Windows XP has a host of internal and system drivers that it uses on a daily basis (or whenever you use your computer) to ensure the smooth operations of all software and hardware in your computer set up. This includes hardware like mouse drivers, keyboard drivers, graphics card, system essentials, other hardware, internal hardware, motherboard and Windows drivers. This is not a complete list, there are a ton of drivers that are needed and just to get an idea of how many, take the time to explore the ‘System and System 32' files in your Windows root folder (usually on your C drive).

Anything with a shell or .dll extension is a driver that your OS will be using to launch any number of applications and to ensure all of your hardware needs are met. One of the main problems that are encountered when you do not update Windows drivers is of course the Device Manager error codes, which happens when a hardware fails to install properly.

The thing is, it is down to the super structure of the OS, which essentially is designed to provide you with the least amount of hassle when it comes to installing new hardware. It does this by having a list of drivers at the ready for a whole host of available manufacturers and their hardware, stored somewhere in the root drive.

Since driver files are normally very small, as they consist normally of only instruction and constructed code, Microsoft is able to constantly update and add new device signatures into its data banks, which means that the range of products that it is able to recognise on a daily basis is then updated.

This usually happens when you have the ‘automatic update' service, where the main Microsoft server will download the files into your computer (which will more than often require a restart) and update it. Now even if you do this and some problems still occur, you are still able to update driver files for hardware profiles that are giving you plenty of problems and how you do this is to go into the device manager itself and select the driver source.

There is an option to update automatically, whereby Windows will connect to the appropriate servers and try to find an updated version. This is very important because having the most up to date drivers means that you will have a computer that is running optimally, fast and will not have crashes due to driver conflicts. All your hardware will work properly and you will not have to go through the entire investigative process just to find out that all you needed to do was a simple software update

As you can see, updating Windows XP drivers regularly is very important in maintaining the integrity of your computer and all the expensive hardware that you have bought in the course of your computing. And the best thing of all, updating is extremely simple to execute. All it takes is a few quick clicks of the mouse, and you're done.