Computer installation operating system driver installation: First, the driver introduction (a)

First, what is the driver?

According to Baidu Encyclopedia: Driver, the English name is "Device Driver", which is called "Device Driver". It is a special program that enables computers and devices to communicate. It can be said that it is equivalent to the interface of the hardware. The operating system can control the operation of the hardware device only through such an interface. If the driver of a device is not properly installed, it cannot work normally. Therefore, the driver is hailed as "the soul of hardware", "the master of hardware", and "the bridge between hardware and systems".

Just installed the system operating system, it is likely that the driver installation is incomplete. The newer the hardware, the more likely it will be. The "icon is large and the color is ugly" observed before the dish bear can not have the reason to install the driver.

Second, the role of the driver

Following the rapid development of electronic technology, the ability of computer hardware is more and more powerful. Drivers are software that work directly on a variety of hardware devices, and the name "driver" is also very visually indicative of its functionality. It is through the driver that various hardware devices can operate normally and achieve the desired working effect.

The hardware may lack the driver's "driver". When the hardware that is very powerful is not able to work according to the instructions issued by the software, the hardware can be used without any basis. The land of Wu. At this time, the computer is just like the ancients said, "everything is ready, only owe the east wind", the role of this "east wind" falls on the driver. So it seems that the driver plays a very important role in the use of the computer.

In theory, all hardware devices have to be installed with the appropriate drivers to work properly. However, devices such as CPU, memory, motherboard, floppy disk, keyboard, monitor, etc. do not have to install the driver to work properly, but the graphics card, sound card, network card, etc. must install the driver, otherwise it will not work properly. Why is this?

This is mainly because these hardware is necessary for a personal computer, so early designers used these hardware as hardware that the BIOS can directly support. In other words, the above hardware can be directly supported by the BIOS and the operating system after installation, and the driver will not be installed. According to this perspective, the BIOS is also a driver. But for other hardware, such as: network card, sound card, graphics card, etc., you must install the driver, otherwise the hardware will not work properly.

Three, the definition of the driver

The driver can be defined as the official official version, Microsoft WHQL witness version, third-party driver, enthusiast revision, Beta test version.

1, the official version of the official

The official version of the driver is developed according to the design of the chip manufacturer, through repeated testing, correction, and finally through the official channel announced the official version of the driver, Also known as the public version of the drive. The official official version of the publication method includes the official website announcement and the hardware product comes with the CD. Stability and compatibility are the biggest highlights of the official version of the driver, and it is also a distinguishing feature between the modified version and the beta version of the enthusiast. Therefore, it is recommended that ordinary Internet users use the official official version, while those who love early adopters and express their individuality are recommended to use the modified version of the enthusiast and the beta version.

2, Microsoft WHQL Witness Edition

WHQL is the abbreviation of Windows Hardware Quality Labs. It is a testimony of Microsoft drivers for various hardware vendors to test the compatibility of drivers and operating systems. And stability. It can also be said that the driver that passed the WHQL witness has basically no compatibility with the Windows system.

3. Third-party drivers

Third-party drivers are drivers that are based on official drivers and released by hardware OEMs. The third-party driver has stability, compatibility, and is based on the official official version of the driver optimization and has very sophisticated features and very strong overall capabilities than the official version. Therefore, for brand machine netizens, the author recommends that the preferred driver for netizens is a third-party driver, and the second option is the official version of the driver; for assembler netizens, the choice of third-party drivers may be more complicated, so the official official Version drivers are still preferred.

4, enthusiasts modified version

Enthusiasts, the author of the first step is to think of the graphics card, why is this? Because fans have always been used to describe game enthusiasts. The author's idea is also in line with the birth certificate of the modified version of the enthusiast, because the driver's modified version of the driver can be first appeared in the

graphics driver, because many enthusiasts are crazy about the game, The expectation of graphics card capability can also be very high. At this time, the graphics driver driver announced by the manufacturer often cannot meet the needs of game enthusiasts, so the modified video card driver that meets the functional needs of game lovers is modified. It also came into being. Now, the modified version of the driver is also called the modified driver, which refers to the modified driver, but does not specifically refer to the modified driver.

5, Beta Beta

The beta driver is a driver that is in beta and has not been officially released. The next drivers often have bugs such as insufficient stability and insufficient compatibility with the system. Early adopters and risks always exist at the same time, so netizens who use beta test drivers should be prepared for failure.