DRIVER MAGICIAN and DRIVER SCANNER
 http://www.drivermagician.com
 http://www.liutilities.com/products/driverscanner/

Reviewed January, 2009

What’s It Do?

Driver Magician identifies system hardware, extracts their associated drivers from the hard drive, and backs them to the location of one’s choice. This facilitates reformatting and reinstalling or upgrading the Operating System since all saved drivers can be restored. There is a built-in live database of the latest drivers and drivers can be detected, information obtained, and updated easily from the database.

Driver Scanner scans the PC’s drivers and checks them against a comprehensive library of the latest drivers to give a full list of those that need to be updated. With a single click, Driver Scanner will then install ach update and will also backup all drivers to an external device so that the next time the system is reinstalled the latest drivers can be loaded from one place.

Do they do what they promise?

Reviewer 1: Driver Magician. Yes and No. Yes, in that it will scan installed drivers and provide a list with links for those drivers that have newer versions available. No, in that the wording by the developer does not make it clear that the program does not install drivers. The user has to download, extract and install any driver update. Driver Scanner: Yes, but some driver update versions it suggests are not the latest version.

Reviewer 2: Yes, both Drive Magician and Driver Scanner while not equal in what they do, fulfill what is promised by backing up drivers and locating needed driver updates, finding those updated drivers, and allowing for their download.

Reviewer 3: Both programs scanned my system and found updated drivers for my hardware components. Driver Magician would not back up my drivers completely, so it failed in this important respect. Driver Scanner had the nicer graphical interface and was more intuitive to use; unfortunately, they used their running program to advertise other products in their line. Driver Magician’s strength was in finding drivers for my laptop from the laptop manufacturer’s site directly rather than getting them from the component manufacturers’ sites where more generic drivers are often found.

Reviewer 4: Yes, both programs enable one to scan for and locate drivers and keep them updated and backed up. They differ slightly in the way they go about this and in how they display the results.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician easily backed up and restored non-Microsoft drivers, and provided a lot of technical information about the driver hardware. It also provides a quick backup tool for Internet Explorer Favorites, the Registry, the “My Documents Folder” and the Desktop. However, the modules for finding out which drivers need to be updated, and the process of installing those updates is confusing, and in some cases the links to those updates did not work. This part of the program performed below expectation. Driver Scanner enabled me to back up drivers, restore them and download and install updated drivers for different peripherals. This was done easily, and did not require great computer technical skill, nor did I have to refer to the Help Manual in order to be able to carry out these functions.


Were they easy to install?

Reviewer 1: Yes, both installed without any problems, Driver Magician with a 3.41 MB file and Driver Scanner with a 15.09 MB file.

Reviewer 2: Driver Magician and Driver Scanner were both a relatively small download of 3.64MB and 11.02MB respectively and each installed quickly and easily using installation wizards. Registration was also quite seamless and effortless. Driver Scanner offered a bit more choice as to icon placement as well as a unique Explorer-like tree for the destination folder. Driver Magician provided a short, clear, and very straightforward EULA (End User License Agreement) that allowed for only a single user but did allow for one additional copy for backup. Driver Scanner’s EULA on the other hand was one of the most restrictive and certainly the longest EULAs I have ever seen. Fortunately, it was printable because at over four pages of legalese one needs a hard copy to even begin a casual reading (or providing legal counsel!). One note of concern: the software program reviewed here was represented as a general release; however, the EULA states that it is a beta release. Either the software program was misrepresented or the EULA has not been updated. Either way, this is a potentially serious oversight or miscommunication on the part of the developer. Both programs uninstalled easily but Driver Scanner did not uninstall cleanly, leaving an unconscionable 347 traces in the Registry and on the hard drive.

Uniblue, developers of Driver Scanner, responded: The EULA has now been updated.

Reviewer 3: Driver Magician. Installation was fast and easy. The license agreement limits installation to one computer; however, it does permit installation on another computer provided that it is first uninstalled from the original computer. I did have a problem with registering my copy of this software. I went to the registration page and filled in my name and registration code via cut and paste. When I clicked “OK” to register, nothing happened. I emailed support about this and was promptly answered. They sent new registration codes which worked. Driver Magician’s Web site indicates that all updates are free. Driver Scanner’s installation was also fast and easy. The license permits personal use of up to three computers. When an update is available, the program notes this on startup and, if the upgrade is accepted, the program automatically uninstalls the old version and installs the new one. This was a painless process which required little user intervention. My only minor complaint was that it removed the Driver Scanner icon from my desktop and replaced it at a different location. Drive Scanner’s purchase price gives one year of “active protection” and must be renewed at additional cost to continue receiving updates.

