Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott
There are four main drivers: Sound, Display, Chipset and Network. I NEVER install monitor, keyboard, mouse, optical drives, or other drivers unless it's absolutely necessary. They've always been installed automatically for me. IMO, downloading separate drivers for these devices just causes too many issues. I also rarely install chipset drivers unless it's needed for USB or some other port installed on the motherboard.
Really the only driver you need to have before you start is the network driver. I find that often times, Windows Update will download the other drivers for me after everything is setup. WU drivers are also often times more stable then manufacture releases for some reason or another. Plus they often come without any of the extra bloat programs that you don't need.
Once installed, I also NEVER update the drivers unless I have a reason to do so. I always see tech threads where someone is all the sudden having an issue, and everyone says to update the drivers like it's going to magically fix something that just started happening. Rarely have I ever had drivers become corrupt or stop working with properly functioning hardware. I'm talking over 100s of PC's (XP, Vista, Win7) built for myself, others, and the company I work with. If it isn't broke, don't try and fix it... I update drivers if I need to do something that requires an updated driver, or there is a security issue with the old driver.
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Great information! That clears up a few of those "basic questions with 10,000 wrong answers."
Sorry to bug you once more, but I'm also going to consider a small RAM upgrade. I don't want to put too much into this, but my mapping/modding experiments usually require having several things open at a time, e.g. the game, the med, tools & utilities, etc. There are so many myths spread around by wannabe's that it's hard to tell if it's worth it.
Basically, if I "downgrade" to XP, will performance be generally faster? The PC has 1GB of RAM loaded on it (using two 512 sticks), and I know Vista requires a minimum of 512MB-1GB depending on the version. Given that XP requires around 64-128MB, I assume the answer is a simple "yes." If so, which specs on the RAM need to match the original? I assume it needs to remain DDR2 and PC2-4200, but is the 240-pin also a requirement? Latency? Voltage? Just want to make sure I don't screw this up.