{"id":29347,"date":"2024-11-10T08:38:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T13:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=29347"},"modified":"2024-11-10T08:38:22","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T13:38:22","slug":"driver-updater-programs-poison-for-your-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/driver-updater-programs-poison-for-your-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver Updater Programs: Poison for Your Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style5\"><span style=\"font-size: 24pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Driver Updater Programs: Poison for Your Computer<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Most driver updater programs are no better than malware \u2013 and many come bundled with malware.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"auto-style813 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2017\/just-say-no1.png\" alt=\"Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"263\" height=\"191\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Consider this a reminder from your old pals, TC &amp; Darcy\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I don\u2019t know how many times we\u2019ve told you to avoid driver updater programs, but the last time we did was three years ago. I can&#8217;t remember what I did three days ago let alone three years ago. So we are going to remind you that Driver Updaters are poison for your PC.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I can&#8217;t tell you how many times I&#8217;ve helped folks who were having problems with their computers, from Blue Screens of Death to unexplained crashes. But I&#8217;ve learned over the years to look for Driver Updater programs first because plenty of times folks with BSODs and unexplained, unexpected crashes, had Driver Updater programs installed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Driver updaters often recommend updates for drivers that are already functioning correctly. Installing unnecessary updates can lead to instability, performance issues, or even hardware malfunctions. Installing unneeded drivers that are not necessary can lead to a range of problems, including system crashes, blue screens of death, and even complete system failure. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">So, we want to remind you to check your installed programs for driver updater programs, and if you find one (or more) uninstall it (them) before your computer has big-time problems.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Darcy and I have been using Windows since Windows 3.1 (yes, there was such a thing), and we can\u2019t remember when driver updater programs were necessary. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We can tell you this as well. Driver updaters are popular. They are consistently among the most downloaded programs. And they rank among the most useless (and trouble-causing) programs you can install on your Windows computer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You don\u2019t need third-party driver updater programs to tell you you need a new driver. You only need to update a driver (or drivers) when a hardware device (printer, sound card, wireless card, etc.) is not working properly <em>or the manufacturer recommends an update<\/em>. Installing new drivers just because new drivers are available is unnecessary and many times can\u00a0 be a recipe for disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Windows 10 and 11 are very good at updating drivers when necessary. But should you have a hardware device that is not working properly, you can download the correct driver from the <strong>device\u2019s manufacturer\u2019s website<\/strong>. Just make sure you know the version of Windows you\u2019re using and the name, model, and manufacturer of your hardware device. Then go ahead and download and install the correct driver <strong>directly from the device manufacturer.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you\u2019re not having problems with your hardware devices there\u2019s no reason to update your drivers even if new drivers become available.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Don\u2019t be tempted to install a driver updater because you think it\u2019s going to make your computer run better, run faster, or it\u2019s going to make it easier for you to keep your drivers updated. Driver updaters are unnecessary, and many times can cause serious problems with your computer. Think of driver updaters as poison for your PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Remember these two nuggets of sage advice from both of us:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">In the world of computer software, less is more.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Be smart and leave driver updaters alone. And if you find one has sneaked onto your computer via those nefarious software bundles that are all too common \u2014 or you were tricked into installing one \u2014 uninstall it with much alacrity\u2026 we tells ya!<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"auto-style803\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2017\/just-say-no1.png\" alt=\"Cloudeight InfoAve\" width=\"600\" height=\"437\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/donation.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2020\/donate2020.png\" alt=\"Please help us to keep on helping you. Make a small donation.\" width=\"511\" height=\"126\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Driver Updater Programs: Poison for Your Computer Most driver updater programs are no better than malware \u2013 and many come bundled with malware. Consider this a reminder from your old pals, TC &amp; Darcy\u2026 I don\u2019t know how many times we\u2019ve told you to avoid driver updater programs, but the last time we did was\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/driver-updater-programs-poison-for-your-computer\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4434,3948,4299,3602,10,2366],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29348,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29347\/revisions\/29348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}