Findings of a recent survey show that a majority of Windows users are unaware of the importance of keeping their drivers up-to-date. The absence of this knowledge leads to poor performance of attached hardware and frequent driver errors.
In this article, we discuss the steps you can perform to fix and prevent driver-related errors. We also discuss the following topics in this article:
- What is a driver, it???s importance, and why it is necessary to keep drivers up-to-date
- How to update built-in, as well as third-party drivers
Driver ??? A definition
Drivers are software that make communication between your computer and hardware possible. All hardware devices require a driver to function properly and each type of hardware device requires a particular type of driver to carry out its functions.
In case your drivers are outdated or not installed correctly, you may experience frequent errors, such as the airgcfg.exe error and face performance related issues.
How to update drivers
When you buy a new PC, it comes equipped with most common drivers. These are referred to as built-in drivers. Drivers that are added when you install a new hardware, such as a new audio card are referred to as third-party drivers.
- Built-in drivers ??? To update built-in drivers, regularly install new Windows Updates. To ensure that new Windows updates are automatically installed on your computer, simply keep the built-in Automatic Update feature enabled.
- Third-party drivers ??? You can update your third-party drivers either manually or with the help of a good driver update software. To update third-party drivers manually, visit the driver manufacturer???s website and install the new available updates. This approach, as you may guess is tedious. You can make the driver updation process simpler by installing a reliable driver update tool. Such tools automatically install new driver updates and security patches, as and when they are released by the driver manufacturer.
Resolve driver-related errors
To resolve driver-related errors, simply update your drivers. If the error still persists, then uninstall and then reinstall the concerned driver.
In most cases, driver errors should be resolved by now. If the error refuses to go away, perform the following additional troubleshooting steps:
- Run a malware scan ??? Malware programs, such as virus, worms, trojans, and other variants may delete or change the file association of driver files, such as the alcwzrd.exe file and cause errors. Run a complete malware scan on your PC using your security software to resolve such driver-related errors. Experts recommend that you run the malware scan twice to ensure no threat escapes detection.
- Clean your registry ??? Issues in your registry may also lead to frequent driver-related errors. That is why it is necessary that you regularly clean your registry to ensure its stay in good health. Cleaning the registry is easy, all you require is a good registry-maintenance software. Install a registry maintenance tool that is compatible with your Windows operating system and use it to clean, as well as perform other essential registry maintenance activities.