Intel and AMD CPU Drivers

I have few people asking me do my laptop or computers need CPU drivers? 

The answer is NO.

In the early 90s, yes, AMD or some computers manufacturer like Compaq do provide driver updates for your CPU, however it is an optional driver update to improve your CPU stability. That is an old story, because basically if you are using Windows XP and above (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10), Windows will automatically recognized and install the CPU drivers on your system.

To put it simple, here is the list what drivers you need to install for your computer:

Hardware that you don't have to install  any driver:
1. USB 2.0
2. Mouse
3. Keyboard
4. DVD
5. CPU (Central Processing Unit) or Processor
6. PSU (Power Supply Unit)
7. Battery (Laptop)

Hardware you need to install driver:
1. Chipset
2. Audio
3. Graphic
4. Wireless (inbuilt or dongle/USB wireless)
5. Bluetooth (inbuilt or dongle/USB wireless)
6. Card reader (Inbuilt only - mostly for laptop)
7. Touchpad
8. Quick launch (Mostly for HP/Compaq notebook)
9. LAN or Ethernet
10. USB 3.0
11. Webcam (Camera - inbuilt or USB)
12. Fingerprint (If your computer have one)

There are others additional drivers essential for computer with Intel Chipset such as:
MEI (Intel Management Interface)
Intel turbo Boost
Intel rapid Storage technology (Mostly for Windows 7 for fast boot)
Intel Matirx Storage Technology (Mostly for Windows XP)

Take note that you if you are using Windows Vista and above, some of the drivers automatically installed. Windows 7 normally will install all drivers except Card Reader and certain graphic driver. It is the best to check what drivers you are missing, then just download it from your computer manufacturer website.

How to Fix SM Bus Controller Driver

SM Bus Controller Stand for System Management Bus which integrated with your computer chipset. You SM Bus Controller driver is missing if  device manager displays SM Bus controller under other devices with Yellow Sign.

SM Bus Controller in Windows XP

SM Bus Controller in Windows 7

You can fix it by installing the latest chipset drivers for your computer. This problem is common among computers with Intel and AMD chipset.

1. First download the latest chipset drivers.

Intel Chipset / SM Bus Controller Driver: Intel chipset Installation Utility
AMD Chipset : AMD SM Bus Driver 

2. Install the drivers and wait until the installation finish.

3. Restart your computer after installation finish.

Your laptop or motherboard manufacturer also provide the chipset drivers on their support site. However installing the drivers from Intel or AMD is recommended since they always provide the latest drivers available.

Where to Download AMD Chipset?
For Intel you does not have to choose the chipset because Intel provide one software to install any Intel chipset/SM Bus controller driver. Downloading AMD chipset driver is not easy if you are not used with the website interface, you need to go to AMD Download center here:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

Then select the chipset with the right operating system. Then click display results.  Refer to the pictures below:

You can check your chipset series by looking at your motherboard or laptop specification or choose not sure from the drop down menu.

You will not notice a significant change on your system after installing the SM Bus Controller Driver. However it is important to maintain your Windows Operating System Stability.

How to Install and Fix CSR Bluetooth Driver

CSR Bluetooth is one of the common Inbuilt Bluetooth devices on most laptop, desktop commonly uses the CSR Bluetooth dongle since most desktop does not have the inbuilt Bluetooth device. What you need to do basically install the drivers CD (that come with it when you buy it) or get the Bluetooth drivers from your notebook/device manufacturer.

This method worked for:
-Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Not yet tested with Windows 8.
-CSR and other Bluetooth device.

BLUETOOTH STOPPED WORKING

 BUT, sometimes, even the drivers installed properly, your Bluetooth still does not work. This is the most common problem for CSR Bluetooth devices. The main culprit normally Windows Update. Windows automatically installed a new driver but the truth it is unstable and cause your Bluetooth not working properly. You can also applied the method I described below with other Bluetooth device such as Atheros, Ralink, Broadcom and Realtek. The main reason I make this post specifically for CSR is unlike other Bluetooth devices manufacturer, CSR doesn't seem to have a support site where you can download the stable drivers. So there are 2 ways to solve this:

BEFORE WE START:
1. Make sure to plug in your Bluetooth dongle.
2. For inbuilt bluetooth (commonly for laptop), turn on your bluetooth by pressing the Fn key + Bluetooth key. (look for the bluetooth symbol on your keyboard).

