When is the best time to do Windows Update in a fresh install?

When is the best time to do Windows Update in a fresh install?

During a full moon.

When is the best time to do Windows Update in a fresh install?

I do mine right after I do install the chipset & video drivers....

1- Install chipset drivers
2- Install video drivers - hate that 800 x 600 look
3- Install service pack
4- Install remaining updates

Win7 installer is driver-complete with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates.

Any drivers missing in Device manager can then be imported from Support Downloads webpage for computer or device model.

I would not change out drivers given by installer unless performance points to them. Win7 is the authority on its own drivers, not XP methods.

An example: An older HP laptop which I installed Win7 upon tonight had the common missing Nvidia Co-Processor which means it must be imported from HP's Chipset. I extracted Chipset to SWSetup but only browsed from Co-Processor to find its driver since other elements of the chipset had drivers supplied by Win7/Updates which were newer or different but from the same time period.

Often times when you replace drivers given by Win7 you'll run into problem which is why Win7 left them out.

Hi Greg, I'm sorry but perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you're saying?

gregrocker said:

Windows 7 installer is driver-complete with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates.

Any drivers missing in Device manager can then be imported from Support Downloads webpage for computer or device model.

I would not change out drivers given by installer unless performance points to them. Windows 7 is the authority on its own drivers, not XP methods.

An example: An older HP laptop which I installed Windows 7 upon tonight had the common missing Nvidia Co-Processor which means it must be imported from HP's Chipset. I extracted Chipset to SWSetup but only browsed from Co-Processor to find its driver since other elements of the chipset had drivers supplied by Windows 7/Updates which were newer or different but from the same time period.

Often times when you replace drivers given by Windows 7 you'll run into problem which is why Windows 7 left them out.

While the drivers in Windows update are certified by Microsoft (WHQL), that doesn't mean the manufacturer's drivers aren't as well - Example video card drivers.

Anyway most (if not all) the drivers supplied to Microsoft are from the device manufacturers, so getting them directly from the manufacture isn't going to cause problems. And more often than not, the drivers in Windows Update are usually a driver package behind those obtained directly from the manufacturer.

In addition to that, the drivers obtained directly from the manufacturer will contain advanced features such as control panels that's not usually (if ever) included with a driver update from Windows Update – In Windows Update all you get is the driver.

So while you're not hurting yourself with the drivers from Windows Updates, often times they are behind in currency, and also lack features needed for advanced settings - video card drivers for example. This is why most PC users, especially enthusiasts, prefer to get their drivers directly from the manufacturer.

Now there are those exceptions where a driver can only be found through Windows Update, then yeah, you need to use those.

If I’ve misunderstood what you said/meant.... then please forgive my rant

Not a rant at all Drew but a well-reasoned rebuttal to my views on Win7 drivers.

When MS was caught out at Vista release by manufacturers who wouldn't build drivers in order to force consumers to buy newer hardware, they pumped big bucks into Windows Hardware Quality Labs to subsidize and/or build the drivers themselves so this couldn't continue in Win7, and also so that they would have the drivers first for the installer, SP1 and quickly Updated via optional Updates.

I see a lot of XP-oriented users migrating to 7 who treat the drivers given by the installer like placeholders, swapping them out en masse for the latest manufacturers drivers. This can cause compound performance problems which sometimes requires a clean reinstall if it can't be determined which driver or combination is causing performance problems.

So I've come to the conclusion that it's best to ride with the installer's drivers and those via Optional Updates, then search out only drivers missing in Device Manager to start. The exception is if Standard VGA (placeholder) driver is all that arrives for Display, then I'll go get the most recent one which performs well.

I know that others here disagree with this wait-and-see approach and certainly respect all other views. But it still causes a slight cringe when I read the frequent post to "install all of your drivers from manufacturer's site." It ignores nearly a fortune MS spent on making Win7 both the authority on and supplier of its own drivers.

Would like to hear from others on this.

Thanks Greg,

Yeah I see you point and would agree that is a great way to get your drivers but I feel like the best drivers are those from the manufacturer as they are usually the most current ones out. And as I said earlier, if you want the advanced features with those drivers, you can only get those from the manufacturer, not through Windows Update.

Yeah if you're a person who's not comfortable with searching for drivers, or have no need for advanced features, then Windows Update is your best choice.

The best argument I have against updating through Windows Update though is loss of advance features, or conflicts.

Example: You installed video card drivers from the manufacturer, used the advance features, and then along comes Windows Update and it updates those drivers, now suddenly you experience problems with your video card’s control panel. Well what happened is that the drivers were updated but not the control panel and now you have issues.

This is one reason why I don't use Windows to update my drivers, and always suggest others get their drivers from the manufacture's site, to avoid conflicts.

But again, if you do a fresh install, don't need all the advanced features some drivers offer, getting your drivers through Windows Update may be the way to go. But let's not forget those drivers that update offers does comes from the device manufacturer themselves.

Anyway that's my reason. Your point is valid as well :)

I too welcome other people's feeling about this as well.

It dawned on me that my advice on this is based on dealing with mostly end-user consumers in our Installation forum here, where we've learned to favor automated methods like Startup Repair instead of line commands which scare them away. Many cannot even boot a disk.

Your point of view seems to be that of an enthusiast or Pro user who is already savvy at judging drivers and knows the tricks of getting them installed correctly or quickly finding another to try. This is incredibly hard to explain to noob Users doing a fresh install until they've got it up and running with installer and Updates drivers and then we can help them trace any drivers which prove problematic.

Most do not need the software packages which come from the OEM websites which can themselves cause problems (e.g. Catalyst) and bloat Win7 unless they're actually needed for settings changes which Win7 can't handle.

The fact that this is an enthusiast forum is precisely why I recommed getting your drivers directly from the manufacturer's site.

And bloatware is a matter of opinion. Just like Windows tweaks. Or overclocking.

Also I can almost guarantee Microsoft will tell you to get the device driver from the manufacturer.

My two cents :)