A positive plethora of "driver updaters" on GOTD recently, so no-one can complain that they're not being given enough choice. However. . .

The fact that there is now such an abundance of this type of software reminds me of the not so long-ago when it wasn't "driver updaters" but "registry cleaners" that were being hyped and marketed so assiduously. (And, well. . . we all know what happened to that software sector.) Is "driver updating", then, the new registry-cleaner-registry-optimizer??

The question needs asking because if it is the new commercial money-maker, then the same kind of care that (hopefully) was exercised by GOTDers in using registry cleaners will be similarly exercised here. Why? Because the potential to wreck a perfectly good computer remains the exact same.

Every computer's configuration is individual and therefore, every computer's configuration is different. Unless the folks who author the software which you're going to let loose on your computer are gifted with psychic ability, then they've no more idea than I have of how your own PC set-up works.

We all know what that led to when registry-cleaners-compactors-optimizers were the fad of the moment: more harm than good. Now, with "driver updaters", we're in the selfsame territory: unless>/i> the software developer concerned has come up with an app uniquely tailored to your computer and yours alone (no, they won't have) and unless that software calls upon a driver version database that, equally uniquely, is at all times 100% infallible (but no, it won't be) then you're investing one helluva lot of blind faith in that developer, trusting to luck -- because that's all it can ever be: sheer luck -- that an up-to-date driver crucial to the smooth running of your computer will not be deleted (or recommended for deletion) to be replaced by an earlier, or even obsolete version, that will leave you and your computer seriously. . . distressed.

Me, I don't go in for blind faith. I take the view that software writers and developers are as fallible as anyone else and that driver-version databases are as likely to have flaws as any other database. On which basis, then, this sudden preoccupation with driver-updating is -- to my mind -- nothing but a commercially-driven fad. A fad in the same (profitable) way that registry
cleaners / compactors / optimizers once were. If your computer is running fine, that means it ain't broke. And if it ain't broke, why on earth are using some stranger's software to fix it?>

Someone in this thread has said how today's software is useful for keeping up to date with Java and Flash. Truth to tell, Oracle and Adobe themselves are far, far better than any third party at informing you of versioning updates: you just set up your computer to receive update alerts direct from them and choose to install as and when you wish. Same thing goes for your graphics drivers: it takes but mere minutes to check for an update with the actual manufacturer and, if appropriate, download the latest manufacturer-recommended version from the actual source.
Already this comment thread is featuring user reports of today's software getting it wrong (and this giveaway has only been running a couple of hours at the time of writing). But it would be unfair to single out this developer alone: browse the geek forums and you'll find case after case after case of people winding up with busted computers because the computer users were, frankly, lazy enough and / or daft enough to trust their PCs to the care of strangers when they should been taking that care themselves.

Thanks then, GOTD, but no thanks.

MikeR  –  8 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+85)

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MikeR Er, replying to myself . . . Apologies to all at GOTD and all GOTDers for the typographical mess of my post. This is due -- ironically -- to me having updated my spectacles. The new version is bi-focal. This is the first time I've worn 'em and really, I wish I'd stuck with the earlier glassware consisting of reading glasses and distance glasses. Just goes to show: anyone can be caught out by the unintended consequences of version updates -- and make a spectacle of themselves, too. . .

<b>MikeR</b> Er, replying to myself . . . Apologies to all at GOTD and all GOTDers for the typographical mess of my post. This is due -- ironically -- to me having updated my spectacles. The new version is bi-focal. This is the first time I've worn 'em and really, I wish I'd stuck with the earlier glassware consisting of reading glasses and distance glasses. Just goes to show: anyone can be caught out by the unintended consequences of version updates -- and make a spectacle of themselves, too. . .
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MikeR  –  8 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+58)

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ok, finally decided to try one of these many driver updater programs thats being given away (seems like a lot recently). Installed smooth and easy. Interface was...I guess decent for these things. Ran it, and it told me I had 5 outdated drivers. Went to the manufactures sites to check, and all 5 drivers are up to date. According to the manufacturer. So where do they get the information that a driver is out of date if the manufacturer claims that it's the most recent driver? Uninstalled, suggest everyone do the same. Who knows what drivers they are downloading and from where.

Levitiquetus  –  8 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+68)

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I am very curious to hear iObit's reply to Levitiquetus' and Philip's comments, to wit:

1. Where does Driver Booster Pro get its drivers and how does it ensure they are up-to-date?

2. Why is Driver Booster Pro reporting drivers as outdated when the hardware manufacturers' websites show them as current?

3. Why is Driver Booster Pro calling "very old" a driver that's dated August 2015?

iObit?

YossiD  –  8 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+47)

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Installed as directed on Windows 7. Informed of 3 driver updates, including a Universal Bus Driver. I selected to install this separately and it immediately crashed my computer. Not a good start.

DanC  –  8 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+20)

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