Ms technology vocabulary driver

Virginia Reynolds January 2009 Computer 7-6

A driver is a piece of software that allows the computer to interface with hardware, like printers and cameras. Drivers are operating system and device specific, meaning that a driver meant for Windows XP will most likely not work with Windows 7 and a driver for one type of printer will most likely not work with a different type of printer. Drivers are very important and have low-access to the computer (Ring 1 (see section 4.5 or pg 100 of )). This means that a poorly written driver can easily bring down the whole computer. Most of the Blue Screens of Death are caused by poorly written, improperly configured, or incompatible drivers. Drivers are crucial to all operating systems because they allow the operating system, and therefore the user, to use hardware. Without drivers, all hardware support woul have to be built into the operating system, which would waste a lot of hard drive space and make it very difficult for a company to create a new device.