Should I use the install CD that came with my hardware?
I got a new webcam this week. I’m going to start doing some livecasting/lifecasting stuff. At the Web 2.0 Expo I saw that a little hardware can make for really cool and easy video interview … much easier than getting out a podcasting rig! And it’s video too!
Okay, regardless, Jim and I decided that I needed to get my act together and get a cam that works with Vista (Jim has a cam and my crappy old one doesn’t work with Vista-thank God). I wandered into Futureshop and picked out a Logitech Quickcam Fusion what was half off (serious score).
When installing new hardware, sometimes I use the install CD provided, but sometimes not, especially now that I’m running Vista. I chose not to for this run…well it wasn’t so good…I figured that I would download the latest set of stuff from Logitech instead of the CD. Well the download is like 85 megs. Ouch. Fine, fine, it says on the box it works with Vista…
Well I had a very pleasant surprise and, kudos to Logitech for this…when the CD-based installer ran, it asked if it should check for updated software. How cool is that! Of course there was, and it downloaded in record time (it still might have been the 85 meg, but the pipe seems to be pretty fat.
So the install went awesome. I did have some issues at first getting everything recognized, more of a Vista thing IMHO.
But back to the question, should you use the CD? It depends. Often the CD install wants to dump a lot of crap on your machine that you don’t need or want to just, say, print. Sometimes, though, it’s good to have the extra software. My advice is this. Before running the CD, check the manufacturer’s site. Is there new software? Is there a drivers only download? If there are, I’d download them and skip the CD. If not, or it’s a ginormous download (in the 10s or 100s of megs), go for the CD. Then run Windows update to see if it can find updates for the drivers.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Hardware, Software tips
0 opinions for Should I use the install CD that came with my hardware?
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: