Reinstalling software, Drivers, What is a driver – Dell OptiPlex 330 (Late 2007) User Manual
Page 122: Identifying drivers, Reinstalling drivers and utilities
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Reinstalling Software
Dell™ OptiPlex™ 330 User's Guide
Troubleshooting Software and Hardware Problems
Restoring Your Operating System
Drivers
What Is a Driver?
A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices require a driver program.
A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only
its driver recognizes.
Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed—no further installation or configuration is needed.
Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft Windows operating system. You may need to install drivers if you:
l
Upgrade your operating system.
l
Reinstall your operating system.
l
Connect or install a new device.
Identifying Drivers
If you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problem and, if necessary, update the driver.
Microsoft® Windows® XP
1.
Click Start® Control Panel.
2.
Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance, and click System.
3.
In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab, and click Device Manager.
Microsoft Windows Vista™
1.
Click the Windows Vista start button
, and right-click Computer.
2.
Click Properties®
Device Manager.
Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a [!]) on the device icon.
If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new driver..
Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities
NOTICE:
The Drivers and Utilities media may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing
software appropriate for your operating system.
NOTE:
The User Account Control window may appear. If you are an administrator on the computer, click Continue; otherwise, contact your
administrator to continue.
NOTICE:
The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities media provide approved drivers for Dell™ computers. If you install
drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.