PerfectUpdater

PerfectUpdater Content

Introduction
Driver Scan
Scan Results
Backup
Restore
Settings
Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

A Driver is a piece of software that helps the system to communicate with the hardware devices to run certain programs on the system. A driver operates like a translator for the programs that use hardware devices to perform specific functions. Each device that is used consists of specialized commands that the driver reads for the program.

Many drivers are installed on the system when the operating system is installed. With time the existing drivers become outdated. This limits hardware functionality and you may also experience:

Applications may not function accurately.
Applications may run with errors and are slow.
New and improved features in the applications may not work appropriately.
System failure may happen on many occasions.

Driver Scan

PerfectUpdater is a reliable tool used to update outdated drivers to a more current versions. It checks your system's existing drivers against the database containing the latest driver updates, and notes the drivers that need updating.

This process has been divided into 5 steps shown under the Driver Scan Tab (see left panel):

Welcome
Scan
Results
Installing
Finish

Step1: Welcome

Outdated drivers on the system may slow down the system’s performance. It is necessary to update the latest drivers to allow the system to work to its fullest potential.

The Welcome screen helps you to initiate the driver scan. PerfectUpdater will thoroughly scan the system to identify out dated drivers specific to the computer's operating system. The System Summary in the lower half of the screen provides details of the Last Scan Date, Total Drivers on the system, Total Outdated Drivers and Total Up-To-Date Drivers.

Click on Start Scan Now to go to the next step.

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PerfectUpdater welcome screen

Step2: Scan

Scanning System for Outdated Drivers

During the scanning process, the drivers for the following devices are checked.

Disk Drives

Disk Drives or Hard Disk Drives are the data storage devices on the system. PerfectUpdater scans through the disk drives locate out dated drivers.

DVD/CD-ROM Drives

DVD/CD-ROM Drives are removable data storage devices. PerfectUpdater scans for out dated drivers used for these removable devices.

Keyboard

The keyboard is an input device, with multiple keys to help you type characters and perform certain functions. PerfectUpdater will scan through the drivers used for this device.

Monitors

A Monitor is an electrical device that displays images generated by computers. PerfectUpdater will scan through the drivers used for these devices.

Others Devices

PerfectUpdater will scan through the existing drivers used for other important system devices.

SCSI/RAID

SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) is a set of standard commands, protocol and electrical interfaces that help the peripheral devices to connect to computers. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a technique of storing the same information on multiple disks on the system.

PerfectUpdater checks through the drivers supporting their function and identifies any out dated drivers.

System Devices

System Devices include chipset and controllers, BIOS, cache, etc. which control data transfers within the computer between the processor, cache, system buses, and peripherals. Updated system device drivers positively impact a PC's operation and performance. PerfectUpdater reads through all system device drivers and locates those that are out dated.

Display Adapters

Display Adapters are plug-in cards that support Monitor functions. They determine the maximum resolution, number of colors that can be displayed and much more. PerfectUpdater examines the drivers associated with Display Adapters and locates any outdated drivers.

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers

IDE (Integrated Development Environment) are software applications that provide tools to programmers for software development. ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) are mass storage device interface and ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) are ATAs to attach SCSI devices.

PerfectUpdater thoroughly checks the drivers associated with IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to locate any out dated drivers.

Mouse and other pointing devices

The mouse and other pointing devices like the joystick, light pen, or trackpad control the movements of the cursor for a visual computer.

Network Adapters

Network Adapters provide interfaces to connect the computer to a network connection. PerfectUpdater scans through the drivers used for Network Adapters to identify any outdated drivers.

Processors

Processors such as CPUs (Central Processing Unit) or Microprocessors are electronic circuits that help to execute computer programs. PerfectUpdater checks the existing drivers to locate any out dated drivers associated with the processors.

Sound, Video and Game controllers

PerfectUpdater also checks for drivers related to sound, video and game controllers to identify any outdated drivers.