STEP 1: ROLL BACK DRIVERS

click on the picture to enlarge

• Open device manager, look for your Bluetooth Icon,
• Right click on it and select properties
• select drivers tab
• and select roll back drivers,

If the rollback driver options is not available, proceed to STEP 2.

STEP 2: REINSTALL GENERIC BLUETOOTH DRIVER

This method work most of the time especially for those who installed a newer version of the driver (for example the drivers from the windows update). Windows actually have a generic bluetooth drivers which can be use with any bluetooth device. So not to worry if you lost your original driver backup or Drivers CD.

FOR CSR BLUETOOTH
 Open device manager and look for Universal Serial Bus Controller. Click the arrow to expand the list  and you will see CSR BluCore Nanosira listed if you use nanosira Bluetooth.

FOR OTHER BLUETOOTH
Normally for notebook such as ACER, HP and ASUS, or you are using other Bluetooth brand, you will see your Bluetooth listed under Bluetooth or other devices in device manager. you will also see a yellow exclamation mark on it.
(Don't worry if you see too many of them, normally when you install the driver once, all the other will gone - automatically installed).

INSTALLATION

• Right click on the Bluetooth device and select Update Driver Software. 
• Then select Browse my computer for drivers software and then 
• "Let me pick form a list of device drivers on my computer".

Now you will see a Generic Bluetooth radio from the list. Select it and continue with on screen instruction until installation Finish. Sometimes it is listed as Generic BT drivers.

Now you will be able to use your Bluetooth again.

HP Pavilion ZE2000 Windows 7 Drivers

Windows 7 and Pavilion ZE2000

Windows 7 will automatically install the drivers you need. The main problem is you will need to install the graphic driver to get the maximum resolution and performance and also the audio drivers. This is because most ZE2000 uses Intel 82825/82855 GME graphic chipset which no official Windows 7 drivers released by Intel or HP. Further more, all ZE2000 model/variants uses Conexant AC-Link which does have an official support site which provide newer driver for old sound chipset.

ZE2000 Windows 7 Drivers

Actually you only need to use the original Windows XP drivers, but it require a little bit modification before installation.
I already write a brief installation guide to install both audio and graphic drivers.

Audio Driver for Windows 7. : Drivers and installation
Graphic drivers: Drivers and installation

Others Drivers Installation

If you have problems with the other driver do let me know. From my experience you will also need to install Card reader driver (if you want to use it). You can also use your original XP driver, just install it in compatibility mode or use the same audio installation method to install the card reader.

You wifi should work because from my experience windows will automatically installed the driver for it. Do let me know if you have problems with the driver installation.

Dell Inspiron 6000 Windows 7 Drivers

Dell website only provides Windows XP driver for this model. Not to worry though, after installing Windows 7, you will only need to install 3 drivers which is the Audio, Graphic and Wireless. If you have a Wired internet connection (using Ethernet/LAN cable). Just connect to the internet and run Windows automatic updates, install the available updates, and you will have all the drivers you needed for your Inspiron 6000.

However if you want to download and install it manually, here is the drivers you will need:

FIRST DOWNLOAD THE DRIVERS
Download all 3 drivers (it is actually your original Windows XP Drivers).

Graphic Driver
Intel Graphics:
Download

Audio Driver
SIGMATEL STAC 975X AC97
Download


Wireless Drivers

Note that there are 3 applicable wireless Drivers, you need to test which drivers work for you:

Wireless 1470 Dual-Band WLAN Mini PCI Card:Download
Wireless 1370,1350, 1450 WLAN Mini PCI Card:Download
Intel PRO wireless 2915abg 2200bg Network:Download 

SECOND :INSTALL ALL IN COMPATIBILITY MODE

1. Right click on the audio driver, select properties then select compatibility TAB.
2. Choose run this program in comaptibility mode for " select Windows XP".
3. Click apply and close.

4 Repeat the same method to install your graphic and wireless.

Acer Aspire 5749/5749z Windows XP Drivers

Acer does not provide Windows XP and Vista Drivers for this model. Since some people do use windows XP for this model. Here is the drivers you will need. please install according to the order given. I strongly recommend to restart after the Video graphic driver installation so that you will get a smooth screen experience ( without lagging).

