Is UniBlue Driver Scanner as dumb and useless as it seems?

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Somehow or other UniBlue Driver Scanner got installed on my computer
(maybe it was a freebie along with something else, and I have now
uninstalled it). It kept suggesting driver "updates," but the version
numbers were often lower than the ones installed already (but with later
dates). For the two drivers that did seem to be later versions than what
I had already, MS claimed that the ones I had were the latest. According
to both MS and the board maker, all my drivers are up to date.

Perce

 

[Bob I]

Is it something the PC manufacturer installed? Dell has their own driver
update checker. If it is some third party unit that isn't checking for
PC manufacturer specific driver updates, then it is in fact just crap.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Is it something the PC manufacturer installed? Dell has their own
driver update checker. If it is some third party unit that isn't
checking for PC manufacturer specific driver updates, then it is in
fact just crap.

Manufacturer-installed isn't always a guarantee: on this Samsung NC-20
netbook (running XP), the Samsung update checker used to (I'm not sure
why it's stopped - I think it's broken) keep urging me to update the
video driver. Admittedly, it was to a later version, but that later
version was/is one that the user group (www.sammynetbook.com) all agree
(and I concur) led to freezes of the computer - and yet Samsung kept
urging the update for most of a year (possibly still). [I had the later
driver, got freezes, rolled back, freezes stopped. As many others
found.]

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

An Intel video driver, by any chance?

This was not quite the same scenario, though. I have a home-built
computer, and Microsoft includes a new video driver in its updates from
time to time.

The freeze happens during installation and all subsequent boots to
non-safe mode. Once you know the problem, you can revert to the previous
drive in safe mode.

The result is pretty scary.

Since I always manually choose which updates to install, I am relatively
safe in the future, i.e., as long as I'm not careless

The details may be hazy due to lapse of time.

Is it something the PC manufacturer installed? Dell has their own
driver update checker. If it is some third party unit that isn't
checking for PC manufacturer specific driver updates, then it is in
fact just crap.

Manufacturer-installed isn't always a guarantee: on this Samsung NC-20
netbook (running XP), the Samsung update checker used to (I'm not sure
why it's stopped - I think it's broken) keep urging me to update the
video driver. Admittedly, it was to a later version, but that later
version was/is one that the user group (www.sammynetbook.com) all agree
(and I concur) led to freezes of the computer - and yet Samsung kept
urging the update for most of a year (possibly still). [I had the later
driver, got freezes, rolled back, freezes stopped. As many others
found.]

 

[Bob I]

Is it something the PC manufacturer installed? Dell has their own
driver update checker. If it is some third party unit that isn't
checking for PC manufacturer specific driver updates, then it is in
fact just crap.

Manufacturer-installed isn't always a guarantee: on this Samsung NC-20
netbook (running XP), the Samsung update checker used to (I'm not sure
why it's stopped - I think it's broken) keep urging me to update the
video driver. Admittedly, it was to a later version, but that later
version was/is one that the user group (www.sammynetbook.com) all agree
(and I concur) led to freezes of the computer - and yet Samsung kept
urging the update for most of a year (possibly still). [I had the later
driver, got freezes, rolled back, freezes stopped. As many others found.]

Didn't say that the manufacturer didn't make crap, but for sure a
non-related 3rd party driver checker is! ;-)

 

[Twayne]

In

Somehow or other UniBlue Driver Scanner got installed on
my computer (maybe it was a freebie along with something
else, and I have now uninstalled it). It kept suggesting
driver "updates," but the version numbers were often
lower than the ones installed already (but with later
dates). For the two drivers that did seem to be later
versions than what I had already, MS claimed that the
ones I had were the latest. According to both MS and the
board maker, all my drivers are up to date.
Perce

I don't recall exactly why, think it was some good hype from a trused
online source (Zone Alarm maybe) but I tested it and a couple weeks later
uninstalled it. It wasn't finding anything my other malware detectors were
finding. That was over a year ago; no longer interested in it because its
claims to fame are obvious hype without any back-bone to go along with it.