Windows XP"Update drivers over the internet" function.....

HawgsHead · Dec 9, 2006, 07:12 PM

Oh what a piece of shit this.....feature?????.......is!I have been running XP sence it came out and I have NEVER seen this feature work.Not 1 time!!!Just for grins..and the fact that i'm bord.I used this feature on every piece of hardware I could find.NOT 1 TIME did it work!!!!!Well,thats my rant for today.

swimtech · Dec 9, 2006, 10:17 PM

Yeah,
Know what you need first - then go get it straight from the company who made the device or the software that is being updated - for sure...

Windows update does generally work fine though for updating Windows and other Microsoft software - but I wouldn't use it for updating any device drivers - that's what you mean isn't it?

Judas · Dec 10, 2006, 12:52 AM

it's very handy in certain situations.

Generally, i find the the driver update feature that checks online for an updated driver is tallied towards say NON RETAIL products, stuff that either didn't come with a disc, is old, or just of a odd model. I've come across tons of machines which i couldn't find a single driver for on the net, but to my amazement, windows driver update checked, found and installed one that works beautifully. Course occasionally things don't go quite right. But hey, it does it job.

No way in hell would i use that feature of a recent machine.

The thing is mostly for as an example, a S3 Trident video card that neither via or via's link to an archived site, has a driver for it. Worked beatufilly. Works great for an ATI card that is the orginal ATI Rage AIW that's PCI.... such an old card, yet windows driver update had the drivers right there bang for it even thought ati's own website didn't have much of anything to provide AT ALL for it.

PangingJr · Dec 10, 2006, 04:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawgsHead

Oh what a piece of shit this.....feature?????.......is!I have been running XP sence it came out and I have NEVER seen this feature work.Not 1 time!!!Just for grins..and the fact that i'm bord.I used this feature on every piece of hardware I could find.NOT 1 TIME did it work!!!!!Well,thats my rant for today.

i guess you are not an experience Windows XP user,
or you are an experience Windows XP user, but just new to Windows Updates.

swimtech · Dec 10, 2006, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

it's very handy in certain situations.

Generally, i find the the driver update feature that checks online for an updated driver is tallied towards say NON RETAIL products, stuff that either didn't come with a disc, is old, or just of a odd model. I've come across tons of machines which i couldn't find a single driver for on the net, but to my amazement, windows driver update checked, found and installed one that works beautifully. Course occasionally things don't go quite right. But hey, it does it job.

No way in hell would i use that feature of a recent machine.

The thing is mostly for as an example, a S3 Trident video card that neither via or via's link to an archived site, has a driver for it. Worked beatufilly. Works great for an ATI card that is the orginal ATI Rage AIW that's PCI.... such an old card, yet windows driver update had the drivers right there bang for it even thought ati's own website didn't have much of anything to provide AT ALL for it.

Yeah, you do have a good point there, I don't work on many computers over 4 years old - except my own...

HawgsHead - what specific problems you having? Come back at us! With your systems maybe the software is just too slow!!!

PangingJr · Dec 10, 2006, 07:04 AM

so you think the actule meaning of the messages that HawgsHead post above is actually about he wants some help in using Windows Updates?

hmm i didn't see he asked any questions on the initial post, or did he?

swimtech · Dec 10, 2006, 07:20 AM

No, not especially, 'cause he can do it a different way that he already knows works for him I suppose - but I was just wondering if his particular problem or situation, and our response, might help someone else.

PangingJr · Dec 10, 2006, 07:27 AM

ok, then i think...

"my rant for today"

will then not be a bad idea after all if we could make it to be a worthwhile thread.

so let's see the questions.

HawgsHead · Dec 10, 2006, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swimtech

Yeah, you do have a good point there, I don't work on many computers over 4 years old - except my own...

HawgsHead - what specific problems you having? Come back at us! With your systems maybe the software is just too slow!!!

There is no problem or situtation...I was just bored and was just seeing if the thing works...which it never has...for me that is.

HawgsHead · Dec 10, 2006, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PangingJr

so you think the actule meaning of the messages that HawgsHead post above is actually about he wants some help in using Windows Updates?

hmm i didn't see he asked any questions on the initial post, or did he?

Thank you!

Dyre Straits · Dec 10, 2006, 08:15 PM

I'll give you an example of one of the Windows Updates that totally messed up my sound:

My previous mobo, ABIT IC7-G, uses RealTek onboard audio. Windows Updates detected new drivers for my hardware. One day, when I was in a little hurry, I clicked that update without paying attention. Guess what it installed? C-Media Drivers!

I had quite a time troubleshooting why it was that my sound quit working.

