How to identify malfunctioning hardware drivers with Windows Device Manager on Windows 11
![](/images/site-logo.png)
How to identify missing or malfunctioning drivers with Windows Device Manager
To see which of your devices have a missing or malfunctioning driver:
- Step1: On your keyboard, press the
Windows logo key
andR
at the same time to invoke the Run box. - Step2: Type
devmgmt.msc
and clickOK
.
(There are other ways to open Device Manager; it changes depending on your version of Windows. But the above method works for all versions of Windows, including Windows 11, 10 and 7.)
- Step3: Expand a category (e.g. Display Adapters) to see the devices in that category. If you see a yellow triangle or question mark next to a device, Windows has detected that it has a missing or malfunctioning driver.
- Step4: If you see this yellow mark, you can try to
update
orreinstall
the driver.
Download Driver Easy FREE
If you’re having computer issues, the first thing you should do is see if it has outdated drivers. If it does, updating them will very often fix things.
And for this, our tool, Driver Easy FREE, is the ideal solution.
Driver Easy FREE is a driver update tool used by more than 3 million customers around the world. It will automatically identify and download all the drivers you need, so all you have to do is install them.
In other words, it eliminates the need to find and download your drivers the difficult way (via the manufacturer’s website).
You don’t need to know what system your computer is running, you don’t need to scour the web for the right driver download, and you don’t need to risk downloading the wrong driver. Driver Easy does it all for you, automatically. No computer knowledge needed, and it’s completely free.
This page describes how to do this.
The free version will identify all your outdated drivers, and allow you to download them all. But only one at a time and, once they’re downloaded, you have to manually install them using the standard Windows process. (To automatically update all your drivers with 1 click, you’ll need the Pro version of Driver Easy . Don’t worry, it comes with a 30-day, no-questions-asked, money back satisfaction guarantee.)
Why you can’t rely on Windows to keep your drivers up-to-date
Windows comes with an inbuilt tool, called ‘Windows Update’, that’s supposed to automatically keep your drivers up to date. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work very well.
There are two reasons why…
Device manufacturers often take a long time to get their drivers into a Windows Update – It’s a time-consuming and difficult process. Sometimes they just miss the deadline and have to wait ‘til the next Windows Update, and sometimes they just give up altogether. In fact, for older devices, this is the norm.
Windows Update ignores driver updates it considers ‘optional’ – It categorizes driver updates as either ‘critical’, ‘automatic’ or ‘optional’, and it doesn’t usually concern itself with the ‘optional’ ones – even when they’re actually important. You can install them manually by going to the ‘Optional updates’ screen but, even then, as described above, you’re unlikely to get all the latest drivers.
Why update your drivers in Windows 11, 10 & Windows 7?
Many computer issues are caused by outdated device drivers. Particularly in Windows 10/11.
So if your computer has slowed down, you should update your drivers. If it’s crashing or hanging, update your drivers. If you can’t connect to the internet, update your drivers. If your mouse, keyboard, monitor or speakers are acting up, update your drivers. In fact, no matter what your issue, there’s a good chance updating your drivers will fix it.
To understand why, you first have to understand what drivers actually are…
Try Driver Easy for free
If you want the certainty of knowing your device drivers are always up to date (and not just sometimes up to date, which is all you get from Windows Device Manager), and you don’t have the time, patience or computer skills to continually update them manually, give the free version of Driver Easy a try.
The free version will identify all your outdated drivers, and allow you to download them all. But only one at a time and, once they’re downloaded, you have to manually install them using the standard Windows process. (To automatically update all your drivers with 1 click, you’ll need the Pro version of Driver Easy . Don’t worry, it comes with a 30-day, no-questions-asked, money back satisfaction guarantee.)
What are drivers?
Drivers are like interpreters between Windows and your devices. For example, when Windows needs to display something on your monitor, it sends a command to your graphics card, and your graphics card then displays what Windows wants on your monitor.
But Windows and your graphics card don’t actually speak the same language. To understand each other, they need a translator. That translator is called a driver. It takes the Windows command and translates it into something your graphics card can understand. Your graphics card can then do as it’s told, and display the right thing on your monitor.
Similarly, if your graphics card needs to send some sort of response back to Windows, the driver translates the response into something Windows can understand.
In this example, what we’re talking about is a video driver, but your computer has many other drivers on it too – one for each device. Your speakers, your printer, your mouse, your USB hard drives, your network card, your keyboard and so on – they each have an associated driver.
And without all these drivers, none of your devices will work.
Also read:
- How to remove Google FRP Lock on Magic 6 Pro
- How to recover lost data from Honor Magic 6?
- How to Downgrade iPhone 14 Plus to an Older iOS Version? | Dr.fone
- How to Recover Deleted Notes from iPhone 14 Plus? | Stellar
- How to Recover Deleted Photos from Android Gallery App on Xiaomi 13T Pro
- How to Reset iPhone 15 Pro Without Apple Password? | Stellar
- How to retrieve erased call logs from Asus ROG Phone 7 Ultimate?
