14 DAY TRIAL // Updating the drivers for the hardware components on your system is one of the most neglected jobs when it comes to keeping your computer in best shape. Windows Updates can help you with that in some cases, but it will largely provide updates for the popular hardware. Also, it will often supply generic drivers that do not release the true power of the component; ergo having the latest files from the manufacturer of the device is the best way to maintain the component at peak performance.
Device Doctor is a freebie specially designed to scan your system’s hardware and check if all the drivers are up to date. If newer versions are available, you will be provided with a download link for the latest driver. Simplicity is the keyword for the program as there are no options present, and no configuration.
The single-windowed interface allows for nothing more than starting the scan for driver updates, displaying the progress of the task and the results. To get a clearer picture on the ease of use of the application, all you have to do in order to trigger the scan and find the updates is push a single button: “Begin scan.” During our testing, none of the scans took more than one minute to complete.
Should there be any updates available, they are shown in the lower part of the interface, each with its own download button. So, the Internet connection is self-implied in this case. But Device Doctor can do the job even on computers without online access. In this case, you can export the results to an Internet-connected PC, retrieve the drivers and unload and install them on the computer that needs them.
Up to now, everything sounds just dandy, but there is a downside to the environment. First off is the lack of information about the currently installed driver version and the alternative presented. All the details provided consist in the fact that a hardware piece on the system is in need of driver update. Device Doctor does not show the latest downloadable version, and this may instill distrust in the provided file.
A beautiful fix for the matter would be to present the user complete information on the version number detected on the machine, the number of the newer version and the operating system of both the PC and latest driver. This would bring confidence in the program and in the fact that it is capable of offering OS compliant drivers. Unfortunately, this sort of details is not available either in the application interface, or on the driver download page.
What you will get out of it is a bunch of safety precautions that should be followed in order to avoid possible aftermath, should something go wrong: create a system restore point before installing the drivers (instructions for Windows 7, Vista and XP are provided). Also, as the app is at the beginning of its life, negative feedback on its behavior and the results retrieved should be reported for improving the service.
As awkward as it may seem for such a simple program, the developer ships a help file in the installer. The interesting part is that it explains the steps that need to be taken in order to manually install the downloaded driver files (unlike other software of the same feather, Device Doctor does not provide automatic installation of the data). If the downloaded file is an executable, you are lucky because all there is to it is run it and the wizard will guide you through all the steps of the installation. However, if you download an archive, which contains no executable, you’ll have to look for an INF file, right click it and select “Install” option.
As far as the accuracy of the drives returned is concerned, Device Doctor is still at the beginning of the road and has trouble determining all the driver updates necessary for the system. It worked great on XP, supplying all the necessary updates accurately. On Windows 7, however, the list of updates that should have been returned was much larger than what you can see in the pictures below. It’s important to note that those two updates presented by Device Doctor were legitimate and correct.
Compared to other applications of the same feather, Device Doctor does not offer too much information on the drivers currently installed on the system and the updated version. The simplicity of the application does not allow for automatic installation of the drivers, so the manual approach is the only solution in this sense. However, Device Doctor does not impose any limitations on driver download and can be used absolutely free of charge. DriverMax, a far more elaborate solution for updating drivers, will permit a limited number of daily downloads for free.
Overall, Device Doctor is a simple solution to scan for the latest drivers for your hardware components and download them. It lacks the features of the more complex applications bent on the same purpose, but the fact that its services are absolutely free of charge (and judging by the ads on the driver download page, I think it is safe to assume that it will continue to be freeware) may be a great advantage over similar software from other developers. User feedback on the scan results and driver retrieval will keep on improving accuracy of the program on the increasingly popular Windows 7.
All driver downloads are free of charge and you can update as many of them as you want, as often as it is necessary, without any restriction. For the users less accustomed with driver installation procedures, the help file in the application explains the entire process plain and simple, to eliminate any doubt. On all the systems we tested the application on, scanning took just a few seconds to finish. The application also comes in portable format, letting you carry it to any computer and check for driver updates. Device Doctor detected that updates to only a few devices were necessary, although a closer verification with different tools revealed that more components were in need of driver updates. User feedback is welcomed by the developer, this being the main form of improving the application. All its services are absolutely free of charge, so enhancing its accuracy when providing driver updates is a purpose attainable largely through user community.
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