Chipset
Intel Chipset Installation Utility Version 9.0.0.1011
Download

SATA AHCI
Intel SATA AHCI version 7.5.0.1017
Download

Turbo Boost
Intel Turbo Boost Version 7.0.0.1144
Download 

MEI
Intel(R) Management Engine Interface (MEI)
(Install if only you need this driver)
Download


Video Graphics/VGA
Intel High Definition Graphic Adapter (HD 3000) Version 6.14.10.4969
Download

Audio
Realtek High definition Audio Version 5.10.0.5253
Download

Touchpad
Synaptics P/S2 Touchpad Version 15.0.7.0
Download

LAN/Ethernet
Qualcomm Atheros AR8152/8158 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller Version 1.0.0.19
Download

Card Reader
Alcor Card Reader Version 1.3.17.05006
Download

Bluetooth
There are 2 applicable Bluetooth driver for this model (if you notice for Windows 7 acer provide 4 drivers for the Bluetooth). Choose one base on your specification.
Broadcom Bluetooth v5.1.0.4500 : Download
Atheros Bluetooth Version 7.4.0000.0090 : Download

Wireless
There are 4 applicable wireless drivers for this model. Choose one base on your specification or test which work for you.
Atheros Wireless LAN Version 7.6.1.184 : Download 
Intel Wireless LAN Version10.1.1.3 : Download 
Broadcom Wireless LAN Version 4.170.75.0 : Download 
Realtek Wireless LAN Version 1005.12.0105.2011 : Download 

Webcam
Cyberlink WebCam Application Version 1.0.1306
Download

Launch Manager (APPS)
Dritek Launch Manager Application
Download

ePower (APPS)
Acer ePower Management Application Version 6.00.3000
Download 

Do let me know if you have problems with the driver installation.

ASUS X452EA Windows 7 Drivers

ASUS release both Windows 7 and Windows 8 drivers for this model. You can also read the windows 10 upgrade guide asus official support site. So here is the drivers for windows 7 64-bit:

Chipset
AMD Chipset Driver
Download

Audio
Realtek Audio Driver
Download 

LAN/Ethernet
Realtek LAN Driver
Download

Touchpad
ASUS Smart Gesture Driver
Download

Hotkey
ATKACPI and related utilities
Download

Wireless
Choose one base on your specification or test which work for you:
Realtek Wireless LAN : Download
Qualcomm Atheros Wireless LAN : Download


Bluetooth
Choose one base on your specification or test which work for you:
Ralink Bluetooth Driver : Download
Qualcomm Atheros Bluetooth Driver : Download

Graphic Adapter/VGA
ASUS did not list the graphic drivers on their website. SO can can use the latest catalyst drivers from AMD website.
AMD Radeon HD 8210
Latest : catalyst 15.6 Beta : Download from AMD

HP 2000-2c23dx Drivers for Windows 7

The basic hardware for this model is, it is using AMD processor, With AMD 7310 High Definition audio graphic, Realtek Audio and 4GB pre-installed RAM. You can upgrade your RAM max up to 4GB.

Chipset:
HP model with AMD processor/chipset does not require any chipset installation/driver.

Audio
Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver
Version:6.0.1.6586, 145.05M
Download

Graphic - AMD
AMD High-Definition Graphics Driver
Version:8.950.11.0, 207.77M
Download 

Touchpad
Synaptics TouchPad Driver 
version:16.0.1.0, 108.38M  
Download

LAN/Ethernet
Realtek Local Area Network (LAN) Driver
Version:7.50.1123.2011, 5.8M
Download 

Card Reader
Realtek Card Reader Driver
2012-04-27 , Version:6.1.7601.29011, 11.01M
Download

Webcam
Cyberlink YouCam Software
2012-12-10 , Version:3.5.5.5811, 158.04M
Download

Keyboard
HP Quick Launch Software
2012-04-23 , Version:2.70, 3.84M
Download

Wireless Drivers for HP 2000 Windows 7

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Mediatek MT7630E
Version:5.0.9.0, 3934kb
Download
(This is a cab file format, which require manual installation, you need to extract and install with winrar. However I believe you can use driver form Ralink below for mediatek since Microsoft Windows update uses ralink RT2860 driver for this wifi card)

Ralink 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Version:3.2.13.0, 22.39M
Download

Atheros Wireless LAN Driver
Version:9.2.0.480, 82.96M
Download 


Bluetooth Drivers for HP 2000 Windows 7

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Atheros Bluetooth 4.0+HS Driver
2012-01-18 , Version:7.4.0.115, 279.32M
Download