Reviewer 4: Yes, both programs downloaded and installed quite easily.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician. I downloaded the trial version in less than one minute on a fast Internet connection. The installation is the familiar Windows process, and I was allowed to place the program and shortcuts in the locations of my choice. As soon as the program starts, you are presented with a registration dialog box, which tells you how long you can use the trial version, how to purchase a license, or to register immediately. The registration is a simple copy-and-paste operation. Driver Scanner. The download file for Driver Scanner is 15 Mb, compared to the 4 Mb of Driver Magician, so it took a bit longer to download. However, the installation only took a minute or so, and allowed me to place the program where I wanted. Although it gave me a choice of whether or not to have shortcuts placed on my desktop and the Quick Launch Menu, I would have like to choose which folder in which to place its shortcut in the Start Menu as well. Registration is a simple copy-and-paste, made even simpler with a place to “Click here to paste the serial number in the box above”. Once installed, I was asked if I wished to run it. The default setting is for the program to scan for all installed drivers when opened. This is useful the first time that you run it, but you can turn it off in the Settings. The EULA (End Users License Agreement) allows that the program be installed on a single computer in a commercial environment, but it can be used on “three computers as long as the computers are used for private, non-commercial purposes”. This is an enlightened approach to software licensing. From time-to-time it checks for new versions of the program, and offers to download and install upgrades; or, these can be checked manually in the Overview tab.


Good points

Reviewer 1: Learning to Use. Driver Magician is a simple program and requires little learning in order to use. I did not find that I needed to contact support for any further instructions in using this program. Driver Scanner also is an easy program to learn to use. Instructions come in the form of a PDF manual in short and full versions downloadable from the producer’s Web site. Utilizing the full version, I found the instructions with screenshots easy to understand and follow.

Scan for Drivers& Updates. Driver Magician makes a distinction between drivers provided by the Operating System (OS) and non-OS drivers, but gives the user the option to view all drivers or only non-OS drivers. The concept is that OS-provided drivers are available through the installed OS and do not need to be backed up. The drivers are listed by device and some devices may have more than one driver. A highlighted device will display information about the driver(s). The scan for updates of drivers is a separate function and is based upon the selected OS. It provides a list of devices drivers of which a newer version exists and provides a clickable link to download the update. The user downloads the driver update, extracts it if it is a ZIP file and then installs the driver update. Driver Scanner scans for devices and drivers when it is opened. The scan process can’t be stopped, but there is an option to deactivate this scan on opening. Drivers are listed individually with information about each driver including the location of the driver file on the hard drive. Driver Scanner lists the drivers for which there is an updated version. Clicking the download load button will cause the program to download the updates. How many updates that can be downloaded at the same time is a user option and depends upon the Internet connection. I downloaded five updates at the same time. Once downloaded, a simple click will start the install process which is done automatically unless a user prompt response is needed. Driver Scanner ranks the drivers on possible implication to one’s PC. Drivers that could affect the ability of the PC to function are labeled as High risk and the user must install these updates manually. My tests did not reveal any in the high risk rating so I did not see this ranking and Driver Scanner installed updated drivers for me with a few users’ prompts.

Driver Backup and Restore. Driver Magician. The backup and restore functions worked without any errors. I especially like the auto-setup executable backup option. My testing of this function showed that drivers could be installed from a single file. This would be a time saving thing if reinstalling the operating system. Driver Scanner. The backup and restore function worked without any errors. I liked the ability to select which drivers would be restored from the backup.

Other Functions. Driver Magician could also do backup and restore of other Windows files such as the Registry and My Documents. I didn’t test these functions as I use another program to perform my backup operations. A unique function of Driver Magician is the ability to identify unknown devices, which, once identified, makes installation of the devices possible. Since I had no unknown devices on my system I was unable to test this function. Driver Scanner. No other functions.