- How to play AVCHD MTS files on Defy 2?
- 4 Ways to Transfer Music from Poco C50 to iPhone | Dr.fone
- How To Restore Missing Call Logs from Samsung Galaxy XCover 6 Pro Tactical Edition
- 4 Ways to Transfer Music from Lava Agni 2 5G to iPhone | Dr.fone
- How To Recover Whatsapp Chat History From iPhone 14 Pro | Stellar
- How To Restore Missing Photos Files from Vivo G2.
- How to Fix the Unable to Record Macro Error in Excel? | Stellar
- How To Transfer Data From iPhone 11 Pro Max To Other iPhone 14 Pro devices? | Dr.fone
- How to recover data from dead iPhone 7 Plus | Stellar
- How to Rescue Lost Messages from Honor Play 7T
- 2 Ways to Transfer Text Messages from Realme V30T to iPhone 15/14/13/12/11/X/8/ | Dr.fone
- How to Rescue Lost Photos from Nokia G42 5G?
- How To Recover Lost Data of iPhone 15 Plus? | Dr.fone
- 2 Ways to Transfer Text Messages from Oppo Reno 9A to iPhone 15/14/13/12/11/X/8/ | Dr.fone
- How to recover deleted photos from Android Gallery after format on Motorola Edge 40 Pro
- How to restore wiped messages on Honor Play 8T
- How to Rescue Lost Videos from Nokia 105 Classic
- 5 Easy Ways to Copy Contacts from Poco M6 5G to iPhone 14 and 15 | Dr.fone
- How to restore wiped messages on Y200e 5G
- How to Factory Reset iPhone XS and iPad Without Apple ID | Stellar
- How to recover deleted photos from Android Gallery without backup on Moto G34 5G
- How to retrieve erased music from Honor Magic5 Ultimate
- How to Recover Deleted Photos from Android Gallery App on X5
- How to identify malfunctioning your hardware drivers with Windows Device Manager in Windows 11/10/7
- How to Downgrade iPhone 7 Plus without Losing Data? | Dr.fone
- How to Rescue Lost Photos from Tecno ?
- 5 Easy Ways to Copy Contacts from Vivo T2 Pro 5G to iPhone 14 and 15 | Dr.fone
- How to Remove MDM from iPhone XS Max without losing data?
- How To Restore Missing Call Logs from Tecno Spark 10 4G
- How to Recover Deleted Photos, Videos & Music Files from iPhone 15 | Stellar
- How to Repair a Damaged video file of Vivo G2 using Video Repair Utility on Mac?
- How To Transfer Data From iPhone 12 Pro Max To Other iPhone 15 devices? | Dr.fone
- How to sign .dotx file free
- How to fix videos not playing with my Realme ?
- How to insert signature in .xltm files
- How to restore wiped videos on Infinix
- 5 Easy Ways to Copy Contacts from Oppo Reno 9A to iPhone 14 and 15 | Dr.fone
- Solutions to Spy on Oppo Reno 9A with and without jailbreak | Dr.fone
- Top 11 Free Apps to Check IMEI on Apple iPhone 6s
- How To Change Motorola G24 Power Lock Screen Clock in Seconds
- How to Change Netflix Location to Get More Country Version On Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max | Dr.fone
- 7 Ways to Unlock a Locked Samsung Galaxy M34 Phone
- In 2024, 3 Solutions to Find Your Xiaomi 14 Pro Current Location of a Mobile Number | Dr.fone
- Can I use iTools gpx file to catch the rare Pokemon On Vivo S17t | Dr.fone
- 2024 Approved Cut Out the Middleman 7 Free Video Trimmers with No Watermark
- 2024 Approved Make the Most of Your Mobile Audience Resizing Videos for Vertical Playback
- How to Change Lock Screen Wallpaper on ZTE Axon 40 Lite
- Forgot Locked Apple iPhone XR Password? Learn the Best Methods To Unlock | Dr.fone
- In 2024, 10 Free Location Spoofers to Fake GPS Location on your Nokia C210 | Dr.fone
- Quickly Remove Google FRP Lock on Smart 8
- Easily Unlock Your Lava Blaze Curve 5G Device SIM
- In 2024, 15 Best Strongest Pokémon To Use in Pokémon GO PvP Leagues For Huawei Nova Y71 | Dr.fone
- Title: How to identify malfunctioning hardware drivers with Windows Device Manager on Windows 11
- Author: Nova
- Created at : 2024-05-19 18:32:12
- Updated at : 2024-05-21 02:34:23
- Link: https://blog-min.techidaily.com/how-to-identify-malfunctioning-hardware-drivers-with-windows-device-manager-on-windows-11-by-drivereasy-guide/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.