To keep your HP or Compaq computer running smoothly, update software on a regular basis. Without a driver, your computer can’t use any of the hardware attached to it, rendering it useless. In the “Update Drivers” window that appears, you have two choices. We’ll cover both of them below, but first, here’s a look at what each option does.
You can now hunt down the driver for the hardware device and install it normally. You shouldn’t have to mess with the Device Manager here — just install the driver using the standard installer and it should work. Click the Details tab, click the Property box, and select Hardware Ids in the list. Windows displays a lot of other information about the device here, but the Hardware Ids will help you identify the device. Right-click the unknown device and select Properties to view more information. Manufacturers like AMD, NVIDIA, and others have dedicated driver download pages on their websites.
Steps to Install Printer Driver Manually
The best way to make sure you never run into a problem is to install a simple and convenient software solution like Driver Support to keep webcam drivers updated automatically. If you notice that your computer has been running slower than usual, it could be attributed to outdated device drivers. When device drivers are outdated, computers can start becoming sluggish and cause noticeable performance problems that can be a serious annoyance. The computer will then check Microsoft’s servers for updates to your current OS, including its drivers.
- An incompatible driver or corrupt file may be the reason you experience the Driver Unavailable error.
- Once you’ve done that, you can install the printer driver on all your computers.
- If you are experiencing issues with your printer, it is a good first step to try restarting it before exploring other solutions.
If this doesn’t work, the next step you should take is to uninstall and reinstall the HP printer driver. To do this, open the Device Manager on your computer and find the entry for your HP printer. Right-click on the printer, select Uninstall and follow the instructions to remove the driver. Several instances of the unavailable printer driver error are linked to a software upgrade.