Driver updates X 1000

If you really, really want to make sure you have the latest drivers on your Intel-based MOBO — here are some things I learned recently:

1) Run DriverAgent to get an idea of which drivers are outdated; You don’t need to pay to get the drivers if you are willing to do a little work.

2) Download the relevant INF update utility from Intel. For most modern Intel chipsets, this is the one you want: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProductID=816&DwnldID=16023 

3) Run the installer with the “-a” command line switch. This will put all the driver files in c:\program files (x86)\Intel\INFupdate (or similar).

4) Go to the Device Manager. Choose View Devices by Connection. Go to PCI Bus and update each device under there manually using the “browse computer for driver updates” and point to the directory from the previous step.

Bonus tip:

You might want to check that your HD drives are running in AHCI mode if available. Before you try to switch you’ll need to make a small registry change (it is a safe one) or Windows will Blue Screen on startup. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976