Device Drivers are one of the main reasons why your computer is running at optimal performance today; they can also be one of the reasons why your computer is running slowly. When things are running well, computer users might want to view a list of the drivers that are operational. This can be a difficult process, which is why we are going to talk about how to view a list of all device drivers via the Command Prompt by using the driverquery command.
First, we need to kick start the Command Prompt, and for this to happen, users may open the WinX menu in Windows 11, Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 and click on Command Prompt. Another way of doing it is to press the Windows Key along with R, and then type CMD in the text box. Hit enter and watch as the Command Prompt launches.
Generate a list of Drivers using driverquery command
In the Command Prompt, enter the command driverquery. This should bring up a list of drivers installed on the system. Depending on the number of drivers installed, it may take a while for the screen to fully populate. A relatively fast computer should perform these tasks within just a few seconds after the user hits the enter button.
Using the driverquery command will show the module name of the driver, along with the display name, driver type, and link date. However, that is not all, because it is possible to generate more information about these drivers just by using a different parameter.
Type driverquery /v to generate the list similar to the one below:
To generate an even more detailed list, use driverquery /FO list /v.
It shows a lot more, including information on whether or not a driver is running. We understand that this one should be more adequate for advanced users, so we would recommend starting things off with driverquery /FO list /v instead of driverquery.
While using the Command Prompt removes the need for installing another app, some users might not feel right at home, so we suggest using an app called DriverView. It does almost everything driverquery does and more. It is a powerful app, and as such, we recommend it to novices since it is more straightforward than using the Command Prompt.
Similar posts that will interest you:
- How to get Installed Driver list and details using Windows PowerShell
- ServiWin and DriverView are free tools that display the list of all device drivers in Windows
- Manage Windows Drivers using DevCon command line tool.