Reviewer 2: Both Driver Magician and Driver Scanner scan and locate the drivers on one’s system, allow for backup, identify out-of-date drivers, and locate the updated drivers on their internal databases which can then be downloaded and installed. Driver Magician locates unidentified drivers which Driver Scanner does not. Additionally, Driver Magician allows you to create an .exe (executable) file for backups which allows the user to reinstall the backups even if he no longer has the software program installed. Driver Scanner does not allow for this. Additionally, Driver Magician allows you to backup your IE Favorites, My Documents folder, and Desktop which Driver Scanner does not do. Both programs perform quickly using relatively few resources with Driver Magician using far less at 13.6MB of RAM compared to the 46.7MB of RAM that Driver Scanner uses. Each program has an intuitive GUI (Graphic User Interface) with Driver Magician having more of an eye on simplicity rather than attractiveness with a bit Spartan looking GUI, while Driver Scanner has a very attractive and professional looking GUI. Both programs offer an email or ticket/email support system in addition to limited FAQs with Driver Magician promising a 24 hour turnaround time on support requests, while Driver Scanner suggests only that requests would be processed “shortly.” In my experiences with each of these programs, however, my support requests were handled in less than 24 hours and provided accurate and easy-to-understand answers to the questions/problems identified. Each product is competitively priced at $29.95.

Reviewer 3: Driver Magician on startup offers to update the driver database and then presents a list of non-Microsoft device drivers installed on the system. The small print at the bottom of the screen contains recommendation to back up these drivers before proceeding. (I would suggest that they move this information up to the top of the screen where it will be read first.) It detected seven outdated drivers on my system. As a laptop owner, I appreciate that Driver Magician cites Dell as the source for some of my drivers. Laptops often have customized versions of drivers tailored to suit the individual systems. Driver Scanner has a feature which allows backup of any or all of drivers. While this is an excellent feature, I expected that the program would display this before displaying the section that enables updating of drivers; however, it did give the appropriate warning after a new driver was downloaded but just before it was installed. Additionally, there was a warning before beginning that the backup could take a long while and indeed it took somewhere between five and 10 minutes to complete. Driver Scanner erroneously cited the component manufacturer, not Dell, as the source of my drivers. When Driver Scanner first runs it automatically checks over the Internet to see if its database is current. It then automatically begins to scan the system’s drivers. On my system it found six out of 86 drivers which were “out-of-date” and it rated the drivers as “risky”, “moderate”, or safe”. Other options for each driver given on screen include “ignore”, “report”, and “perform action”. The “report” option was not additional information about the current versus the updated driver as I expected, but rather an option to report a problematic driver to their service.
I like that it tells the current driver version compared to the version it is upgradeable to. This gives an idea of whether then upgrade will be a major one or minor. Unfortunately, this information was partially obscured in the default small window view, but it was fully viewable in full-screen mode. I like Driver Scanner’s graphical interface. Items needing attention were clearly highlighted and the system was well organized. The large version of their online manual was quite impressive as well and walks through each process with clear descriptions and screenshots of every major step.

Reviewer 4: While the end result is basically the same, both programs just manipulated and display the data a little differently. Both allowed update and backup of critical drivers. Driver Magician had a simple, no-nonsense look about it and seemed to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. I liked the look of the Driver Scanner interface. It was much "slicker" and polished than that of Driver Magician.