Universal serial bus controllers

A Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a standard to connect devices and computer peripherals like the mouse, keyboard, printers, digital cameras, and external hard drives to the host computer. PerfectUpdater scans for any out dated drivers associated with USBs.

Step3: Results

Scan Results

Once the scan is complete, the out dated drivers will be listed for all the different devices. Additional details such as actual driver Installed date and Available update date are also provided for each driver. A “Download/Update Driver” link is provided for each driver. This simplifies the task of downloading the updated driver for individual devices on your system. A process to update multiple selected drivers all at the same time is also available. You may choose “Update Selected Drivers” and receive all updates at one time.

Click on “View Summary” button to view the summary after scan and driver have updated.

Report Feedback

You may report the feedback from your experience using this application by clicking the link “Report feedback”. Any information you provide of issues you may have encountered will be passed on allowing us to make the application a more bug-free and error-free apllication. (This is optional)

When clicking the link, a new window opens that asks for your email address and also gives you few common problems to choose from a dropdown list. You may also describe the problem in the text box provided. Prior to submitting details, you may preview them by clicking on the “Preview Feedback” button and then click the “Submit” button. You can close this window anytime by clicking the “Cancel” button.

Step4: Installing

After downloads are complete for the selected drivers, PerfectUpdater will prompt you to install the updates on your system. Before installing the changes, backups of the old drivers are made. In the case where the system does not respond well to the changes or updates, the system can be restored to its last configuration. This operation is done as a precaution to assist in response to any bad installations.

To install the updates, click the “Install” button or click on “Don’t Install” to discontinue.

Step5: Finish

Upon installing the updates successfully, it is important to restart the system so the old drivers are replaced with the newly updated ones. Working on a system with installed updates may lead to system related issues; therefore, PerfectUpdater will prompt you for a restart. You have the choice of either restarting the system immediately by clicking the “Restart button or you may choose to restart the system manually later by clicking the “Cancel” button. It is recommended to restart immediately.

Note: Prior to initiating a restart, you should save any work on the system to help ensure no work data is lost.

Scan Results

Once the scan is complete, the out dated drivers will be listed for different devices. Additional details of the selected driver will appear in the lower half of the screen, Driver Date, Driver Version and Update Date. For each driver, an “Update Driver” link is provided to simplify the task of downloading the updated driver for individual devices on your system. A process to update the selected drivers all at the same time is also available. You may click on “Update Selected Drivers” and get all the updates at one time.

Click the “View Summary” button to view the summary after scan and driver updates.

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PerfectUpdater Scan Results screen

Backup

Select the Type of Backup

Drive Updater offers two types of backups which are explained below. The user will need to select the type of back up based on their individual needs.

Select Backup Job:

Create a complete backup of all system drivers – This option allows you to make a complete backup of all the existing drivers on the system before installing the updates.

Upon selecting this option, click the “Next” button to initiate the backup process. To stop the backup process at anytime, click the “Stop Backup” button. The backup summary is immediately displayed following the successful completion of the backup process. To go to the Backup screen, click the “Finish” button.

Create the backup of specific drivers – This option lets you make a backup of the drivers associated with the devices selected to be updated.

Upon selecting this option, click on the “Next” button to initiate the backup process. A new screen opens displaying a list of all the devices that contain outdated drivers. You may check the devices which you intend to update with the corresponding drivers. To stop the backup process at any time, click the “Stop Backup” button. The backup summary is immediately displayed following the successful completion of the backup process. To go to the Backup screen, click the “Finish” button.

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PerfectUpdater Backup screen

Restore

Restore Drivers

PerfectUpdater also provides an undo/restore option. It saves all the backups taken and lists them under the heading “Drivers Backup List”. Any backup item from the list can be restored if deemed necessary. To do this, select the backup item from the list and click “Load Backup” to restore or click “Delete Backup” to delete it entry.

You can choose either of the following two Reboot settings:

Prompt me if a reboot is required - PerfectUpdater will always ask the user before restarting the system when selecting this option.
Reboot automatically if required - PerfectUpdater will automatically restart the system without asking permission from the user.

