A couple weeks back, I posted about an update to DriverMax (version 4.6) - a tool that allows you to import and export your drivers for disaster recovery purposes.
An area of DriverMax that I have not had the opportunity to delve into was the 'Check for driver updates' option. This function utilizes the online DriverMax driver database to compare your system and find out if there is a newer driver for your hardware (free registration is required to use this function, even if you are evaluating the software).
From what I can tell, when you register the software and use this feature, DriverMax will upload your system drivers to a central repository where it will be compared with driver versions from other users. When a newer driver is found online, you can click the download link for that driver and install it through the DriverMax interface.
I have to say, this is an interesting way to do it. The more people that use DriverMax, the better the driver database will be. DriverMax really doesn't have to do any manual uploading of drivers to keep things updated. The users will do it for them. Also, since the application is free (or ad-supported), this methodology allows them to place ads on their driver download pages and allow users to click on those ads instead of embedding them into the application.
Downloading a driver:
When you update your drivers, you are actually downloading a DriverMax driver download file (think of it like a .torrent file). Once opened, this file will queue the download in DriverMax, and prompt you when it is complete so you can install it.
After it has downloaded and you click 'Install driver', you are returned to the familiar driver installation wizard of DriverMax.Overall, a very painless affair!
Wish list:
A big thing that I would have liked to see is a driver download progress indicator. There is a log view tab that you can look at if you want to see your download/upload status, but that's about it. I spent a couple minutes wondering if my drivers were downloading or what the heck was going on.
Also, like a previous commenter mentioned, there doesn't seem to be a privacy statement anywhere, so I'd like to know exactly how my computer hardware and/or personal information will be used.
2 comments:
Although interesting and useful, notebook user should be careful when updating their driver. Some hardware need specific driver from the original vendor (i.e. VGA cards), or the hardware can be malfunctioned.
DriverMax is an excellent app! Works fine on Vista and XP, so far no problems encountered.
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