DriverPack v17

A full review of DriverPack, a free driver updater tool

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Updated on March 2, 2022

Reviewed by

DriverPack is a free driver updater tool that, with just a few clicks, finds the proper device drivers your computer needs and then downloads and installs them for you—no clicking through any wizards or installation prompts.

Because it's so easy to use and free from the clutter that similar programs have, there are also some features you won't find in this tool.

This software used to belong on our favorite driver updater programs list, but a recent malware check shows that several scanners identify DriverPack as malicious. We highly urge you to use an alternative like Driver Booster. The rest of this article is retained for informational purposes only and doesn't serve as a recommendation. If you want to try out this program despite this warning, you can download it at driverpack.io.

What We Like

Easy to use.
Supports automated, no-prompt installs.
Quick downloads.
Supports bulk downloads.
It's portable, so installation isn't required.
Lots of settings you can customize.

What We Don't Like

Can't hide drivers from showing up in future scans.
No option for scheduled scans.
Sometimes seems slower than it should.
Includes other features unrelated to driver updates.
Marked as dangerous by most virus scanners.

How to Use DriverPack

There are two ways to run this program:

Regular Mode

By default, after opening the setup file, DriverPack will run in "regular mode" where everything happens for you: your computer is prepared and the drivers you need are downloaded and installed for you.

This is different from the expert mode below because it's very much a hands-off approach at installing drivers. There's even a personal assistant that talks to you while it's working so that you know exactly what it's doing at all times.

Pick this mode if you're extremely new to getting driver updates and you don't care to selectively pick which ones get installed.

Expert Mode

The other way to get drivers with this tool is through "expert mode." Toggle the Run in the Expert Mode option after opening the program and you'll see a screen like the one shown below.

DriverPack's expert mode gives you full control over what gets installed. Put a check in the box next to each driver update or driver toolkit you want to install.

Also available through this mode is a list of recommended programs in the Software tab to the left. Examples include the Opera web browser and some security tools. Select those to install them, if you want them.

Protection and cleanup is another aspect of this mode of DriverPack that identifies programs you might want to get rid of. You could consider this a potentially unwanted program finder, like some security software include.

Diagnostics isn't related to drivers at all, but it is useful if you're curious what your computer manufacturer and model are. It also shows your user name and computer name, motherboard details, and other things that you'd normally only find in a system information tool.

Finally, DriverPack Offline lets you install drivers even if you don't have internet access, which is a great idea if you plan to put drivers on a computer that doesn't have internet access. You can choose to download a massive set of several gigabytes worth of drivers or just drivers of certain categories, such as video card, network card, sound card, phone, card reader, webcam, and/or printer drivers. Then, just move the files to the PC without internet and you'll be able to install them.

More About DriverPack

DriverPack has all the driver updater tool features you'd expect:

Works with Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP
DriverPack is a lightweight program that doesn't take long to download and connects to the internet for free online driver updates
It's completely portable and can be launched from any folder or hard drive or portable device, like a flash drive
Restore points are created automatically before driver installations
You can install all the needed drivers at once
Several languages are supported
Shows the driver version of the current driver as well as the version of the one that it can download to replace it
Can list all the drivers, even the ones that don't need updating
The website lets you download specific sets of drivers, like chipset, Bluetooth, sound, video, etc. Once you've downloaded, say, Bluetooth drivers, the archive has separate folders for different manufacturers like Logitech, Motorola, Realtek, Broadcom, etc.
There's an option in the settings to clear temporary files once the necessary data has been used. This helps keep your hard drive storage low

DriverPack Notifier can be enabled to monitor your computer for hardware or software failures

Thoughts on DriverPack

DriverPack is a great option if you're not familiar or interested in all the backup/restore options and other settings and screens that some similar driver updates have.

If a minimal driver updater program is something you're interested in, then definitely give this one a shot. However, we find that it sometimes takes a while to download drivers—longer than what we've seen in similar tools that update drivers.

Just remember the warning that tops this page. We've received emails and have read reports from other users, that this software has been known to not only infect your computer but also install unrelated software without asking you (sometimes blatantly fake programs with similar names to the real ones).

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