Driver Scanner’s interface for handling out-of-date drivers is much clearer and easier to use. It offers the added benefit of a rating level for each driver; safe to install, moderate and risky. These are also color-coded. From the same tab one can choose to ignore, download the driver and install the driver. If a user encounters a bad driver, this page also offers the ability to report this information to Uniblue by clicking on a small icon with a + on it. On the other hand, I preferred the way Driver Magician delineates between Microsoft and non-Microsoft drivers by using color coding. Normally, drivers included in the OS do not have to be backed up as they would be reinstalled with the reinstallation of the OS or patched during an update. This allows the backup to be kept as small as possible. Additionally, Driver Magician offers, under the options tab, the choice of backing up drivers to folders, to a compressed file, to a self extractor or .exe file, and to an auto setup package. The compression level is selectable from none through low, medium and high. As a bonus, under the tools menu - "more backup and restoration" there are checkboxes for Internet Explorer favorites, the Registry, My Documents, and the desktop.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician’s strength is its emphasis on backing up the non-Microsoft drivers that have been installed on one’s system. Quite commonly, these devices include such items as a printer, video and/or audio cards, network card, scanner and other kinds of special peripherals that have been added over time.. As soon as the program starts, one is given a list of all the non-Microsoft device drivers that are not included in the Windows operating system. Back up of these is recommended so that they are easily available if Windows must be reinstalled. Further information about any of the drivers in the list can be obtained by double-clicking on them. The Backup Process is very simple, and takes only a few moments. First, I clicked on the “Select All” button, then on “Start Backup”. Before the actual backup begins, Driver Magician allows a choice of where to place the backup copies. I had a “Drivers” folder in “My Documents”, and in very short order, all my currently installed drivers were collected, organized into a separate folder for each item, and copies of all the driver files were placed in that My Documents > Drivers folder. I then made an additional copy on a flash drive. The Restore Process is also simple. I selected the drivers that I wanted to restore, selected “Start Restore”, and Driver Magician goes by default to the folder that I used for my backup. At this point I had the option of selecting a different folder to restore from -- for example different drive or a Flash Drive, if I had copied my backup files to another location after having done my original backup. In the event I find it necessary to reinstall Windows, to include the drivers that run the different parts of the computer itself, I will have all the rest stored on a CD, a flash drive or other removable storage media from which they can be easily restored. Driver Scanner is well-designed, has a business-like layout and graphical presentation and is very easy to use even by novices. The Overview gives a snapshot of the current state of one’s drivers and allows a quick scan. Since the default action is to scan the program is started, the second tab, “Driver Scan” will open once the automatic scan has finished.

This contains a summary listing of the state of the drivers. To my surprise, I had 10 outdated drivers of the 96 installed on my computer. I was informed of the status of each of the drivers (whether or not they are up-to-date) and how risky it might be update and install any of the outdated drivers. In some cases, updates may not be suitable for one’s own particular computer configuration, so caution must be exercised. Storing drivers in a safe place is important in the event Windows must be reinstalled, so the Backup and Restore functions are important in this program. Backing up of drivers is easily done. Choosing the Backup Tab presents a list of all installed drivers. In the Settings, you can change where you want the drivers to be installed from the default (which is in the Uniblue folder inside the Documents and Settings > Applications Data folder) to a folder of your own choice. As I like to have all my data on a different disk than the C:\ drive, I changed that location to a folder on a different drive. Unlike Driver Magician, which created a different folder for each peripheral’s set of drivers, Driver Scanner compresses all the drivers into an encrypted (i.e password-protected) zip file. It is also quite easy to Restore Drivers from the Driver Backup file. After doing a backup of all the Drivers on the computer to Driver Scanner's default backup location, I copied that file to a different folder on a flash drive. I was able to select the drivers that I wanted to restore from that file copy, and restored them quickly and without error.


Weak points

Reviewer 1: Learning to Use. Driver Magician. To make the program easier to use, I suggest more details in the help file or online tutorials. It was disappointing to spend time reading the entire Help file so that I would use the program without any glitches, only to find small steps such as “creating folders to store backups in and download driver updates to” were needed while using the program.

Scan for Drivers. Driver Magician. The concept of OS- provided drivers is not entirely accurate. I have an advanced Microsoft mouse which will work with the OS-provided drivers, but functions much better with the drivers that came with the mouse (non-OS). Driver Magician classified the driver for this device as an OS provided driver, which it was not. I suggest that the location of the driver on the HDD (PATH) be included in the information about the drivers. There does not appear to be a re-scan for new devices or drivers function and although I did not add any new devices and drivers I wonder how the program would know. When the program is opened, the prior list is there instantly and no HDD activity is seen (which would indicate a scan process). The scan for updates did not include an update for my mouse when there was an updated driver for this device. The scan also showed an update for another device that upon installation indicated that it was for Win 98 and not for the XP I have, thus it found an update for a wrong OS. Having the user download and install the updates is a flaw in this program and makes this program come up short when compared to other driver update programs. A main reason for having a driver update program is to have it install the updated drivers. Driver Scanner. Of the drivers I downloaded and started to install, three would not install because a newer version was already installed. The scan was performed just prior to this download, which means Driver Scanner wrongly detected a newer version being available and that Driver Scanner’s database did not have the most recent updates available. I noted that all three of these update version had a December 2008 creation date. Re-scan yielded the same results.

