Driver Set
Update USB Drivers Free: The Dangers Involved with Free Downloads
When you start searching for ways to update your USB drivers, you will see tons of free download sites. At first you may think you have hit the jackpot but you need to consider the dangers of downloading from such sites. It may not happen intentionally on their part, but it could happen.
Old Versions Cause Problems
Even the best free sites can only offer you so much. They do not have the time, the staff, or the money to keep every driver up-to-date and working well. They do their best and will try to have the latest drivers. However, drivers are regularly updated and it can be hard to keep up.
Therefore, you may unintentionally download an out-of-date driver. Doing so can open up your computer to security holes and device problems. Old drivers can overwrite the newer drivers you already have on your computer. This can cause devices to stop working or to not work properly.
Incomplete and Corrupted Drivers
Another unintentional problem comes when sites inadvertently provide incomplete or corrupted drivers. While this generally does not happen with single drivers like sound cards, it does happen with chipsets and USB drivers. Many times, these drivers are part of a set and incomplete driver sets can cause your whole system fail.
Additionally, when free download sites allow sharing, corrupted drivers can be shared. Of course, most people will not knowingly share a corrupted driver but they may not know their driver is corrupted. Since drivers are complicated and run differently on different operating systems, they may work fine with one person and not with another.
Bundled Spyware and Adware
Spyware and adware could be intentionally or unintentionally bundled with the drivers. When users are allowed to upload and share drivers, it is almost impossible to determine the safety of the files being shared. When you are talking about a free site, you can almost guarantee spyware will be around somewhere.
When websites purposely bundle “extras” with their drivers, the chances are it is adware. Adware tracks your Internet habits and feeds it back to the company to better sell you products in the future. Most of the time, you will have no idea the adware or spyware is on your computer. However, if you get too much, you will notice significant decrease in your computer’s performance speed.
Bundled Trojans, Keyloggers, Rootkits
On the more malicious spectrum, you have all your viruses, keyloggers, Trojans, and rootkits. These are intentionally bundled to steal your private information. When you download the free drivers, you may also download the hidden virus. Depending on the virus, it will open your computer up to spying to retrieve information (like keyloggers), hijacking your home page and search results, download other malicious programs (Trojans), or completely take your computer over remotely (rootkits).
Two Ways to Safely Download Drivers
There are only two ways you can safely download new drivers. You can either go to the manufacturer’s website, or you can use driver update software. The manufacturer’s website will be free but will only have drivers for the products that manufacturer makes. Driver update software will find all the drivers you need for your computer.
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About the Author
DriverBoost’s simple and friendly interface will show you exactly what you need to do to update USB drivers in less than two minutes with just a few clicks of the mouse button.
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