Driver Talent is free for a limited time period

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 20, 2015
Software
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27

We have reviewed Driver Talent, formerly know as DriveTheLife, back in 2014 here on Ghacks Technology News and found it to be an excellent tool to scan for, download, and install driver updates for devices and hardware connected to Windows machines.

The redesigned version of the driver software for Windows features a new modern looking interface. The core functionality has not changed much however.

When you start it up you may run a scan for driver updates. This takes a moment to complete after which all devices with driver issues or updates are displayed in the interface.

The free version limits the display to stable drivers only which Pro users may switch to display the "latest driver" for each device which adds beta and release candidate drivers to the listing.

When you download Driver Talent currently, you get an option to activate the program for free. This unlocks the Pro version of the application and all of its features.

Note: The description on the developer website is ambiguous. It is unclear if you get lifetime access to the Pro version or limited access to it until December 31, 2015. We have contacted the developer for clarification and will update this article once we get a response.

To activate the Pro version you are asked to enter an email address. There seems to be no email verification on the other hand as the Pro version is unlocked right away after you submit the form.

You are probably wondering about the differences between the free and pro version of Driver Talent. Below is a handy table that lists all differences.

Difference between Free and Pro versions of Driver Talent

Driver Talent free Driver Talent Pro
Automatic driver download and installation no yes
Support for latest drivers no, only stable yes, beta and RC
Driver restore no, only backup yes
Driver uninstallation no yes
Network printers no yes
Price free $19.90

The Pro version makes select operations comfortable, for instance by providing you with options to uninstall drivers from the interface or including network printers in the driver scan.

Once you have activated the Pro version you benefit from all Pro features integrated into the program.

Driver Talent will backup all drivers before you install or uninstall them so that you can restore them should the need arise.

So how good is it?

That's hard to tell as it depends largely on the components of the computer that you are using. The experience was positive during tests, as it identified updates correctly for components installed on a test machine.

The backup and restoration option worked satisfactory as well. The only thing that could be better in my opinion is to add the current version of the driver next to the new driver version suggested by the application. Driver Talent displays only the new driver version which means that you need to use other tools, the Device Manager for instance, to verify that the new version is indeed newer than the version that is currently installed on the system.

Now You: Do you update drivers regularly on your system?

Summary
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Author Rating
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2.5 based on 9 votes
Software Name
Driver Talent
Operating System
Windows
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Comments

  1. themacmeister said on March 28, 2017 at 9:15 am
    Reply

    Free version can backup drivers…

    Free version cannot restore drivers…

    Usefulness of Free version…

    PRICELESS

  2. Loral said on May 26, 2016 at 4:59 am
    Reply

    Driver Talent is doing a great job on my HP computer. Highly recommend.

  3. Freemans said on April 14, 2016 at 8:58 am
    Reply

    I won’t change to other way to update drivers for my Windows 10 laptop. This Driver Talent is good enough!

  4. Austin Carter said on January 25, 2016 at 3:13 am
    Reply

    I installed Driver Talent about four months ago. Well, I’d say it is really helpful. It helped me solved the audio driver and graphic driver problems. As so far, it is workable for me.

  5. Robert said on January 5, 2016 at 9:47 am
    Reply

    Yep, complete garbage. Ruined my build twice! It SOMEHOW updated by bios, from 2.20 to 2.30 (2.2 is the best, 2.3 is only bloated with “Change Internet Flash server”, nobody with a brain would use online flash- why asrock even included it angers me.) So, while “repairing” Samsung Galaxy Phone drivers… with no prompt, or visual warning, basically without my knowledge/permission – Since i wasn’t warned and unaware of the updated bios. My Hard Cmos reset was pointless because the array was ruined and needs deleted/reinstalled. Raid 101… it resulted in windows trying to load AHCI onto my RAID0.

  6. Robert said on January 5, 2016 at 8:45 am
    Reply

    Garbage. Should of learned my lesson the first time. Two weeks ago i allowed it to “resolve” all…. BSOD and full system restore (and luck) fixed it. Tonight this Garbage company has caused a full reset of cmos, just trying to install Samsung Galaxy s4 software. Hope i can get my RAID0 840pros and RAID 5 (20tb) restored. F* all third party driver repair software, i’m an idiot for trusting 3ed party “freeware” to fix anything!

    System build- win 10, Asrock z77 foc , i7-2700k, 32gb Gskill, SLI two 980 ti. 1200watt powersupply, watercooled in an obsidian 800d. etc, etc. $10’000 in hardware that worked perfectly for years, until i found this “free” in late december 2015.

    I can say one thing positive, i have a hp elitebook 8470w that it was able to repair ONE driver for the SD card reader.

  7. Joan Backery said on January 4, 2016 at 9:50 am
    Reply

    Well, it’s been working for my computer for almost three months. As so far, Driver Talent is really amazing in solving driver problems.

  8. Lesli Devison said on December 30, 2015 at 10:15 am
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    It is a great utility. Easy to use. Helped me to solve several problems. Recommemd.