Reviewer 2: While it seems that the primary purpose of Driver Magician is as a backup tool more than as a driver download tool as is the primary focus of Driver Scanner, both programs do purport to scan and identify out-of-date drivers and then provide the necessary updated drivers for download and installation. In this area both programs failed to perform accurately and safely. An incorrect driver will instantly cause hardware to stop dead in its tracks, so having the correct driver installed is of paramount importance. In the case of Driver Magician, its scan only produced three out-of date drivers—a number I found quite suspicious on my four-year-old computer that has never had a single driver updated. Nonetheless, out of the three out-of-date drivers it identified, two of the three offered updated drivers to download were inaccurate — both having to do with graphics and sound cards. Driver Scanner, on the other hand, could not seem to decide what it found. On the initial scan, it identified 17 drivers that were out-of-date. On a second scan done within a few minutes, the number identified dropped to seven out-of-date drivers; and on a third scan the number again changed, this time to eight out-of-date drivers. Of the final number (8) only two were ones that had been identified by Driver Magician and, of the 8 identified, four of the offered updated drivers were inaccurate. While there were other small flaws in each program and while each program had its own strengths and weaknesses, the fact that the drivers identified as being in need of updating were inconsistent and the drivers offered to download as updates were not always accurate in either program, makes it impossible for me to recommend either Driver Magician or Driver Scanner.

Reviewer 3: Driver Magician. There are two buttons labeled “backup” after Driver Magician enters the backup driver selection mode– one at the top of the screen and another at the bottom. I initially clicked on the top button causing some confusion since this initiates the backup process which was already in progress. Clicking on the bottom button initiated the lengthy process of backing up all of the highlighted drivers.. The backup process became frozen although Driver Magician was actively running and using 95-98% of system resources according to Task Manager. I aborted the process after about one-half hour. I attempted to repeat this driver backup again after a reboot and Driver Magician again locked up and became non-responsive part way into the backup process. Driver Scanner. Within the main body of the Driver Scanner program are advertisements for other Uniblue software programs. I find this highly objectionable for paid software. Perhaps it would be appropriate for freeware or trialware. More annoying yet was the linked display simply labeled “Enable Powersuite” which contained only a brief, one sentence description of what it might do and nothing about the terms of usage. The link navigates to Uniblue’s Web site where the full suite can be purchased. The driver restore process could be improved by identifying which drivers have been changed. The present process presents a list of all of the drivers that have been backed up and only one driver may be restored at a time. Since many devices are presented, and there are multiple drivers present for some devices, it is essential that the user have a pre-existing record of which drivers that have been updated in order to use this process effectively. Neither Driver Magician nor Driver Scanner provided information about the enhancements or the bug correction which might be expected from upgrading from/to specific drivers.

Reviewer 4: Driver Scanner seemed to work well, but at the same time, part of its interface was dedicated to pushing other products in its line. One button called "enable PowerSuite" links to Uniblue’s Web to encourage purchase of other programs. I do not like annoying sales pitches bundled into the software that I buy.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician allows browsing to the location desired for storing store backed up drivers; but does not provide a way of creating a folder once the user begins to browse. Many programs are designed to let us keep our computers up-to-date. This way, bugs that may have been discovered, improvements to the programs, or updates to continually changing databases (virus scanners, for example) are made available to the users. However, the software programs that run our computer hardware (device drivers) are more difficult to track, and once found, to decide if drivers should be updated. Driver Magician gives a listing of drivers for which newer versions have been issued but this does not necessarily mean that the driver should be installed. Since newer versions might create more problems than solutions. Driver Magician simply supplies the download link to the driver and I found some links were no longer valid. This required me to search for the driver without the program’s assistance. Driver Scanner, on the other hand, provides a rating of whether an updated driver is safe, moderately safe or risky. With Driver Magician, I was confused by the different “Update” items that I was presented with. Eventually, I discovered that “Update Drivers” will produce a list of the drivers that have newer versions available on the Internet. Clicking on each item will give very good information about the Driver Provider, the Versions of Windows supported, and other information. Driver download links should be updated since some of these are invalid. Driver Scanner. Unlike Driver Magician, there is no distinction made between Microsoft and non-Microsoft drivers. I would like to be able to save the Drivers Information is in a location other than on the C:\ drive. In the event that I do have to reinstall Windows, the C:\ drive is the one that is reformatted and all its data is lost. The default location of the backed-up driver information is the Documents and Settings folder. Although I did specify a different location in the Settings Tab of Driver Scanner, it did not recognize the change, and installed to the default location. I had the same problem on two different computers, and in both older versions of the program, as well as the most recent update. However, I did copy the Backup file to a different location, and was able to Restore Drivers from that file copy. Many utilities programs are based on a “Scan then Correct Problems” model, for example, Registry cleaners, optimizers, defragmenters, etc. The program will scan the computer, after which a list of the problems which the scan discovered is presented to the user. At this point, the user will decide which of the suggested corrective measures to apply. Unfortunately, the “trial version” of Driver Scanner offered to prospective clients is not the complete program, but is actually the same as the “Free Scan” offered on the Uniblue Web site. In both cases, (download the “Trial Version” or click on the “Free Scan” button), a program called driverscanner.exe will be downloaded. Without a registration key, only out-of-date drivers will be shown, and purchase is required to download the drivers. I am also discouraged that Uniblue uses the Overview Tab in this program to advertise some of its other products. I do not object to having a link to the Uniblue Site -- in fact, that is available from the Help link on the Overview Tab -- where it can, of course, list all of its products and encourage people to purchase them. But I find it distasteful that two buttons on the Overview Screen, titled “Enable Powersuite” do not enable anything at all but rather navigates to the “Shopping Cart” on their site, with flashing promotions and “Save $$$” advertising. As I am using something which I have purchased, I do not want advertising for additional products to be included in the product that I have paid for.

