How to Download Drivers for Your Dell PC / Notebook
January 15th, 2008
If you own a Dell computer or laptop, it is safe to say that at some point in time, you will need to get drivers for the hardware. Maybe you’ve had to perform a fresh load of the operating system and you’ve misplaced your driver disc or maybe your hardware is running poorly and you’re hoping the latest drivers will fix your problem. A friend of mine ran into this a few days ago, but he got a little lost in how to accomplish this. Dell didn’t really help things by not giving direct access to the downloads from the homepage. Here’s what you do:
- Go to Dell’s homepage.
- From the menu at the top, select My Account (don’t worry that you don’t have one).
- Select the Support tab from the top of the page.
- Under Choose a Support Option, click the Drivers and Downloads link (or icon).
- From the Select Your Product Model section, you have two way of specifying your system, Select Model and Enter a Tag.
Select Model will take you through a series of options to specify your computer. You have to designate whether its a desktop or a notebook, then the product line, and finally the model.
Enter a Tag makes things much simpler. Just input your service tag into the textbox and click Go. Your service tag is located on the bottom of your notebook or on the side or back of your desktop.
- Once you specified the model, it’s time to narrow down the search criteria. You need to specify the Operating System of the computer and the Driver Language. You can also use the Category and Importance dropdowns to narrow your result list.
- Below the criteria selection, you will find a list of items with a count of how many files each one contains.
Click the + next to the desired item to expand it and reveal the desired drivers.
- You can download the desired driver at this time, or, if you are looking for more than one driver, you can select Add To My Downloads.
Using Add To My Downloads allows you to build a single page of links to the desired drivers. When you have finished selecting your drivers, click the View and Edit Your List link on the right side of the page.
It will take you to your Downloads List, where you can download each selected driver.
- Once you have downloaded the desired executable(s) from the Dell site, run it. Follow the prompts and the drivers will be installed on your computer.
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 am
No doubt, this information is very useful to all DELL Pc/Notebook users.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 am
Thanks for this insight I’m just about to format my laptop so this will come in handy.
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I have done it, and it works!
January 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Umm…no offense but this is something 99% of people already know or can easily find. It’s not just for laptops either.
Why not write an article on Dell’s Support Center software? It’s likely that not many people know about it.
It’s a program you can install on your PC - laptop or Desktop - and it will provide you with everything you need to know about your computer. It will also provide you with a direct link to all the downloads specific to your machine.
Additionally, it provides you with tutorials, self-help, links to support directly from Dell, your computer’s Service Tag and Express Service Code (you’d normally have to look on the bottom of your laptop or back of your desktop to locate this info), and it also shows you the exact date your warranty expires.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Now, that’s an article worth spending the time publishing!
Check it out:
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/services/en/dsc_home?c=us&l=en&s=gen&redirect=1
**In case you’re wondering, no, I don’t work for Dell. I just thought you might be interested in something worth reading - and using.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:20 am
@sko: I disagree with your assessment of the article. Your 99% is a bogus figure. Quite a few users have problems getting drivers for their Dell equipment. Dell’s support has degraded over the past few years and it is good for simple tutorials like this one to be posted on the web.
As far as the article goes: simple, straight forward, and informative. Nice job.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:12 am
@DrSyn: Yeah, you’re right. After all, if I have a technical issue with my computer, I would have never known to look at the support page of the manufacturer’s website or to call them to get additional help.
Further, even if you didn’t have the brains to do that, I’m sure you could at least Google ‘Dell Notebook or PC drivers’, right?! You’ve heard of Google, no?! Give me a break.
Odds are, if you’re reading the articles on this website or RSS feed, you’ve probably got a bit more technical knowledge than Grandpa. Therefore, while you may not know everything about your laptop or PC, you probably would know to check Dell’s website, call them, or at the very least, Google it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on the posting’s author for trying to disseminate helpful information. My point was that there is a much better, and easier, way to get help for these issues - ESPECIALLY - for people who may not know to go to Dell’s website for help. And, the program will even help them learn more detail about their system.
Finally, drivers have nothing to do with Dell. They work directly with the hardware inside your laptop or PC. Quit blaming Dell’s bad customer service (I agree with you) for having difficulty locating drivers. Many times, you can find them very easily by Google-ing them.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:43 am
@sko: Ouch! Didn’t mean to hit a nerve. Points taken though. I just figured that the article was tagged as Tips for Beginners for a reason. My bad.
January 27th, 2008 at 2:57 am
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February 13th, 2008 at 10:10 am
[…] … gmecha: news for laws - Last Updated - Friday February 8 Request a Trackback How to Download Drivers for Your Dell PC / Notebook If you own a Dell computer or laptop, it is safe to say that at some point in time, you will need […]
August 5th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
My complaint is that you don’t seem to have a “download all” option. I hvae over 70 updates to download. You’re telling me i have to sit here and click “Download” for each individual one? Come on!