Why we need driver software?

Question

What are the significance of having the driver software?

Answer 1

Hello Ram,



(Lots of good answers here.)

A "driver" allows the operating system to communicate and "drive" an attached hardware device. Drivers can be either provided with the operating system or by the manufacturer of the device.

For example a make of printer driver allows your computer to use the make of printer you have connected to your computer.



I hope this helps.



Regards,



Robert.

Answer 2

Driver software are nothing but an interface between the operating system and the hardware. The operating system cannot communicate directly with the hardware, hence device drivers comes into picture. The operating system is usually coded in high level language and it can't communicate with the hardware with generic commands, the driver receives these command and converts them to commands that is recognized by the hardware and vice-versa. That's why every piece of a hardware has its own set of driver software. This is how a webcam, printer or an graphics card attached to a system works.

Answer 3

While some hardware uses a common interface, like USB memory sticks that use a method to access them similar to a hard drive, much of the hardware is different, due to patents or improvements in speed and features. A driver is needed to interface with common commands from the operating system, so the operating system knows how to control the specific hardware.



In some cases hardware may support some legacy mode to work somewhat, like most video chips can do SVGA, but to get higher resolution and faster speed you need a driver that can handle the specific hardware. An AMD/ATI driver is not going to work properly for Nvidia graphics because the hardware is different.



In some cases hardware will emulate something that is common, but still may need a driver for that common interface. For example when our HP printer died at work I got an inexpensive Lexmark multifunction network laser printer with the same resolution that understood both postscript (used by Unix and Apple) and HP PCL. So all I had to do was give it the IP address that our HP printer had and it worked with HP printer drivers and our remote factory order entry computer, until we had a chance to get a newer HP printer.

Answer 4

Suppose new printer comes out and Windows doesn't understand how to communicate or manage new features



That's where - drivers come handy. If you install driver software, the printer will work smoothly



There are thousands of printers, scanners, digital cameras, graphic cards, network cards, sound cards, gaming keyboard / mouse, external CD/DVD drives, etc operating in many different environments



So choosing and installing the correct device drivers for given hardware is needed

Answer 5

You need driver software for device the way you need a driver for car.

Driver s/w provides interface between hardware and o/s.

You cannot use some device if driver is not installed in ur system.

Answer 6

A device driver is a small piece of software that tells the operating system and other software how to communicate with a piece of hardware. So it communicate with hardware and OS.

Answer 7

A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise details of the hardware being used.

Answer 8

A driver is software that allows your computer to communicate with hardware or devices. Without drivers, the hardware you connect to your computer—for example, a video card or a printer—won't work properly.

Answer 9

when we want to Proper Combination of Hardware with Operating System. then we need driver software

Answer 10

Hardware Proper Combination with Operating System

Answer 11

in a sentence driver software is a software what is make a link between a hardware and computer OS .

Answer 12

Because Microsoft won't write device drivers for everything that can run on Windows.



So, the peripheral Manufacturers write their own Device Drivers. That means, no peripheral will work under Windows without installing the proper Device Driver.



And, the only exception is PLUG and PLAY Devices, or embedded drivers that are built-in to Windows.

.

Answer 13

The device driver is a program that converts the computer's instructions into a language that the device can understand. Without it, thus, the device can't function because it doesn't understand what the operating system is saying without this help. Think of it in even more simpler terms: if you were to go to a non-English speaking country, and you couldn't speak their language, you would have to have an interpreter who can relay to you what the foreigners are saying and wanting you to do.

Answer 14

Drivers are extensions to the OS kernel. These extend the kernel and allow it to be customized for specific configurations. The most common usage is to extend the OS kernel so it knows how to manage HW IO devices. Some drivers are used to add SW features (traditionally these were called pseudo device drivers, since they were not actual HW device drivers.)



Linux changed the terminology, and it has Kernel Modules. Linux Kernel Modules can be statically linked to the kernel image, or they can be dynamically loaded on a running kernel. These modules are used to implement device drivers and they are used to provide SW extensions to the kernel.



Whether you call it a device driver or a kernel module, it is used to extend the OS kernel.

Answer 15

drivers provide a common API or abtraction layer for a general type of hardware so yo udon't have to twiddle the hardware registers and ports directly, which would make applications HUGE.

Answer 16

To proper combination with OS.

Answer 17

So the software can "talk" to the hardware.

Answer 18

So the software can "talk" to the hardware.

Answer 19

connect to hardware

Answer 20

The hardware will not work without it.

Answer 21

Its needed it doesn't stand alone you need both.

Answer 22

to operate them pc properly/

Answer 23

For saving the time.

Answer 24

For better performence......