Developer's Web Site

Reviewer 1: Driver Magician. A link to the homepage of the developer’s Web site is installed as part of the program links in the Start Menu. The home page has links to other pages on the Web site. It is easy to navigate and find what is wanted. All links appear to function properly including support by email. Driver Scanner. The link to the developer’s Web site is contained in the program in two different areas. Selecting Help in the program opens the Support area displaying the page to download the manual to the program in PDF form. Selecting the About link in the program opens the Web site’s home page. Accessing the Web site through these links is helpful since the name (Uniblue) and the URL address (www.liutilities.com) differ. Navigation is easy and I was able to navigate to each page. Support for issues not cover in the manual or the Web site’s FAQ section is by an online request classified as a support ticket. Accessing this online support ticket Web page is not clearly indicated at the home page and is not listed in the site map.

Reviewer 2: One can often tell a lot about a product simply by its Web site. Not unlike its GUI, the Driver Magician Web site is rather Spartan in appearance. It is very much in the manner of “just the facts, ma’am.” It is, however, clean, easily understood, and easily negotiable. My only complaint is that nowhere is there any identification as to the name of the developer or company that developed Driver Magician (Gold Solutions, a Chinese company). Driver Scanner’s Web site, like its GUI, is very attractive, quite colorful, very professional looking, and easily negotiated. The well-known company, UniBlue, is prominently and proudly identified at the top of the Web site. My only complaint is that they have hidden the means to contact technical/customer service support. After clicking on the “Support” tab one must wade through two pages of FAQ’s before finding, at the very bottom of the second page in very small print, a link to making a support “query.” Whenever I see this on a Web site, it always causes me to wonder how serious the company is about providing support. It is as if they are hoping no one finds the support link.

Reviewer 3. Driver Magician’s Web site offers a complete and accurate description of the program with a detailed FAQ dedicated to specific issues. Driver Scanner’s Web site also contains a good description of the product but the support section was generic to all of their products. While other products had specific support sections within the Web site, none was present for Driver Scanner. Small and large versions of the product manual were downloadable in PDF format. Both Driver Magician and Driver Scanner offered support for their products via email.

Reviewer 4: Driver Magician’s Web site is simple with no frills. It has basic button navigation for Home, Screenshots, Download, Purchase, Support, Testimonials and Contact. It displays a few awards the program has won and contains a few simple paragraphs of text description and a bullet list of key features. The bulk of the site space is taken up by a “change log”. This appears to be a one-product company. Driver Scanner’s Web site is much more sophisticated and slick. In keeping with its extensive programs offerings, this is a large and well-done site with lots of vivid color, clear navigation and several options to get to the same places. It shouts “Professional” loudly.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician’s Web site is available under the Help Menu, “Homepage.” The site is easy to navigate, as it is the only product being supported here. Some screenshots of the program are shown, and there are two easily-identified ways to contact the developers and the support personnel. If the information on the site does not answer any questions or comments, there is an email link for questions, comments or bug reports. Driver Scanner’s Web site places too much emphasis on the sale of Uniblue Products. I was looking for support and did not see the direct link to the “Contact Us” link which appears at the bottom of all the pages of the site and requires scrolling to locate it.


