Drives and drivers

[PLAZ]

What is the difference between drives and drivers?

[EzyStvy]

Drives = hard drives, cd rom drives etc....

Drivers = files used to link hardware devices to the Operating System

[THIERRY]

PLAZ this an easy way of understanding it without a hint of patronizing you: Drives=HArdware(like EzyStvy spell it out) and Drivers=Software or set of instructions(usually in a form of small files depending on the hardware involved)that hardware uses to carry out particular task or work. Your hardware is a "dumb truck" without a driver on window environment.
Thanls a lot.

Thierry.

[PLAZ]

Thank you all very much. I needed the explanations.

When you want to incorporate specific drivers, where do you get them?

[Alaron]

Usually from the device's manufacturer.

[mattaggie]

Typically parts, when you buy them retail, come with a CD that has the drivers on it. If you dont have that, you can usually go to the manufacturer's website and download the driver. Most drives (hard drives and optical drives) work by just plugging them in. What requires drivers are things like video cards, sound cards, printers, etc. Vista even finds these drivers automatically for you when you install the part, though Im not sure how that compares to installing the drivers yourself in terms of performance.

[itsgt]

Drivers- a specific program used to interface with a specific piece of hardware. Think of a driver program as a driver in a NASCAR and the hardware being the race car. The race car cannot do anything with out the driver. The driver tells the hardware how to act and what to do. In response the hardware performs the action

All hardware manufacturers provide programs in order for your operating system to interface with the hardware.

Ensure you know the hardware make and model and you can always download drivers for free from their site for free. Its usually under support or downloads