what driver

Most people don’t really understand a lot of computer jargon, and the word ‘driver’ is no exception. Maybe as a result you’ve done internet searches for things like: “definition driver”, or something similar and wished for answers that made sense.

Of course, as always, remember I’m not criticizing you — if you didn’t understand what a driver was before this, it’s merely because it was never explained to you in a way that actually made sense.

Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense by the end of this article.

I have a simple way to explain it that will just make sense for you. Making sense of computer terms like ‘driver’ can be easy with the right explanation. By the end of this article, you’ll understand it better than the average person.

First off, just so you have the basic background to follow what I’m talking about, let me quickly describe the difference between “hardware” and “software”.

It’s really easy to grasp : “hardware” refers to all of the physical pieces of equipment, such as your mouse, your computer’s screen, the hard drive, and so on.

“Software” refers to all of the parts of the computer that you really aren’t able to see or touch directly. Software would include things like Microsoft Excel, Internet Explorer, Windows or the Mac OS, plus all of your personal files like letters, photos, music, and so on.

One way to think about it is like this: hardware is like your brain, a physical part of your body, while software is like your mind or your thoughts — the non-physical part of yourself.

Software runs on hardware, just like your thoughts “run on” your brain.

Starting to make sense? OK, let’s talk more specifically about drivers.

Here’s the easy way to think about what a driver is. It’s almost like every piece of hardware, including your printer, your mouse, and so on, talks a different language.

So one speaks Dutch, another one speaks Italian, another one Korean, etc.

So when you plug in a new printer and power it on, your PC says hi and the printer replies in a foreign language the computer doesn’t understand.

So it needs an interpreter.

And when I say interpreter, I mean just like in the real world, like if a foreign diplomat arrives in the country but doesn’t speak the local language. The diplomat needs an interpreter to help them talk with the locals.

That, basically speaking, is what a driver is — an interpreter that helps your computer talk to a particular piece of equipment. And (generally speaking) you need a different interpreter for every piece of equipment that you hook up to the computer.

Make sense?

Now fairly often, the driver may be “preinstalled” on your computer (in other words, the computer already has the interpreter ready and waiting in case it’s needed) and other times, it needs to either be installed from a CD, or downloaded off the Internet, and then put into the computer.

But either way, the computer needs that driver before it can speak to the printer or whatever other device you may have attached to your computer.

I hope you now understand what a driver is.