Other comments

Reviewer 1: Both programs currently cost the same, however Driver Scanner’s web site indicates that the current price is $10.00 off the regular price. Another note is that Driver Magician’s updates have no end date, but Driver Scanner must be renewed each year in order to continue getting updates. Since updated drivers are the whole basis of these programs, yearly renewal in order to kept getting updates is a cost that should be factored in deciding upon these programs. I would point out that the need to update one’s drivers is not for all users. Often the updated driver provides no improvement to a user, simply because most updates are mandated to fix a problem with some hardware that the user doesn’t have. If the user did have that hardware, then the updated driver would help. I did not have any problems before testing these driver update programs and a total of 11 drivers were updated. I have not seen any improvement due to these newer drivers and suspect the reason for the hardware makers to create newer drivers was to solve problems that did not apply to my setup.

Reviewer 2: The idea of updating drivers falls into to competing camps. There are those who say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it—usually experienced computer experts; and those who say drivers should be constantly updated—most often suggested by those who sell driver scanning programs. I have never updated a driver in the 30 years I have been using a computer except when I rarely had a hardware problem that I could specifically trace to a driver. Updating drivers is dangerous for the reasons I stated at the beginning of this review, aggravated by the difficulty in finding the exact driver you need. I had hoped that maybe this problem had been solved by Driver Magician and/or Driver Scanner but based on my testing of these programs, apparently not; so, I encourage others to accept the theory of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Reviewer 3: While identical driver updates were found by both programs for some hardware, updated drivers for some hardware were found by one program and not the other. In other cases, two different versions of drivers were found by the two programs for the same hardware. Driver Magician works with Windows 98, ME, and 2000 as well as XP and Vista. Driver Scanner works with Windows XP and Vista. In the end, the question persists of whether, if one’s system is working well, whether drivers should be updated at all, at the risk of destabilizing a working system.

Reviewer 4: Driver Magician is a “simpler” interface with selectable check boxes for every driver it finds. It scans the system on startup and locates all the drivers. There are two choices for displaying the results of the scan. "Search all drivers" and "search non-Microsoft drivers". The results are color-coded. All non-Microsoft drivers are displayed in red, and those drivers that would be included in a reload of Windows are displayed in black. Clicking on the "Update" button or icon causes the program to scan again and list any outdated drivers among those that it has found. In the "Update Drivers" window, there is a drop-down menu listing various versions of Windows that this program will work with. Included are Windows ME, Windows 2000, XP, XP 64-bit, Windows 2003 and Windows 2003 64-bit Vista and Vista 64-bit. Drivers that need updating are listed in an upper pane and information for the selected driver is displayed in the lower pane, including a URL for downloading, if the user prefers to do this manually.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician. This program seems still to be developing, even though it has reached Version 3.32 at the time of this review. Given the large number of peripherals available to PC Users, it must be a difficult task to try to keep up with them all. Whereas the regular Backup and Restore worked quite well, there are some weaknesses in the Driver Update module, both in terms of the User Interface and in keeping the links to the new Drivers updated. Driver Scanner. In spite of my dislike of the advertising methods inserted into my copy of the program, I prefer Driver Scanner over Driver Magician. Equal attention is given to each of the main functions: Backup, Restore, and Driver Upgrades. I think that the prudent approach is “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” A newer driver for a peripheral that is being used successfully may prove to be a mistake; however, Driver Scanner does provide a rating scale which helps the user to decide whether or not to install a newer driver.


Will you continue to use them?

Reviewer 1: No.

Reviewer 2: No.

Reviewer 3: No. Because my laptop often uses customized drivers, I will continue to periodically check the support section of the laptop manufacturer’s Web site and download tested drivers from there.

Reviewer 4: Both of these programs do essentially the same thing. They allow the user to backup and restore critical drivers. Barring a few bells and whistles, such as the look and feel of the UI and a couple of extra features, there really is not much difference. There is no reason to use both programs. It is totally a personal preference. I am leaning towards Driver Scanner because I like the UI a little better as well as its rating system of "safe to install, moderate, and risky”, and the ability to report a problematic driver directly from the program.

Reviewer 5: Driver Magician. No, although I will watch with interest to see if it improves over time. Driver Scanner. Yes, I will.

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home, XP Media Edition

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