Driver directory

Browse plain-English explainers for every driver on your PC — what it does, the errors it causes, and how to keep it healthy.

22 Results

Graphics

Graphics driver

The graphics driver is the software layer that lets Windows and its applications speak to your GPU. This reference explains WDDM, TDR recovery, the Code 43 GPU fault, and how to update safely through Windows Update or your PC maker's support page for your exact model.

graphicsSupports 2 OS

Audio

Audio driver

The audio driver connects the onboard High Definition Audio codec to the Windows sound stack. This reference explains the HD Audio bus, the audio endpoint model, crackle and latency faults, and how to update through Windows Update or your PC maker's support page for your exact model.

audioSupports 2 OS

tight crop of the panel corner with the OSD menu open

Display/Monitor

Display monitor driver

The monitor driver is the small INF that tells Windows what your panel can do. This reference explains EDID, the Generic PnP Monitor entry, colour profiles, wrong-resolution faults, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your monitor maker's support page for your exact model.

monitorSupports 2 OS

HDMI/Display Audio

HDMI display audio driver

The HDMI display audio driver carries sound over the same HDMI or DisplayPort cable that carries video. This reference explains how the GPU embeds audio in the display stream, why the endpoint disappears, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your PC maker's support page for your model.

hdmi-audioSupports 2 OS

Sound Card

Sound card driver

The sound card driver operates a discrete PCIe or USB audio interface with its own converters and headphone amplifier. This reference explains ASIO, sample-clock handling, latency, and how to refresh the driver through Windows Update or your interface maker's support page for your exact model.

sound-cardSupports 2 OS

Webcam

Webcam driver

The webcam driver operates a UVC camera and its image signal processor, feeding video to your conferencing apps. This reference explains UVC, the ISP pipeline, privacy permissions, black-image faults, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your PC maker's support page for your exact model.

webcamSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the M.2 module and its gold edge fingers

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi adapter driver

How the Wi-Fi adapter driver drives your wireless network interface card over 802.11ac and 802.11ax, why keeping it current protects roaming and throughput, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your laptop maker's support page for your exact model.

wifiSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the dongle with two signal arcs

Bluetooth

Bluetooth radio driver

How the Bluetooth radio driver bridges Windows to the Host Controller Interface, drives pairing, A2DP audio and Low Energy profiles, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your laptop maker's support page for your exact model.

bluetoothSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the RJ45 port with its LEDs lit

Network Adapter

Network adapter driver

How the network adapter driver implements the NDIS miniport that Windows binds to, manages hardware offloads and protocol bindings, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your device maker's support page for your exact model.

networkSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the RJ45 head and contacts

Ethernet/LAN

Ethernet LAN driver

How the Ethernet LAN driver runs the wired MAC and PHY, negotiates link speed and duplex over the RJ45 cable, handles Energy-Efficient Ethernet and wake-on-LAN, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your board maker's support page for your exact model.

ethernetSupports 2 OS

USB

USB xHCI controller driver

How the USB xHCI controller driver runs the host controller, enumerates devices, schedules the four endpoint types, manages selective suspend and hubs, and how to refresh it through Windows Update or your board maker's support page for your exact model.

usbSupports 2 OS

tight crop on 6 keys with one switch exposed

Keyboard

Keyboard driver

How the Windows keyboard driver stack turns key presses into HID scan codes, why keeping kbdhid.sys and i8042prt.sys healthy matters, and how to update through Windows Update or your keyboard maker's model support page.

keyboardSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the scroll wheel and main buttons

Mouse

Mouse driver

How the Windows mouse driver stack turns optical sensor counts into cursor movement, why mouhid.sys and vendor software matter for DPI and polling, and how to update via Windows Update or your mouse maker's model support page.

mouseSupports 2 OS

Touchpad

Touchpad driver

How the laptop touchpad driver turns capacitive finger data into cursor motion and gestures, why the Precision Touchpad path over I2C HID matters, and how to update through Windows Update or your laptop maker's model support page.

touchpadSupports 2 OS

Game Controller

Game controller driver

How the game controller driver exposes gamepads to Windows through XInput and DirectInput, why Xbox, DualSense and third-party pads differ, and how to update via Windows Update or your controller maker's model support page.

gamepadSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the sensor with the ridge pattern

Fingerprint Reader

Fingerprint reader driver

How the fingerprint reader driver connects a biometric sensor to Windows Hello through the WBF framework, why match-on-sensor and secure enclaves matter, and how to update via Windows Update or your laptop maker's model support page.

fingerprintSupports 2 OS

Chipset

Chipset driver

A chipset driver teaches Windows how to talk to the Platform Controller Hub, its PCIe root ports, SMBus, and power-state logic so the rest of your hardware enumerates correctly.

chipsetSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the socket and VRM heatsinks

Motherboard

Motherboard utility driver

A motherboard utility driver exposes the Super I/O and embedded-controller sensors, fan headers, and RGB rails so vendor tuning apps can read temperatures and drive PWM fan curves.

motherboardSupports 2 OS

BIOS/UEFI Firmware

BIOS/UEFI firmware

BIOS/UEFI firmware is the code on the board's SPI flash chip that trains memory, initialises PCIe, and publishes the ACPI tables Windows relies on before the OS ever loads.

biosSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the TPM module and header pins

TPM

TPM driver

The TPM driver connects Windows to the Trusted Platform Module, letting BitLocker seal keys to Platform Configuration Registers and satisfying the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 requirement.

tpmSupports 2 OS

tight crop on the controller chip and edge connector

NVMe SSD

NVMe SSD controller driver

The NVMe driver drives PCIe solid-state storage through parallel submission and completion queues, handling the protocol, Host Memory Buffer, and power states your SSD depends on.

nvmeSupports 2 OS

Card Reader

Card reader driver

The card reader driver runs the SD host controller that bridges SD, SDHC, SDXC, and microSD cards to the PC, negotiating UHS speed modes and presenting cards as removable volumes.

card-readerSupports 2 OS