Now, this was entirely my own fault for not paying attention. I do NOT let Windows automatically update my system. I choose to download updates and install them at my own discretion. This was just one of those oversights I'm sure we've all experienced at one time or another.

But, it does go to show that Windows Updates cannot be trusted to do hardware updates indiscriminately.

I think PangingJr will remember this little episode, too.

swimtech · Dec 10, 2006, 08:42 PM

Right Dyre,
I have to pay close attention as well - or else...

On the desktop at home, I have two onboard sound devices - one an ADI codec chip, which I do not use directly - the other is the audio codec built into the VIA chipset on the mainboard. The VIA chipset audio works for all the software I and the family run (Sims was an issue back then, plus all the ATI MMC stuff with the installed tuner, DVD playback software, etc. - you can imagine...), and I need for it to be left alone.

If I were to let Windows update do the audio - shoot, I don't even know what I would be letting myself in for - and ignorance in this case is bliss... It just works...

Yup, update your device drivers by using the manufacturer's stuff (and you need to know what you've got), unless it's old and you just can't do it any other way, is a good guiding principle - and even then you take your chances...

PangingJr · Dec 11, 2006, 09:34 AM

http://groups.google.com/group/micro...date+&start=0&

many XP users have experienced the same problems, Windows systems have became unstable and cannot be easily recovered, or worst of all, unbootable, and this when they have tried to install some of the drivers that are availble at Windows Update's.

this is only one XP newsgroup, let alone the whole of newsgroups which related to Windows. i can access informations, a lot more case problems if you're interested to see and really want to read more...

anyway, good practice and advices about the Windows Update's drivers have already been given by everyone in this thread.

Dec 9, 2006, 07:12 PM	#1
HawgsHead Rest In Peace Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Danville Virginia.The United States of America"In the God of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob We Trust" Posts: 2,012 Rep Power: 0	Windows XP"Update drivers over the internet" function..... Oh what a piece of shit this.....feature?????.......is!I have been running XP sence it came out and I have NEVER seen this feature work.Not 1 time!!!Just for grins..and the fact that i'm bord.I used this feature on every piece of hardware I could find.NOT 1 TIME did it work!!!!!Well,thats my rant for today. __________________ Rig specs to the left in the boxes....X-Box 360 w/Hitachi 42" HDTV....If Darwins theory of evolution is true then why are monkeys still monkeys?It takes much more faith to believe in Darwin's theory over the Genesis account of creation.

Dec 9, 2006, 10:17 PM	#2
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Yeah, Know what you need first - then go get it straight from the company who made the device or the software that is being updated - for sure... Windows update does generally work fine though for updating Windows and other Microsoft software - but I wouldn't use it for updating any device drivers - that's what you mean isn't it? __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dec 10, 2006, 07:20 AM	#7
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	No, not especially, 'cause he can do it a different way that he already knows works for him I suppose - but I was just wondering if his particular problem or situation, and our response, might help someone else. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dec 10, 2006, 08:42 PM	#12
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Right Dyre, I have to pay close attention as well - or else... On the desktop at home, I have two onboard sound devices - one an ADI codec chip, which I do not use directly - the other is the audio codec built into the VIA chipset on the mainboard. The VIA chipset audio works for all the software I and the family run (Sims was an issue back then, plus all the ATI MMC stuff with the installed tuner, DVD playback software, etc. - you can imagine...), and I need for it to be left alone. If I were to let Windows update do the audio - shoot, I don't even know what I would be letting myself in for - and ignorance in this case is bliss... It just works... Yup, update your device drivers by using the manufacturer's stuff (and you need to know what you've got), unless it's old and you just can't do it any other way, is a good guiding principle - and even then you take your chances... __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Dec 10, 2006, 07:04 AM	#6
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	so you think the actule meaning of the messages that HawgsHead post above is actually about he wants some help in using Windows Updates? hmm i didn't see he asked any questions on the initial post, or did he?

Dec 10, 2006, 07:27 AM	#8
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	ok, then i think... "my rant for today" will then not be a bad idea after all if we could make it to be a worthwhile thread. so let's see the questions.

Dec 11, 2006, 09:34 AM	#13
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	http://groups.google.com/group/micro...date+&start=0& many XP users have experienced the same problems, Windows systems have became unstable and cannot be easily recovered, or worst of all, unbootable, and this when they have tried to install some of the drivers that are availble at Windows Update's. this is only one XP newsgroup, let alone the whole of newsgroups which related to Windows. i can access informations, a lot more case problems if you're interested to see and really want to read more... anyway, good practice and advices about the Windows Update's drivers have already been given by everyone in this thread.