How to use Device Manager to troubleshoot Windows 10

It is useful to think of Windows Device Manager as a real-life office manager. Managers - for the most part - are not directly involved in any tangible product development but are responsible for managing employees, with Device Manager playing a similar role.

How to update drivers using Device Manager

Device Manager is also very useful when you have to update outdated drivers, especially when Windows Update stops working.

First, open Windows Device Manager, then follow the steps:

Step 1. Click the hardware category that you want to update. (Assuming you want to update one of the System device drivers, click System device and select a specific driver).

Step 2. Right click on the driver and select Update driver.

Step 3. Now, select Search automatically for drivers and let the process complete.

Device Manager will then search for the latest driver update on your PC and install it. But if Device Manager finds that you already have the most up-to-date version of the driver, it will give you a notification. In the example case, the device was running the latest version, as you can see below.

But if you confirm that the driver is not up to date, then you can download it directly from the manufacturer's website and install it using Device Manager.

Check the status of installed hardware

It's not a bad idea to check Device Manager if your computer's hardware is acting abnormally.

After you open Device Manager, expand the type of device you want to check. From there, right-click on a specific driver and open the Properties section.

Then, from the General tab in the dialog, look in the Device Status box to confirm its status. If the device status is "working properly", then the hardware shouldn't have any driver problems and you can look for other causes.

However, if there's a problem with the component, you'll see a description or error code related to the problem. However, the description or error code itself will not give you any information on how to fix the driver itself.

Fix corrupted drivers with Device Manager

Just as there is no single way to handle the complexities of life, Windows 10 also has several methods to fix your corrupted device drivers. One such method is through Device Manager.

If the device driver is damaged, you can use Windows Device Manager to uninstall the faulty device and then reinstall the clean version.

Step 1. Open Device Manager, right click on the corrupted driver and select Uninstall device.

Step 2. Now, restart your PC.

After rebooting, Windows will automatically detect your system configuration, find and reinstall the removed drivers. However, if the reinstallation doesn't happen, you'll have to do it manually through Device Manager.

Tải xuống driver theo cách thủ công từ nhà sản xuất phần cứng của bạn trực tuyến. Nếu bạn nhận được file ZIP, hãy giải nén nó, sau đó làm theo các bước bên dưới:

Bước 1. Mở Device Manager, nhấp chuột phải vào driver cụ thể.

Bước 2. Bây giờ hãy nhấp vào Update driver > Browse my computer for drivers.

Chọn file driver mà bạn đã tải xuống từ trang web của nhà sản xuất và nhấp vào Next. Driver cập nhật nhất sẽ sớm được cài đặt trên PC của bạn. Khởi động lại PC một lần để các thay đổi có hiệu lực.

Windows Device Manager giúp việc quản lý phần cứng Windows của bạn trở nên dễ dàng và thuận tiện hơn. Trong những năm qua, Microsoft đã giới thiệu một loạt các công cụ như vậy để cải thiện hiệu suất của hệ điều hành Windows 10, điều mà hãng này hy vọng sẽ tiếp tục làm được trong tương lai.

David Pac

Update 10 May 2022