Solved Windows vs. Dell Drivers?

Alexey2912 · Jan 17, 2022

Hi,

After W11 install and updating, should I let windows drivers install OR update later by Dell laptop drivers, or it doesn't matter.

If it does, all Dell drivers or only the urgent, latest for the 5510?

Thanks.

Alexey2912 · Jan 17, 2022

Is it possible to downland multiple Dell drivers for the laptop in 1 go vs. downloading each?

Thanks.

zbook · Jan 17, 2022

Dell, HP, and Lenovo have software to find the latest drivers.
These are the best tested drivers.
Windows updates can be used too.

Dell updates are specific for the Dell model.

Windows updates may be applicable for multiple models or manufacturers (for the hardware).

The HP software can run overnight.
For Dell you'll need to view/test the options.

Alexey2912 · Jan 17, 2022

zbook said:
Dell, HP, and Lenovo have software to find the latest drivers.
These are the best tested drivers.
Windows updates can be used too.

Dell updates are specific for the Dell model.

Windows updates may be applicable for multiple models or manufacturers (for the hardware).

The HP software can run overnight.
For Dell you'll need to view/test the options.

Thanks for the expert advice. Like this Dell Assist agent

zbook · Jan 17, 2022

Yes, please run Get drivers & downloads.

Alexey2912 · Jan 17, 2022

zbook said:
Yes, please run Get drivers & downloads.

I did, had 3 new software updates, downloaded, installed required a reboot besides other tests.

Thanks.

FrancoDT · Jan 17, 2022

I've noticed some of the Dell drivers are several versions older then the windows or manufacturer drivers especially the Intel and NVIDIA drivers. For example the latest Dell NVIDIA is 23 Sep ver 30.0.14.7135 vs the 15 Dec ver 30.0.14.9729 from NVIDIA so I'm never sure which Intel and NVIDIA drivers I should go with. There doesn't seem to be a general consensus on which to use. I usually go with the latest and haven't noticed a problem thus far. I'm curious what Dell specific benefits if any are in their driver versions.

zbook · Jan 17, 2022

The drivers posted on the Dell website are the best tested drivers.

Dell cannot continue updating the drivers (in a timely fashion) for each model and this happens with Windows updates.

So Windows often has the latest drivers.

There can be bugs with the latest drivers (they are the least tested).

So when there are problems you can start with the best tested drivers and modify drivers to the most up to date drivers.

FrancoDT · Jan 17, 2022

zbook said:
The drivers posted on the Dell website are the best tested drivers.

Dell cannot continue updating the drivers (in a timely fashion) for each model and this happens with Windows updates.

So Windows often has the latest drivers.

There can be bugs with the latest drivers (they are the least tested).

So when there are problems you can start with the best tested drivers and modify drivers to the most up to date drivers.

I guess that makes since then, go with the latest and roll back to Dell's if you have any problems.

spapakons · Jan 19, 2022

As an expert user and Computer Technician, I would install all official Dell drivers, avoid Windows Update, and then update only the graphics drivers from nVidia to have the latest. For fellows with old hardware, any Windows 11 or 10 64-bit or 8 64-bit or 7 64-bit or even Vista 64-bit driver works in 11, except for some Intel Windows 7 64-bit graphics drivers that are deliberately made to fail when trying to install on Windows 8 or newer to force us upgrade our systems.

Dch48 · Mar 28, 2022

Other than graphics drivers, if something is working with the driver it has, regardless of where it came from, I leave it alone. Updated drivers are really not necessary in most cases. I only do it if the newer driver has security fixes or has better features. I go with the drivers that Windows provides 95% of the time.

spapakons · Mar 29, 2022

Drivers from Windows Update or an automatic utility such as Snappy Driver Installer usually just make the device work with basic features. No control panel to tweak performance, no advanced features, only very basic stuff. If you want maximum compatibility, control panel and access to all the advanced features, you must install the official manufacturer drivers. Don't rely on Windows Update or other utility.

barman58 · Mar 29, 2022

The only people who make drivers for Dell hardware are Dell, They supply basic versions to Microsoft and others to give basic functionality on first install. Some of these drivers will give basic functionality to several items of Dell Hardware.

