Is Driver Booster Safe?

While uploading Driver Booster, a lot of antivirus flag is as a virus and that makes you wonder if the application is indeed safe to be on your computer. This is despite the fact that you have been told how the software helps your system update drivers that have long since been outdated. As a quick satisfaction to your curiosity, the answer is that Driver Booster is indeed safe to use. In fact, it is the safest and best of all applications in its category so far. Many users all over the world have reported its usage and the fact that it does not give them any issues or leave any virus on their system even when it is being uninstalled. Why then does your antivirus keep flagging it as unsafe? Well, there are probably a few things you did wrong during installation. There are some add-ons that come with the software which some antivirus often flags

In this article, you will learn how to properly install Driver Booster, what it does, and why it is an important asset to have on your computer. Continue reading.

What does Driver Booster do?

Updating your computer’s drivers helps to make sure your softwares keep running. That is one of the reasons why Windows release updates every week. Many of those updates are for drivers, especially the optional ones. 

However, you may have noticed that some drivers will not update, especially if the company does not release updates often or you leave your system unconnected to the internet for too long. This is where the IObit-created software, Driver Booster, comes in.

Driver Booster helps your computer to perform the following functions better.

1. Scans for missing, corrupted, damaged, and outdated system drivers and updates them. If you are using the free version, you have access to about 6 million driver updates while the pro version has about 8 million driver updates.
2. The drivers that the Driver Booster updates range from internal to external hardware like the GPU, anything on the motherboard, mouse, keyboard, stylus pen, etc. The range is limitless.
3. The software only works with Windows and helps to update the drivers that windows would normally not be able to update via its system update series.
4. It creates system backups and restore points for drivers. This way, if there was something wrong with a driver update, it does not affect the original driver already installed.
5. Driver Booster can also fix hardware and software errors, both online and offline, to make them run smoother.
6. The user can choose which drivers to install or not and can therefore limit clutter on the memory or ROM of the computer. This is unlike the Windows updates that run automatically except for some that Windows considers optional occasionally.

Why Driver Booster is being flagged as a virus by your system’s antivirus

Now that you have an idea of what the Driver Booster does and why it is important for your computer, let us discuss briefly the reasons why the software is being flagged as a virus by your computer.

1. Downloading from a third-party website – because these websites peddle adulterated versions of otherwise authentic softwares, there could have been some addons that your antivirus will see as viruses. Hence, you will not be able to install it. Also, the software could come with actual viruses when you download it from those sites. 

Therefore, it is advisable that you download directly from IObit’s official website. IObit is a legitimate software company and they provide safe and clean download and installation platforms. Updates to the Driver Booster software are clean too. 

There is a free version on there so you do not have to worry about money if that was what prompted you to download from a third-party website in the first place.

1. Using recommended installation instead of custom installation – yes, you heard that right. When installing most softwares, it is often advisable to use the recommended installation. However, Driver Booster comes with third-party softwares, antivirus tools, and in-app advertisements. All these are what gets it flagged by antivirus.

Therefore, we recommend that you use the custom install tool to screen out the unwanted options so that the software installs on your system without hitch.

1. Driver Booster’s ability to make automatic system changes – this ability is easily flagged as malicious by antiviruses. So, you can bypass this hurdle by either installing it as a system administrator or registering the application in the exclusion registry of your antivirus. This way, the antivirus does not flag it. Bear in mind though that this option is only safe if you have downloaded the software directly from IObit.
2. System requirements – it is important to know that Driver Booster only works on Windows OS. Therefore, if you are using Mac or Linux, it will not install or work on your computer even if it does install. For Windows users, Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 are the currently supported OS. Also, your system can either be 32 or 64 bit but it must have a ROM space of at least 1 gigabyte to install the software and any other driver it may want to install. Lastly, it is required that the computer’s screen resolution must be a minimum of 1024 x 768 for the Driver Booster software to run on it.

Advantages of using Driver Booster

1. Finding and installing updates for outdated system drivers helps the computer runs more smoothly. Outdated drivers can often cause the computer to crash, freeze, or even shut down unexpectedly. 
2. There are graphic drivers that Windows updates simply will not update. Driver Booster can easily find those and install them for you.
3. The way Windows updates work is that it installs updates for drivers as soon as they are released. However, if you failed to install one or more concurrent updates, you may never be able to update that driver through windows update anymore. The Driver Booster finds the necessary updates for you and installs them correctly the way they should. That is a huge advantage.

How to properly install Driver Booster

As mentioned earlier in this article, improper installation can cause problems for the software on your computer. If you have downloaded the application directly from IObit, then take the following steps to properly install it.

1. If you downloaded the application using Google Chrome, you can simply right-click on the download below the screen of your computer and select open from the pop-up menu. Otherwise, you may have to locate the software itself on your computer through file explorer. If you know where it downloaded, just navigate to the folder. Otherwise, you may need to do a search in Drive C or D using the file explorer search bar.
2. Double-click on the icon of the downloaded driver and if there is a pop-up message to allow it to run as an administrator, click on yes. On the newer versions of Windows, you may have to allow the system to install from other sources apart from Store using the pop-up menu.
3. Once the installation box appears, click on custom install; never use the recommended install by clicking on the big red install button.
4. Check the options for creating a desktop icon and system directory in the dialogue box that pops up and then click on install.
5. The next dialogue box will be to install additional bundled softwares, choose the NO option, and then click install next.
6. After installation, you can choose to register for newsletters from IObit by providing them with your email or not.
7. Finish the installation and do the first scan of your drivers.

Alternatives to Driver Booster

There are a number of alternatives like safe Driver Booster that you can also try out if you want; For safe we will recommend Driver Booster though. These are just a select few because there are a lot of them. The list is in no particular order of idealness. 

• Slim Drivers
• TweakBit Driver Updater
• DriverFix
• AVG Driver Updater
• Driver Easy
• System Mechanic Ultimate Defense

Conclusion

To keep your computer up and running, it is necessary that all the important drivers are running smoothly. So, if you are running into issues updating them manually, optioning for third-party softwares like Driver Booster is a safe option. Just always ensure that you are downloading from trusted vendors or manufacturer websites.

FAQ

1. What is the benefit of upgrading my Driver Booster to the pro version?

One added benefit is that you have access to over two million more drivers that are unavailable to free users. Scanning and installing driver updates are automated when you upgrade to a pro instead of manually doing it every time. Also, there is free tech support for pro users.

1. How often should computer drivers be updated?

Software updates sometimes come with bugs that were inadvertently introduced by the manufacturers. therefore, updates to drivers should normally be done at least twice a year. That way, even if a bug was released earlier, there would have been a counter-update to correct and fix it.

1. How do I know if I have bad device drivers on my computer?

Press the Windows + x keys or search for the device manager using Cortana. Once the device manager application is opened, check through all the listed drivers for the ones that carry a yellow caution ⚠ mark. Those are the drivers that are damaged and need repairs.