Opinions on Snappy Driver Installer Please

Hi folks,

Just a quick question.

Has anybody got a positive (or negative) comment about Snappy Driver Installer.

Is it safe? Reliable? Useful?

Link to the site here

Thanks in advance,

Art

Note: the context to this hasn't been given. The OP has a thread where a couple of drivers are missing for an old Sony VAIO laptop.

Searching tenforums for you for Snappy Driver gives e.g.

Please recommend easy-to-use free automatic driver update software

As ever, routine use of a 3rd party driver updater tool is not recommended.

Driver finder/installers usually make... mistakes. If they don't today, they will later on.


Drivers are pretty easy.
They come from the motherboard manufacturer, and from the vid card manufacturer.
For laptops, they come from the laptop manufacturer.

And you don't really need to update drivers, other than the chipset and the vid card.
In rare cases, you might need to update the audio drivers.

Off-topic post - non-UK users need not bother reading this.

Art,

I read your system specs and noticed your Samsung SSD.

All Samsung-Seagate SSD & USB warranties are now handled by their associate/partner/subsidiary company Hanaro in the Netherlands irrespective what it says on the warranty card provided with the device.
If you have a warranty fault, Hanaro demand that you pay the postage to the Netherlands.

- They refuse to reimburse you even when they acknowledge that the fault was theirs.
- My USB cost £8.65 to post. [It took 22 days including customs clearance time.]

I complained to the Samsung UK CEO's office and they reimbursed me directly [i.e. nothing to do with Hanaro] - the link is near the bottom of
Company Info with Email the CEO facility



All the best,
Denis

NOT Snappy Driver Installer

Use Snappy Driver Installer ORIGIN version only

Only use it to update missing or faulty drivers. NO driver udate program should be used just for the sake of it.

Thanks for the response folks.

dalchina said:

Note: the context to this hasn't been given. The OP has a thread where a couple of drivers are missing for an old Sony VAIO laptop.

Searching tenforums for you for Snappy Driver gives e.g.

Please recommend easy-to-use free automatic driver update software

As ever, routine use of a 3rd party driver updater tool is not recommended.

Well spotted! However it was a general query about the software which is why I didn't mention the previous thread.

It * IS * however intended for the purpose of sorting out those problem drivers - after I have identified the devices using
Device Manager > Unknown Device > Properties > Details > Hardware ID tab and the
PCI Lookup website.

Ghot said:

Driver finder/installers usually make... mistakes. If they don't today, they will later on.

Drivers are pretty easy.
They come from the motherboard manufacturer, and from the vid card manufacturer.
For laptops, they come from the laptop manufacturer.

Not if the manufacturer (like SONY) has removed ALL of the support materials (e.g. drivers & BIOS updates) upto and including Windows 7 machines.

And you don't really need to update drivers, other than the chipset and the vid card.
In rare cases, you might need to update the audio drivers.

Point noted & taken. Thanks

eLPuSHeR said:

It's somewhat safe to use but always make a Restore Point before proceeding.

Agreed.

Also, do not update everything just for the sake of updating. I would ONLY install those drivers that are missing/not installed. So this means, going into advanced mode and unchecking both NEWER and BETTER MATCH category boxes.

Noted.

idgat said:

NOT Snappy Driver Installer

Use Snappy Driver Installer ORIGIN version only

Only use it to update missing or faulty drivers. NO driver udate program should be used just for the sake of it.

Noted.

From here ?

@Try3

Thanks Denis. Useful to know. Why manufacturers do this (downgrading support in some manner) is beyond me. Why, for example, have SONY removed all of the older (Win 7 and older) support materials? For those with legacy systems this adds unnecessary hassle.

Once again, thank you all for your responses/suggestions/input.

Art

ArthurDent said:

It * IS * however intended for the purpose of sorting out those problem drivers - after I have identified the devices using
Device Manager > Unknown Device > Properties > Details > Hardware ID tab and the
PCI Lookup website.

Art,

And consider my ditty - search for drivers by HardwareID - TenForums

ArthurDent said:

Why manufacturers do this (downgrading support in some manner) is beyond me.

I'd bet that the effect on warranties was not even considered when that organisational decision was made.
And, despite the flood of complaints on their related Amazon product pages, I'd bet the effect on sales hasn't been appreciated either.
I have deliberately chosen Samsung-Seagate SSDs & USBs up until now but will not do so in the future. I'm tied in to them because I use Seagate's free Acronis version, "DiscWizard", for my system imaging but I now intend to switch over to Macrium Reflect the next time I have to replace any disc so I can have a free choice of manufacturer.

ArthurDent said:

Why, for example, have SONY removed all of the older (Win 7 and older) support materials?

Perhaps they have tied in their website reviews to the end of product life of the OS the products came with.
I'd always assumed that computer & software makers would ditch old versions so I have always retained & backed up all driver, utility, Bios & application installation files I've had to download.

All the best,
Denis

@ArthurDent

Your problem:
- you need a couple of drivers. (I found 1 for you, identified what another was for).

Your solution:
- look for them manually or try a tool such as this

Your safety:
- Back up - system restore, disk imaging.

Then try 1 and only 1 driver and only one of the ones you need.

If it works, great.
If it doesn't, uninstall it or use a restore point etc.

Try again.

ArthurDent said:

Noted.

From here ?

That's the one

(The story goes, as I heard it, the ORIGIN version was just called Snappy Driver Installer. Because it was free and in the public domian, a couple of (semi?) commercial distributors got hold of it, tweaked it (apparently unsuccessfully) and at one stage (whether still ...?) added some adware to the download. The "new" versions caused a few problems. To protect its originality and identify it, the original distributor renamed it SDIO).