We recently covered some tips on what to do when Windows stops working. We wanted to break it up and share some of the more advanced tips in a separate post.
This post is going to focus specifically on hardware problems that might arise. Keep reading to get started!
In the center of the window you will see a list of all the hardware and devices connected to your computer. They are all organized in different categories. The devices that have compatibility problems or missing drivers will have a yellow indication to warn you that they are not working properly.
If you right click on one of the hardware items in the list, you will get a pop-up menu to act on it. You can update the driver to try to check for a newer version of the driver. If this is not enough, you can also uninstall the device, which will delete the driver and cause Windows to retry installing it from scratch the next time you plug it in.
And the other option is to use a third-party application to update drivers, as these also usually have a function to detect drivers that fail in Windows, and sometimes they are even more effective. Especially the paid ones. I, for use, have purchased Driver Easy, but in our article on updating drivers we made some free suggestions. Here we remind you of them in case you want to consider them:
Drivers Cloud: If you are looking for security over simplicity, this application is very useful because it does not try to install anything from behind. It is complemented by the product website, and after analyzing your hardware it lets you choose drivers to download from the web, and you can download an installer to install them all at once. You can download it from the official website.
Slimware DriverUpdate: With a much more visual interface featuring a graph showing the proportion of drivers that have not been updated, this is another alternative with which you can update or uninstall drivers, create backup copies of those installed, and schedule regular updates to always be up to date. You can download it from its official website.
Driver Booster: It has a very easy to understand and use interface, where it shows your outdated drivers, tells you how outdated they are and offers to update them with a single click. It is exclusive for Windows, and works on all versions from XP onwards. Beware of its installer, if you don’t choose to customize the installation it has an extra application. You can download it from its official website.
Snappy Driver Installer: A simple alternative that has the added feature of being able to update drivers offline. First it asks you to download the info of the updateable drivers, and then you can view and choose the ones you want to install. You can download it from its official website.
Driver Talent: Another tool that not only allows you to update drivers, but also to repair those that are corrupted or make backup copies of the ones you already have updated. It has two versions, a free one with the most basic options and a Pro version that you can purchase for $16.95. You can download it from its official website.
Driver Doctor: Another option similar to Drivers Cloud for those looking for security over convenience. It analyzes your system, but does not update the drivers, but links you to a website from which you can download them to install them by hand. You can download it from its official website.
Windows Update: But if everything goes well in your computer and your Windows, you will not need to resort to none of these applications because Windows Update will do everything automatically. And if it fails and you do not want to resort to apps of third, always you have the option of restoring Windows.
It detects what fails with the mode to test of failures
There will be times when you do not know if you have errors due to a problem with Windows or an installed application. In this case, it can help you the fail-safe mode to start Windows only with certain elements, and thus to discard that they are those that fail. You have to enter the Windows startup functions and choose Troubleshoot problems. To do this hold down Shift while clicking on Restart, or try to boot Windows three times without success.
From here, Windows suggests you to reset the computer and other functions that can vary from one version to another of the operating system. The one you have to look for and click on is the Advanced Options. When you enter the advanced options, click on the Startup Settings option. In some versions of Windows this section does not appear directly in the first window, but you must click before in More advanced options so that it appears in the following page.