Outdated game drivers W10?

[rocky.simmoni]

Hello,

When I run DriverBooster on my W10, the following game drivers are indicated as outdated:

[ATTACH type=“full” width=“564px”]8337[/ATTACH]

Should I update these myself manually and all of them together? Aren’t these auto-updated with the regular W10 built-in updater?

Thanks for your feedback.

[Bastet]

I wouldn’t recommend Driver Booster as it can install incorrect drivers. You should install the visual C++ from Microsoft’s website - same with XNA framework.

https://support.microsoft.com/topic/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads-2647da03-1eea-4433-9aff-95f26a218cc0

https://www.microsoft.com/download/d....aspx?id=27598

[phillpower2]

When I run DriverBooster

They are worse than snake oil salesmen

Once Windows has been installed, you install the necessary drivers for the MB and other hardware and then leave well alone, drivers should not be allowed to auto update and you should never update any driver/s unless the new drivers are intended to resolve a specific issue that you are having, installing new drivers unnecessarily can actually cause you the very issues that any new drivers are intended to resolve and uninstalling the new drivers may not resolve the problem/s that installing the new drivers has caused.

Depending on priority it can take many months before the driver provider releases any fix and depending on the age of the hardware or software concerned they sometimes do not even bother or may have already announced an end of support.

[rocky.simmoni]

hello guys,

Thanks for the advice.

I was surprised to read your reactions about DriverBooster… I’ve consulted some comparison websites for the best (free) PC cleaner and performance tools, and the IOBIT tools came out as the best and safest ones. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of the fact that they could do more damage than good. However, real-life users I trust more than slick salesmen, so I’m gonna remove those IOBIT tools right away.

A question though:
are there any free/open-source tools you’d recommend downloading and using for W10?

• as uninstaller: I am, I was up to now using IOBIT Uninstaller
• as cleaner/performance: I am, I was using up to now IOBIT Advanced System care
• as virus scanner: I am using BitDefender Antivirus free edition

Thanks for your tips.

[Bastet]

Revo Uninstaller free for removing apps & programs:

https://www.revouninstaller.com/products/revo-uninstaller-free/

CCleaner free:

https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download?pc

Defender is now one of the best AV software & is free as part of Windows. For additional software I use Malwarebytes:

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download

If you must use driver updater software then try Driver Easy, the free version can only download drivers one at a time & a user must manually install the driver.
I would recommend using disk imaging software (if you‘re not already) in order to be able to roll back after a problematic driver update. I found out the hard way with iOBit that roiling back the failed/incorrect driver update doesn’t always fix the problem the software caused.

[phillpower2]

A question though:
are there any free/open-source tools you’d recommend downloading and using for W10?

• as uninstaller: I am, I was up to now using IOBIT Uninstaller
• as cleaner/performance: I am, I was using up to now IOBIT Advanced System care
• as virus scanner: I am using BitDefender Antivirus free edition

Technically you don`t need any of the above;

(1) Uninstall programs following the steps provided by the software provider.

(2) You will not see anything like this recommended on any reputable forum, they are at best a gimmick and at worse a danger to the operating systems registry, it is an old article but the author is still highly respected and tbh Ive not seen it explained better than at the miekiemoes’ Blog here

(3) Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 come with an improved Windows Defender, it offers the same real-time anti-virus/anti-malware protection as Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender also shares the same malware signature definitions as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Forefront Endpoint Protection. Technically, Microsoft Security Essentials has not been renamed Windows Defender, or combined with it in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

Good house keeping is all that you need, take no shortcuts when uninstalling stuff so nothing gets left behind and you will be fine.

[Rustys]

why you NEVER want to use any type of Drive finding program and SHOULD ONLY go to the manufacturer and or OEM for them.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/573426/pros-and-cons-of-driver-booster-2/

[rocky.simmoni]

Thanks for the clear explanations both of you.

One final question: let’s say I’ve been a bad housekeeper to date. Is there any tool or W10 built-in way to track and trace any leftovers from previous uninstalls?
Often, some (empty) folders remain after uninstalling software. Usually, I go check the folders on my C-drive to manually remove any remaining folder from the program I’ve uninstalled, but sometimes it isn’t very clear from the (folder) naming to which software it belongs or even it is a leftover from an uninstall or not?

Thanks.

[rocky.simmoni]

why you NEVER want to use any type of Drive finding program and SHOULD ONLY go to the manufacturer and or OEM for them.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/573426/pros-and-cons-of-driver-booster-2/

Hello Rustys,

Thanks for the info. Reading the reactions here and the info behind links, made me realize I was polluting my PC more than ever with all those scam-software.
I’ve just uninstalled all IOBIT tools.

Thanks for the clarifications on this subject!

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the clear explanations both of you.

One final question: let’s say I’ve been a bad housekeeper to date. Is there any tool or W10 built-in way to track and trace any leftovers from previous uninstalls?

You are welcome but being honest being that we have no way of knowing all of the stuff that you have ever had installed on the drive so can`t help you with that, neither can Windows 10 as it it is in the same position as us, as in there is no such removal tool.

All you can do is check for and remove anything that you no longer use, quickest way to do that would be to refresh Windows 10, see the first option explanation here

[rocky.simmoni]

You are welcome but being honest being that we have no way of knowing all of the stuff that you have ever had installed on the drive so can`t help you with that, neither can Windows 10 as it it is in the same position as us, as in there is no such removal tool.

All you can do is check for and remove anything that you no longer use, quickest way to do that would be to refresh Windows 10, see the first option explanation here

This is great, I didn’t know this even existed. Thanks!

[phillpower2]

You are welcome

Do be sure to back up anything that you may need first though as is advised by Microsoft at their link.