staReinstalling SoftwareDriversWhat Is a Driver?A driver is a program that controls a device s uch as a printer, mouse, or keyboard. All devices re quirea driver program.A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs that use the device. Eachdevice has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver recognizes.Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed—no further installation orconfiguration is needed.NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities CD may contain drivers for operating systems that are not on yourcomputer. Ensure that you are installing software appropriate for your operating system.®Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your Microsoft® Wi n dow sYou may need to install drivers if you:• Upgrade your operating system.• Reinstall your operating system.• Connect or install a new device.operating system.Identifying DriversIf you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is the source of yourproblem and, if necessary, update the driver.Microsoft Windows XP1 Click Start→Control Pa nel.2 Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance.3 Click System.4 In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.5 Click Device Manager.Microsoft Windows Vi ®1 Click the Wi ndows Vi sta Start button, , and right-click Computer.Reinstalling Software 99
