Ever since a PC update last year, my computer has started randomly freezing. It would lock up right in the middle of video calls, while taking notes in Word, or worse—before I could hit save. I initially suspected hardware, so I checked my RAM and ran disk scans, but found nothing.
The real culprit? Outdated drivers
Drivers are the essential software links that let Windows communicate with your graphics card, USB ports, and network adapters. When they get outdated, they conflict with new Windows updates, triggering sudden freezes and crashes.
I didn’t realize how bad it was until I ran a scan and found over 12 outdated drivers—some hadn’t been updated in years. Fixing them changed everything, taking my PC from constant freezes to running smoother than ever. Here’s how I did it.
Your Driver Update Tool: Driver Booster
I did some research on what software to use, and I ended up downloading Driver Booster by IObit. It’s completely free and works with Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11 (including ARM64 devices).
Driver Booster provides over 18 million drivers; the best part is that every driver in their database comes from the official publisher and has passed WHQL certification.
You aren’t just downloading random driver files that may or may not work. Everything in their database is tested and verified to work with Windows.
Not only that, but it’s extremely easy to use. You don’t need to know anything about drivers or software. Just open the app and click “Scan.”
Step 1: Download and Install Driver Booster
I went to the IObit Driver Booster website and hit the download button; it only took a few seconds on my computer. After downloading, simply install the program like you would any other app.
Installation took less than two minutes for me. Once installed, open up the program. I love how simple the interface is. There’s really only one thing you need to do. Click the big “Scan” button in the middle of the screen.
Step 2: Scan the Computer for Outdated Drivers
Give Driver Booster a few seconds to scan your PC. It’s pretty quick since it uses an optimized scan engine that’s 20% faster than their previous version. Shortly, you will have a list of every driver on your PC that is outdated or missing.
A few of mine were pretty out of date. The graphics driver for my NVIDIA card was severely outdated. My network adapter driver could also use some updates. Then there were several other drivers that I had no clue were outdated.
Driver Booster conveniently lists what version of the driver you have installed and what the newest version is. You can immediately see which drivers need to be updated.
Step 3: Update Drivers with One Click
Instead of updating drivers one at a time, click the “Update All” button. It’s that easy. Driver Booster will automatically download and install every driver update.
Not only does it install every update in order, but it’s extremely quick at installing them. Their install engine is optimized not only to be faster at installing, but it has a 57% higher success rate in installing drivers over previous versions.
Not a single driver failed to install on my PC. If a driver does happen to fail, Driver Booster even rolls back the install automatically.
Driver Booster also automatically backs up each of your current drivers before installing the new ones. Windows automatically creates a system restore point before each update as well.
With both of these options enabled, you don’t have to worry about updates. If something does go wrong, you can easily undo any changes with just a few clicks.
Step 4: Schedule Driver Booster To Update Automatically
I didn’t have to worry about this happening again, so I scheduled Driver Booster to update my drivers automatically. It has an in-built scheduler to prevent you from having to remember.
All you need to do is go to Settings and select these 2 options:
Check for driver updates every time Windows starts, so Driver Booster scans each time you turn on your PC.
Automatically update drivers during system idle so Driver Booster installs the updates when you are not using your PC.
These two options ensure your drivers will always stay up to date. Driver Booster will take care of everything automatically.
Step 5: Run Driver Booster’s Fix Tools (Optional)
After installing all of my driver updates, I started having a small issue with my audio. Thankfully, Driver Booster has a handy toolkit that lets you fix common driver-related issues.
I went into the toolkit and clicked “Fix No Sound.” Driver Booster scanned and detected my problem and fixed it in seconds.
Driver Booster has 4 different driver-related fix tools. They are:
- Fix No Sound – fixes cracking, popping, or other audio playback issues.
- Fix Network Failure – fixes when you’re unable to connect to the internet.
- Fix Bad Resolution – fixes incorrect screen resolutions being detected.
- Fix Device Error – fixes when your devices have trouble being detected.
These tools are incredibly convenient because Driver Booster has IObit’s built-in technology to detect and solve each problem. There’s no need to Google how to fix certain issues or watch YouTube tutorials.
Driver Booster has all the fixes built right into the app.
Final Words
If your computer is randomly freezing, try updating your drivers—it’s one of the most easily overlooked culprits behind PC struggles.
Driver Booster made this whole process completely painless. As a dedicated driver updater, it automatically detected every outdated file I needed and set up my PC to stay updated in the background. You don’t need to be a tech genius to use it—if I can handle it, anyone can.
