Reinstalling Software 117Reinstalling SoftwareDriversWhat Is a Driver?A driver is a program that controls a device such as a printer, mouse, orkeyboard. All devices require a driver program.A driver acts like a translator between the device and any other programs thatuse the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that onlyits driver recognizes.Dell ships your computer to you with required drivers already installed—nofurther installation or configuration is needed.NOTICE: The Drivers and Utilities media may contain drivers for operating systemsthat are not on your computer. Ensure that you are installing software appropriatefor your operating system.Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with your MicrosoftWindows operating system. You may need to install drivers if you:• Upgrade your operating system.• Reinstall your operating system.• Connect or install a new device.Identifying DriversIf you experience a problem with any device, identify whether the driver is thesource of your problem and, if necessary, update the driver.Microsoft® Windows® XP1 Click Start→ Control Panel.2 Under Pick a Category, click Performance and Maintenance, and clickSystem.3 In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab, and click DeviceManager.
