My Digitized Thoughts - Ramen Mukherjee ...

When adding a new device to your computer, it can be a big pain browse around the internet searching for the latest drivers.  Windows 7 can do this automatically for you to a certain extent, and it does a much better job at it than Windows XP or even Vista has in the past.  Let’s turn this feature on!

Important: For best results make sure you are connected to the internet whenever adding a new device.

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How to Automatically Download The Latest Device Installation Drivers In Windows 7

1. Click the Start Menu Orb and then Click Devices and Printers.

2. Right-Click the icon for your computer and then Select Device installation settings.

3. Check the box Yes, do this automatically (recommended).

Optionally if you’re feeling rebellious… you can instead Check Always install the best driver software from Windows Update and Check the the box for Replace generic device icons with enhanced icons. There isn’t a difference between this “No” option and the “Yes” option, they both do the exact same thing!   Microsoft made a nice duplicate setting here to confuse you, how kind!

4. Make sure Windows Update automatic updates are enabled.  This needs to be on for this to work properly.

Now when you install new devices, Windows Update will automatically search the online Microsoft driver database and install their latest driver.  Sometimes how recent the driver is can be hit and miss.  For example, a driver may be a few months outdated in comparison to the latest driver available on your device manufacturer’s website.  But then other times the manufacturer will release the driver to Windows Update before they even post it on their own site, so you’ll get a ultra-recent driver by using Windows automatic update instead.  It really just depends.

Either way, the Windows 7 groovy automatic driver installation process is pretty cool so I hope it works well for you!  If you have any questions or comments please post them below or join the discussion in the groovyPost community forum.