Basically, the first option will always prompt the user before a reboot, while the second option will automatically reboot to establish the changes.

Select Drivers to be Restored

When you select a backup to be restored, a list is displayed in a new window. The list displays drivers of all the devices, or the relevant devices included in the backup.

You may either check the option, “Select All” to select all the devices for restoring, then click the “Restore” button.

You may check the desired device(s) to restore the associated driver(s) and then click the “Restore” button to restore them.

The system may require a restart to complete this process of restoring the backups. To continuing to work on the system with an incomplete restoration process may cause serious system issues.

PerfectUpdater will prompt you for a restart. You may either choose to restart the system immediately by clicking the “Restart" Button or you may choose to restart the system manually later by clicking the “Cancel” button. It is recommended to restart immediately.

Note: Prior to initiating a restart, you should save any work on the system to help ensure no work data is lost.

A restore summary will be provided upon the successful completion of the restoration process of the selected drivers. This summary will provide details of the number of drivers restored and the number of drivers remaining to be restored.

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PerfectUpdater Restore screen

Settings

Under this section, you may reset the application execution settings, select locations for saving the downloaded updates or backups taken, or add or remove drivers from the Driver Exclusion list.

General Settings

Under this section you may check/uncheck the option provided to automatically start scanning for outdated drivers when PerfectUpdater is launched.

Select Location

Under this section you may select:

System location where driver downloads will be saved.
System location where backups will be saved.

To save any changes in the settings, click the“Apply” button or to restore the default settings click on the “Default” button.

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PerfectUpdater Settings screen

Scheduler

It is recommended to periodically update drivers. The scheduler helps to facilitate this by scheduling the driver scans to the user’s specifications. The scan starts automatically at the predefined day, date and time. This is a helpful tool to remind the user of this important task.

You may set the time of the scan using various options.

Options to schedule scan:

“Every Day” at a specified time

“Run Once” on a specified date (can be set using the calendar dropdown) and time

“Every Week” on specified days at a particular time (check mark the days of the week for the automatic scan to run)

“Do Not Schedule” scan (undo the scheduled scans)

The next scheduled scan is displayed at the bottom of the screen. You may also view all the scans scheduled by clicking on “All Scheduled Items” in the left panel.

Two other very important options are available in the Scheduler for your convenience. Use these options are deemed necessary.

Fix errors automatically - When checking this option, the scheduler will automatically fix the errors detected in the scan without requiring any user interaction.

Shutdown PC automatically after fixing errors - When checking this option, you have chosen to shut down your computer system after the errors are fixed. This will help in saving power as the system will shutdown.

Every time you schedule a scan or edit a scheduled scan, it is necessary to click the “Apply” button to save the changes you have made.

Driver Exclusion

You can add drivers that you intend to skip from scanning by adding them to the Driver Exclusion List. Added drivers are excluded while scanning for outdated drivers, and are not detected as obsolete until removed from the list.

You may remove individual drivers or all the drivers together using the “Remove Item” and “Remove All Items” buttons. The drivers removed will then be included in the subsequent scans and eventually the updates can be seen.

You may alternatively remove items using the options (Remove All From Exclusion List and Remove This From Exclusion List) in the context menu displayed when right-clicking on any item.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does PerfectUpdater do?

Drivers are supporting software that help the system to interact with the hardware devices to carry out some important operations. The existing drivers on the system may be outdated and need to be replaced. It is very difficult to update these drivers manually from the Internet. This task can be easily accomplished using PerfectUpdater.

PerfectUpdater incorporates a rich database of all the latest updated versions of drivers available in the market. PerfectUpdater scans through the whole system, checks the existing drivers against the database, and lists the outdated drivers specific to the operating system of the computer which can then be updated to more current versions. The user can download and install the updates more easily, possibly improving system performance.

PerfectUpdater also makes a backup of the old drivers before replacing them with the new. Some times new updates can interfere with optimum system functionality. If this occurs you can easily restore the system from these backups thus reinstalling the older versions of the drivers and removing the more current, updated ones.

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