So MajorGeeks has a new (I think new) Iobit app called Driver Booster and...

I took an AX64 snapshot, installed it, carefully being sure I wasn't installing all the other junk, not that it mattered with the AX snapshot. It blazingly found 10 outdated drivers. I punked though and just restored. Anyone ever try/use it? Thank you!

 

I never trusted these types of programs to find the correct drivers.

 

I felt the same way but sometimes it's hard for me not to want the greatest/latest, especially when it's 14 below out and bored to death.
When I built this PC less than two years ago, I did safely update the ASUS BIOS. Since then there have been two more BIOS updates. Since everything works perfectly, in which case even motherboard manufacturers state, "Let sleeping dogs lie!" I continue to play tug of war with that advice and my boredom!

 

"If it ain't broke don't fix it." There could be a couple of exceptions. If you're into gaming and play the most recent games you probably want the latest graphics drivers. If you upgrades Windows to a new version like 8.1, or 8.2, etc. you may need the latest compatible drivers.

 

There's an existing thread about it here.

I use it myself from time to time and while it does need a bigger database of driver, it does do a good job of updating drivers. It installs the new drivers silently so no user interaction is required which is nice, and the free version has no limits on the number of drivers installed.

Iobit claim that the paid version finds more drivers, but since I only use the free version I can't confirm this.

 

This one does a very good job of finding the right drivers.

 

So, what exactly did updating them do for you?

The most important driver to keep updated is your GPU driver, and that's the simplest to update.

 

Nothing as far as I can tell, but there are cases where I have fixed device issues by updating to the latest drivers. In any case, I see no harm in updating the drivers.

 

In my experience on rare occasions updating a driver has actually caused a device to stop working, so I think it's important for anyone using this kind of software to know how to "roll back" an update. Other than that it's probably fine though as others have said it doesn't usually make much difference if the hardware is working properly to begin with. The graphics adapter drivers are the exception since they are constantly being tweaked for compatibility and speed (well, the newer boards are).

 

Yes that happens a lot, but it's very rare with Driver Booster.

Yes, often there is not noticeable difference after updating drivers, and it's a shame that some driver updaters label all updates as being critical in an attempt to persuade users to buy their product. At lease the free version of Driver Booster is fully functional.

 

MajorGeeks refers to DriverBooster as, "a brand new driver updating tool."
So how can one attest to the rarity of something happening with a tool that is brand new?

 

Youthful enthusiasm? Seriously when I've experienced a driver update causing the hardware to stop working it wasn't because the driver was misidentified. Do programs like DriverBooster do more than find the latest version of a driver? In other words do they include a database that identifies driver versions that are known to cause problems and exclude them? I very much doubt it. This kind of program is very useful for finding drivers - that can sometimes be a hassle - but you still have to know what you're doing.

 

These driver updater programs can and will cause more problems than what they're worth. Besides, you can update your drivers just fine without them. There's no need for them to begin with. Like others have said, most drivers don't need to be updated anyway, but if they do, or you just want to update for the heck of it, you can do it without apps like this easy enough.

 

I've been using it for 7 months. The original thread here on Driver Booster is 7 months old.

 

I've had driver update software download incompatible drivers many times. For example, a common issue is where Toshiba (or very occasionally Motorola) Bluetooth drivers are download for a generic Bluetooth device to replace the Microsoft driver being used. Also I've had many cases of incompatible video drivers being downloaded and installed. Plus I can give more examples.

DriverTookit (hxxp://www.drivertoolkit.com) does this by default, unless you change the options to specifically look for the most recent drivers. Also, sometimes it will suggest replacing a driver with an older driver due to the older driver working better. I do not know what testing they do to determine which version of a driver is the most suitable one.

 

This program will set up scheduled tasks, even if the user tells it not to.
It will set up auto scans and will check for updates.
At least that has been my experience the last couple of days.
I like the tool, but it bears watching carefully.

 

Go to Settings -> Scan and you can disable the scheduled scans there.

 

I use & like this tool.

The previous point I agree with. This program like many others are not idiot proof. Knowing how to roll back drivers is vital.

As far as scheduling & autostuff. In settings I turned off the automatic stuff that bugged me.

I got rid of 2 other driver updating programs because this works best.

Also I exclude the integrated graphics (Intel) from the scan results. Because I have switchable graphics, Intel integrated & Nvidia discreet. And when I previously updated (from Intel website) them they make switching on the Nvidia graphics a PITA.

So in summary ime this is a good tool. But like most of the info on Wilders know what're doing or learn. Otherwise you'll bork your OS at some point.

Backups are crucial to not losing data. And etc. Don't tinker unless you can also tailor.