Checking for Drivers from the Manufacturer

Hardware manufacturers almost always include drivers for their products on a CD or floppy disk that is bundled with the hardware. Manufacturers generally support popular OSs the best—it is the rare hardware indeed that doesn't include Windows 9x drivers, for example. Drivers for relatively rare OSs, such as FreeBSD or BeOS, are less common from the manufacturer.

Note

Especially if you frequent computer shows or purchase hardware from cut-rate Internet dealers, you might end up with generic or OEM hardware. Such products frequently come with limited or even no drivers. Such products often cost less than their fully branded and in-box counterparts, but you might need to hunt a bit more to locate drivers ...

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