with the operating system. Hence, it should be compatible with both the operating system, and the hardware device.

There are tools that we can use to check whether a driver is compatible with the operating system or not. ParetoLogic’s DriverCure is an example.

Features

The first attribute of DriverCure is that the installer consumes only a little space on your hard disk. With only 3.1MB in size, it can be ported to other computers easily through your removable drives. DriverCure also has a very simple interface. It presents the necessary components for finding incompatibilities with your drivers. Program sections include Scan, History, Ignore, Schedule, and About. With only five items on the menu, you’ll not find difficulty in using all of them. Scan allows you to look for drivers that are either incompatible with your system or are outdated. History shows you a record of the previous scans that you have made. Ignore lists all drivers that you wish to be excluded from the scan. Schedule allows you to set a date and time for scanning for outdated or incompatible drivers. Finally, About shows you a basic information about the software and the company who made it. Other features include setting the system’s restore point, and email notification in case you want to know if there is a new driver for your device.

Ease of Use

Because of its very basic graphical user interface, you won’t get lost finding your way to the correct driver. All the features are already there in one look. When you want to check for incompatibilities and outdated drivers, all you have to do is click the Scan button. It first scans the hardware, then the software, and then it identifies the errors and provides you with an option to fix it.

Effectiveness

Trying the software for yourself is the best way to prove its effectiveness. Having tested it, the scanning went fast, and it identified the drivers that are outdated, as well as the drivers which are up to date. It then downloads the appropriate files to update your system and it did fix the defects. However, when compared to other driver updater, it detected fewer outdated drivers.

Help and Support

There was a quick response time when the support team was contacted. The replies were detailed unlike other support groups that only give you an overview of a certain solution to an issue. The only disadvantage with its help feature is with regards to the accessibility of the help menu on the software. It is located at the upper right part of the window (just like any other Windows application), but it is quite small. You might miss it in one look, but overall, it is quite complete with help and support.