Reinstalling Software; Drivers; What Is A Driver; Identifying Drivers - Dell precision M65 User Manual

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Reinstalling Software

Drivers

What Is a Driver?

A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices require a
driver program.
A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Each device
has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver recognizes.
Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed—no further installation or
configuration is needed.
NOTICE:
The optional Drivers and Utilities CD may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on your
computer. Ensure that you are installing software appropriate for your operating system.
Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft
may need to install drivers if you:
• Upgrade your operating system.
• Reinstall your operating system.
• Connect or install a new device.

Identifying Drivers

If you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of your problem
and, if necessary, update the driver.
1 Click Start→ Control Panel→ System.
2 Click Hardware→ Device Manager.
3 Scroll down the list to see if any device has an exclamation point (a yellow circle with a [!]) on the
device icon.
If an exclamation point is next to the device name, you may need to reinstall the driver or install a new
driver (see "Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities" on page 89).

Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities

NOTICE:
The Dell Support website at support.dell.com and your Drivers and Utilities CD provide approved drivers
for Dell™ computers. If you install drivers obtained from other sources, your computer might not work correctly.
Using Windows XP Device Driver Rollback
If a problem occurs on your computer after you install or update a driver, use Windows XP Device Driver
Rollback to replace the driver with the previously installed version.
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Reinstalling Software
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