I would always advise any user to install the certified Dell drivers to get the best performance and reliability. There are some third party versions of drivers that appear from time to time, issues by groups not related to Dell or any other official source - mostly to achieve better performance in games, using these would usually invalidate any warranty or support contracts in place.

EDIT

There is one other legitimate driver source, drivers are often written by the manufacturers, of discrete components used on motherboards etc, such as a sound or network chip built into the MB - these are usually safe to use, and should not invalidate warranties, though YMMV dependent on the MB manufacturer

Dch48 · Mar 29, 2022

spapakons said:
Drivers from Windows Update or an automatic utility such as Snappy Driver Installer usually just make the device work with basic features. No control panel to tweak performance, no advanced features, only very basic stuff. If you want maximum compatibility, control panel and access to all the advanced features, you must install the official manufacturer drivers. Don't rely on Windows Update or other utility.

Most of the time, no control panel or advanced features are needed, I have found that only sound and graphics drivers can need those things. Interestingly enough, the graphics drivers now provided by Windows (both AMD and Nvidia) do give you the control software. That wasn't always the case previously. They just may not be the most recent versions.

The-Hive · Mar 29, 2022

Best to use Dell for the drivers and to avoid these programs that check for available drivers other than SupportAssist. You can also go onto their website under find drivers and enter you service tag and find drivers just for your pc

spapakons · Mar 29, 2022

Using Dell drivers is safe, but for most recent graphics drivers it normally doesn't harm to download the latest from Intel/nVidia/AMD. There are a few rare exceptions that the hardware is customized by Dell or whatever the laptop manufacturer is and the official drivers may produce BSOD. In these rare circumstances you have to stick with Dell drivers only. In all other cases I prefer the official chip manufacturer drivers for best performance. My job is to install Windows among others. After every installation, I install the manufacturer drivers for everything but the graphics. I always install the latest official Intel/nVidia/AMD graphics drivers to get the best out of the graphics card. If a chipset driver is available for Windows 7 64-bit or later, I will install this before anything else to maximize system stability and performance.

barman58 · Mar 29, 2022

For discrete devices that plug into the PCIe or other system bus then I would always use the latest driver from the chip or card manufacturer, in the case of devices incorporated into the motherboard or otherwize into the system, the Dell, (or other system manufacturers), are usually best drivers to install as it is usual for the manufacturer to modify the setup of the device to some extent

CornishRattler · Mar 29, 2022

The-Hive said:
Best to use Dell for the drivers and to avoid these programs that check for available drivers other than SupportAssist. You can also go onto their website under find drivers and enter you service tag and find drivers just for your pc

As said above, the Dell graphic, chipset and network drivers are woefully out of date though. I always update these from the respective manufacturer sites

spapakons · Mar 29, 2022

In computers that have third-party components (graphics, audio, Wi-Fi etc) the best is to visit each manufacturer site and download the latest drivers. Download from Dell or whatever other manufacturer drivers for only their own components. Of course this is rather tedious and the next best thing is to download everything from Dell and upgrade only the graphics drivers from the chip manufacturer. For my own systems I prefer the first option (visit the individual components download site) to maximize performance. First install the chipset (platform) drivers, if available, then the graphics drivers and then everything else. Using this order minimizes the risk of BSOD because other devices depend on the chipset and you may cause an incompatibility if you install the chipset drivers after the rest components. This is mostly a risk for older systems. Newer systems rarely have this issue, but better safe than sorry.

The-Hive · Mar 29, 2022

CornishRattler said:
As said above, the Dell graphic, chipset and network drivers are woefully out of date though. I always update these from the respective manufacturer sites

I am never in any great rush to update, I wait for them except for Chipset and Bios, always Alienware/Dell Nvidia etc. I agree with Barman in posts #13 and #17

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