▷Windows 10: how to update its drivers 🥇

After installing Windows 10, one or more of your devices no longer work? Or do you just want to update your drivers, but not sure what to do next? In all cases, it is on the Device Manager side that you have to look for the solution. If you would like to know how to deal with all the evils of improper driver installation, here is how you do it.

Si Windows 10 theoretically knows how to manage pilots of all your internal and external components, it sometimes gets tripped up. From time to time and with updates to Windows 10, a bug prevents the drivers from loading. But he is not always solely responsible for your worries. Sometimes it is a driver that can conflict with other files during an update, sometimes it is a component that is no longer recognized at all. If you're in trouble, here's how to go about it update or reinstall your drivers in Windows 10.

Summary

What to do when a device is not recognized by Windows 10?
Where can I find the drivers when Windows 10 can't do it on its own?
Ultimate hope: how to force the installation of drivers in Windows 10?
How to uninstall drivers because of an error?
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What to do when a device is not recognized by Windows 10?

Have you just installed Windows 10, but some components are not recognized by the system? Or, during an update from Windows 7 to 10, the drivers got installed incorrectly? No problem, this kind of problem happens quite frequently and it is fairly easy to resolve. First, head into Device Manager. Simultaneously press the [Windows] + [Pause] keys. In the window presented to you, go to the left column and select the Device Manager function. A list of all the components of your PC is displayed. If one of them has a yellow triangle icon, there is a problem with one of the parts of your machine. You can install or update the drivers for this component as follows:

Right-click on its name. Select the function Update the driver. Choose the function Automatically search for drivers. Windows will then browse your system using the appropriate drivers and install them.
If the previous operation does not work, stay in the same interface. This time select the option Check Windows Update for updated drivers. The system will then use an online database to install the missing drivers. You should find the drivers for your device there.

Where can I find the drivers when Windows 10 can't do it on its own?

You've done the previous two things, but neither works. Or, following an operating system update, your drivers are no longer recognized at all. Again, there is a way to install the drivers despite operating system failures:

First, go to the site of the manufacturer of your component, regardless of whether it is a motherboard, graphics card, printer, USB device, etc. You should find drivers there in the form of an executable file with the extension ".exe" or ".msi". Be sure to select the right edition of the operating system (Windows 10 in this case), and the right version (32 or 64 bits). Download the executable that is proposed to you, in order to install the component drivers.
If the drivers offered by the manufacturer are not in the form of an executable, you will have to install them "by hand". Download the archive that is offered to you and unzip it. Then go back to Device Manager, and right-click Update Driver again. This time select the option Browse my workstation to find drivers. In the window that then appears, choose the function Choose from a list of drivers available on my computer. Click the Have Disk button, then click Browse. Indicate the directory in which you previously unzipped the manufacturer's drivers. You should find a file there with the extension “.inf”. Select it to install the drivers for your device.

Ultimate hope: how to force the installation of drivers in Windows 10?

None of the previously mentioned operations may work. You will therefore have to force the installation of your component using the references listed in Windows 10. This technique works for example with printers. As manufacturers tend to offer many “sub-references” to their ranges, it is not uncommon for Windows to not immediately find the appropriate drivers. Proceed as follows:

Head to Device Manager once again. Click Update Driver again, then click Browse my workstation for drivers. Again, select the function Choose from a list of drivers available on my computer. Then uncheck the option Show compatible hardware if some drivers have already been installed, but they are not the correct ones. If no driver has been installed yet, you should just see a list of "common hardware," as Windows calls them. Look for the one that matches your component or, if you're not sure, just stay on Show all devices.
Click on Next: a list of components by genre and by brand is then presented. Find the one that corresponds to your model or whose references are close to it (in the case of a printer, for example). All you have to do then is install the drivers offered by Windows and you're done.

Read also: Windows 10, how to find the WiFi code effortlessly

How to uninstall drivers because of an error?

If you've got the wrong drivers, or if the ones Windows 10 gave you don't work, it's pretty straightforward to uninstall them. Here's how to do it:

Still from Device Manager, select the recalcitrant device using the right button. Select the function Uninstall the device. Accept the warning that is displayed using the button uninstall. If you want to delete the driver files, check the section Remove the driver for this device.
After uninstalling the device drivers, the device no longer appears in the Device Manager list. To make it reappear, simply go to Action > Check for hardware changes. All you have to do is install the correct drivers, this time following the previous steps.