Tips on Modem Drivers

Having trouble with modem drivers? Want to learn how expensive techies tackle problems with modem drivers?

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Modem Drivers – small pieces of crucial software code that allow modems to communicate with specific operating systems.

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Regularly update your modem drivers and firmware.

Just as software applications and operating systems need interim updates between major version upgrades, the software that makes your modem work properly (modem drivers) requires updates as well. 

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Modem Drivers/Device Driver Signing – a quality-assurance program Microsoft initiated with Microsoft Windows 2000 to require device/modem drivers to contain a digital signature to prove authenticity of their author and ensure that it’s been tested by Microsoft Hardware Quality Labs; protects users from inadvertently installing device/modem drivers that can cause system instability.

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About modem drivers and firmware

Modem software generally falls into one of two areas: modem drivers (device drivers) and firmware. By updating modem drivers and firmware, you often get performance enhancements, new features and bug fixes.

Modem driver are simply small pieces of software code that allow modems to properly communicate with the operating system and PC hardware.

Modem drivers almost always are available on diskettes or CD-ROMs that ship with the product.

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Note: Before updating any software on your PC, always plan ahead and make appropriate system backups.

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Downloading modem drivers

You also usually can download the most current device modem drivers from the modem manufacturer’s Web site. The Microsoft Windows operating systems also frequently include hundreds of stable, mature device or modem drivers for a variety of modem manufacturers and models.

Since the rise of the Internet and World Wide Web in the mid-’90s, it’s gotten a lot easier to stay on top of the latest hardware device/modem drivers and firmware updates. Most PC peripheral vendors now have content-rich technical support Web sites with frequently asked questions
(FAQs), how-to articles, white papers and software downloads (modem drivers and firmware updates).

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Tip: To get notified automatically of new device/modem drivers and firmware updates, sign up for free e-mail newsletters on vendor Web sites. As you go around to each modem manufacturer’s technical support Web site, take note of any available newsletter subscriptions that can help you keep your modems and modem drivers current.

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• Firmware – a software/ hardware hybrid in which certain instruction sets for a particular hardware device are programmed or burned into nonvolatile read-only memory (ROM); firmware often can be updated through a process known as flashing the firmware chip, protecting your hardware investment with an upgradeable architecture; for keeping modems "current", firmware goes hand-in-hand with updating modem drivers.

• Plug and Play Modem Drivers – the ability to automatically identify that new modem hardware has been added to a PC, to pinpoint what that hardware device is (a modem), and to install and configure automatically the necessary device/modem drivers, system files and system resources to make the new modem hardware device function with the operating system and supporting, related, PC hardware components; for Plug and Play to function properly, the PC BIOS, operating system and modem hardware device all must support Plug and Play.

Action item questions for modem drivers

• How many different modem manufacturers are there to contend with in your installed base of modems?

• Does each modem manufacturer have a Web site you can visit to download updated device or modem drivers and firmware updates?

• Are there any newsletters on these modem manufacturers' Web sites where you can sign up to be notified of any new available software downloads (modem drivers and firmware updates)?