  9. Toby said on November 18, 2015 at 8:41 am
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    Awesome program for Widnwos drivers update!

  10. Anakha56 said on October 23, 2015 at 5:26 am
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    Just a FYI but Webroot picks up pua.funshion in the file minithunderplatform.exe, so tread with caution…

  11. Tek said on October 22, 2015 at 8:24 pm
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    Hi Martin and all that have responded. I have never really had much luck with the plethora of driver download programs in the past and generally avoid them like the plague but as i test a lot of software daily, I braved IO bits offering and am currently using version Driver booster 2.2 which is not their latest offering. I think they are up to 2.4 now. Any hoo, this particular program has worked flawlessly for me and even though I won’t necessarily download every driver update on offer I have been pretty happy using it so this one I can recommend.
    Driver Talent I have also used in it’s old incarnation and this was Ok but a little buggy for my liking, however I will try Talent if only for testing purposes. Thanks for keeping us informed Martin.

  12. Sukhen Mitra said on October 21, 2015 at 3:29 am
    Reply

    Any opinion about Drive DR or IOBit Driver Booster Pro compared to SUMo/Snappy Driver/Driver Talent?

  13. DonGateley said on October 21, 2015 at 3:16 am
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    Hangs scanning. Uses oldest and least convenient file selection dialog from the earliest days of Windows. Takes no knowledge to use it, though, which doesn’t bode well for the product. Uninstalled.

    I’d say what I use but don’t want to be caught up in that flood.

  14. Gabriel said on October 21, 2015 at 2:14 am
    Reply

    I think the issue with these kinds of apps is that we don’t know what drivers are being installed (or what is being installed for that matter).

    I’m not saying they are going to install malicious software (which they could), but are they experts on every driver out there for every piece of hardware?

  15. neo269 said on October 20, 2015 at 3:47 pm
    Reply

    Thanks!

  16. neo269 said on October 20, 2015 at 3:14 pm
    Reply

    Hi

    Is there a good software which can list newer versions of software installed & update it with single click?

    thanks!

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on October 20, 2015 at 3:22 pm
      Reply
  17. Jonathan said on October 20, 2015 at 2:34 pm
    Reply

    I have found Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) http://sourceforge.net/projects/snappy-driver-installer/ which is updated allot and works really good.

    1. Yogesh said on January 13, 2016 at 5:59 am
      Reply

      thnkxx jonathan for helping me

    2. Steve said on October 21, 2015 at 1:15 am
      Reply

      +1
      This seems to a labour of love by one person, and is free.
      If people want to try a driver downloader/installer, this is the only one that I could recommend from experience. In particular, if you hover over a suggested update, you can see a side-by-side comparison of this and your current driver, with the details you need (date, version, PCI\VEN codes, etc.) to decide what action to take.

  18. Larry Watkins said on October 20, 2015 at 1:57 pm
    Reply

    Mcafee antivirus sayes this website (to download this program is high risk) and has a history of infecting systems fyi

  19. beach boui said on October 20, 2015 at 1:53 pm
    Reply

    I don’t have a great deal of confidence in someone making software who doesn’t even know how to properly compress the graphics on their website.

  20. Anonymous said on October 20, 2015 at 12:12 pm
    Reply

    Enjoy lifetime FREE if you download and activate it by Dec. 31th, 2015

    The app require an unneeded installation.

    1. aussiefan43 said on November 7, 2015 at 6:28 am
      Reply

      When I tried to activate by providing my email, it said my email is not valid. Don’t understand!

  21. Paul(us) said on October 20, 2015 at 11:41 am
    Reply

    I remember a article that you wrought or / that I read around/ on 22-10-2014 called ” Never Download a Driver-Updating Utility; They’re Worse Than Useless”

    “You Don’t Need to Update Your Drivers, Anyway
    Here’s the thing — you don’t actually need to regularly update your drivers. If you play PC games, you do need to update your NVIDIA or AMD graphics drivers regularly — but that’s it. And both NVIDIA and AMD include automatic driver-updating tools along with the graphics drivers to make this easy.
    Driver updates occasionally arrive via Windows Update, so a serious problem will be fixed just by installing your normal updates. Windows also automatically downloads the necessary drivers when you connect new hardware. Hardware driver-updating utilities would be a waste of time even if they worked properly.
    This software feels familiar. Like PC cleaners, Mac cleaners, registry cleaners, system optimization utilities, and all the other sketchy PC maintenance software you see advertised all over the web, it’s all about scaring you. Once you’re scared, you’ll pay up for their useless service.”

    Now I know that one year in computing is a lifetime but is there so much really changed that its now prudent to use this program.

    1. All Things Firefox said on October 20, 2015 at 7:54 pm
      Reply
    2. Martin Brinkmann said on October 20, 2015 at 12:02 pm
      Reply

      I agree largely with that but think it is still beneficial sometimes to update drivers. For instance, a firmware update for the motherboard might add new capabilities to it which you can utilize. The same may be true for DVD burners and other hardware. Most of the time though, it is not required at all.

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