do i need the atheros driver installation program or can i uninstall

jturk · 06 Sep 2011

do i need the atheros driver installation program or can i uninstall it?

arkhi · 06 Sep 2011

Atheros is usually responsible for your WiFi device as a driver. Unless you have a wired internet, you need need it.

stormy13 · 06 Sep 2011

arkhi said:

Atheros is usually responsible for your WiFi device as a driver.

Wired and wireless actually. My motherboard has Atheros ethernet on it, no wireless.

Back to jturk's question. Is this a driver file you downloaded or showing in Programs and Features? If a downloaded file it is safe to delete.If it is showing in Programs and features, leave it alone unless you don't want any internet connectivity.

smarteyeball · 06 Sep 2011

stormy13 said:

leave it alone unless you don't want any internet connectivity.

That would be the best.

Technically you don't need the 'app', just the driver - so if you're comfortable extracting the driver from .the .exe and manually installing it via device manager, you could remove the 'app'.

However, unless it's causing an issue, it's probably easier overall to simply leave it alone.

DeaconFrost · 08 Sep 2011

stormy13 said:

If it is showing in Programs and features, leave it alone unless you don't want any internet connectivity.

Absolutely. If it appears in this list, removing it will also remove the driver.