I just recently got a new laptop with Vista. The other day, Windows Update dutifully notified me that an update for my network drivers was available. Like a good boy, I installed the update. Almost immediately, I started having problems culminating in the dreaded BSOD (most often upon shutdown, but a few times on bootup, too). This was very discouraging, to say the least. I can’t remember the last time I had a BSOD with WinXP, and here I am a few days in with Vista and I get one almost every shutdown.

The new “problem resolution” feature of Vista then kicked in and offered a solution: go to the manufacturer’s web site and download the driver software directly (and it even recommended the software version to download). Ironically, the recommended solution involved re-installing an older version of the driver software. So far, I have been trouble-free since doing so.

So, even if Windows Update does offer you updates, you might still find yourself having to go to the manufacturer’s web site to do it manually.

Btw, Windows Update keeps telling me that an update for my network driver is available.