DriveTheLife: update, backup and restore Windows drivers

Martin Brinkmann
Dec 23, 2014
Software, Windows software
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12

Most of the devices and hardware that you connect to a PC running a recent version of Windows work out of the box without any configuring or driver installations.

While that is certainly not the case for all of them, things have gotten a lot better in this regard in the past ten years.

It may still make sense to install driver updates regularly or even install drivers provided by the manufacturer instead of making use of the generic drivers that Windows ships with.

Some driver updates may add functionality to the device while others may improve stability or performance instead.

This is for instance often the case with video card drivers. While usually only important to gamers who run games on Windows, it can at times also make sense for non-gamers to keep these drivers up to date.

DriveTheLife is a free program for Windows that you can use to find and installer driver updates and backup or restore drivers.

It works similar to other programs of its kind but recommends to back up the current drivers prior to anything else when you first start it up.

This ensures that initial drivers can be restored after updates.

Once that is out of the way you can switch to local in the sidebar to get a list of devices that don't run the latest drivers.

A click on a device on this page lists the installed driver version and the new one, the driver type that was discovered by DriveTheLife, the device name, and an update button.

Each device driver can be updated manually this way or all in one go if you prefer it that way.

windows driver update

New drivers are downloaded in the program interface right away which is comfortable and convenient.

If you click on the manual installation button installation prompts are displayed to you which allow you to select what gets installed and what does not if the driver supports it.

If you take Nvidia drivers for example: you may not require all of the programs the driver ships with. If you don't have a 3D display for example it makes no sense to install the 3d components on the system.

The evaluate option on the same page checks important devices and their compatibility with the current operating system.

The manage page finally lists backup, restoration and uninstallation options. You can use it to restore driver backups, create additional backups of drivers, or remove drivers completely from the system.

Closing Words

There is certainly no shortage of programs that assist you in updating device drivers on Windows. From SlimDrivers and Dumo to Driver Booster and DriverIdentifier.

It comes down to personal choice and experience more than anything else. DriveTheLife offers a clean interface and while it is still necessary to verify the driver updates found before you hit the install button, it makes it easy to undo any errors done in this regard provided that Windows is still booting up after the operation.

Users who like to use a program for the task need to evaluate several anyway and nothing speaks against adding DriveTheLife to that list of programs.

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DriveTheLife
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Comments

  1. Joan Brando said on January 19, 2016 at 8:34 am
    Reply

    Driver Talent works great on my Windows 8. Every time I have driver problems, I could use it to scan my computer. It always could provide a solution for me. One click, problem solved. Great software.

  2. Hara said on January 21, 2015 at 9:06 am
    Reply

    Tried it and worked pretty well.

  3. Yollandababy said on January 21, 2015 at 9:02 am
    Reply

    That’s ridiculous George Melendez. It seems that you never meet such a “updating drivers” problem. In fact, in most cases, when we update drivers using Microsoft’s Windows Update feature, it fails to find the latest driver and it can even take us more than 1 hour — which I’m sure most of the real users have encountered. Yes I admit it that Microsoft’s Windows Update can help but it’s soooo ineffective in daily life, especially when you use the old Windows OS, like Windows XP and Windows Vista. I don’t know why you guys reject such useful tools. I will keep DriveTheLife on my computer!

    1. George Melendez said on January 21, 2015 at 1:12 pm
      Reply

      Hi Yollandbaby…

      RIDICULOUS??? In your case with what you call “old Windows OS, Wins XP & Vista” it just might be the case. I have Wins 7-64 and like I have mentioned “if it’s not broken then why fix it???” don’t tell me you don’t get it??? I’ve got drivers that are “very old” on my machine and my OS is working just fine and I’ve NEVER had any issues with drivers. Update driver tools are more of a “scare tactic” than a needed service. READ THIS >>> http://www.howtogeek.com/198758/never-download-a-driver-updating-utility-theyre-worse-than-useless/ <<< …. You also mention "Microsoft's Windows Update can help but it's soooo ineffective in daily life", who in there right mind updates driver "daily"??? What I do maybe every few months is use WIns "Device Manager" and verify if they are up to date and if needed I will update what I consider necessary. Sure, there might be good update tools but I just don't trust them as I've seen computers get messed up when using them. You can use them, it's all up to you…. enjoy …

  4. George Melendez said on December 28, 2014 at 1:56 pm
    Reply

    I’ve been a little skeptical about “updating drivers” especially Windows drivers. If it’s not broken then why would you want to fix it??? I’ve seen so many articles on “why you shouldn’t update drivers” and how it can make your computer unstable that I just won’t go there. I rather rely on Microsoft’s Update feature, (even though Microsoft has messed-up many times like this past December’s updates), which is included in Wins 7 OS than use a third party tool for updating. It could be a good idea for other software you might have installed but for Windows drivers i just don’t trust any of them.

  5. Steve said on December 24, 2014 at 11:30 pm
    Reply

    EAM report to many pop-ups for me to feel safe about this program, I will stick with Raxco PerfectUpdater.
    Nothing is really free.

  6. X said on December 23, 2014 at 5:17 pm
    Reply

    About Drive The Life
    Company
    Established in 2007, located at Shenzhen which is adjacent to the international financial and trade center Hong Kong, Drive The Life is dedicated to developing internet software and provide software for free.

    Well…

    1. koszalinski said on December 26, 2014 at 8:21 pm
      Reply

      C’mon! We are spied by USA-based businesses so a Chinese espionage will add some counterweight in sake of world balance :)

      1. Hara said on January 21, 2015 at 9:08 am
        Reply

        Let me tell you something: Apple’s products like iPhone, iPad, and iPod are made in China!

    2. Mollyrara Church said on December 25, 2014 at 6:22 am
      Reply

      Well, I have tried this tool. It’s pretty good. and I have also used some products from China. I think most people won’t mind the nationality as long as the utility is useful.

    3. Allie said on December 25, 2014 at 3:52 am
      Reply

      So?
      I used this software and it worked very fine for me. Find my outdated driver and update it with one click.
      And the truth is that I didn’t pay a penny for that.
      Take off your tinted glasses.
      Be objective!

  7. rda said on December 23, 2014 at 5:13 pm
    Reply

    Martin,consider reading your articles to people so the readers would have a choice to listen (eg.while driving) or to read when they do have spare time :) I started using UMANO but unfortunatelly there is no GHACKS’ articles available even tho I submited few already :) so do not think twice just read it or get someone do it for you :) as the future is now.
    love ghacks.net.

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