Driver Talent is free for a limited time period
We have reviewed Driver Talent, formerly know as DriveTheLife, back in 2014 here on TechBits and found it to be an excellent tool to scan for, download, and install driver updates for devices and hardware connected to Windows machines.
The redesigned version of the driver software for Windows features a new modern looking interface. The core functionality has not changed much however.
When you start it up you may run a scan for driver updates. This takes a moment to complete after which all devices with driver issues or updates are displayed in the interface.
The free version limits the display to stable drivers only which Pro users may switch to display the "latest driver" for each device which adds beta and release candidate drivers to the listing.
When you download Driver Talent currently, you get an option to activate the program for free. This unlocks the Pro version of the application and all of its features.
Note: The description on the developer website is ambiguous. It is unclear if you get lifetime access to the Pro version or limited access to it until December 31, 2015. We have contacted the developer for clarification and will update this article once we get a response.
To activate the Pro version you are asked to enter an email address. There seems to be no email verification on the other hand as the Pro version is unlocked right away after you submit the form.
You are probably wondering about the differences between the free and pro version of Driver Talent. Below is a handy table that lists all differences.
Difference between Free and Pro versions of Driver Talent
| Driver Talent free | Driver Talent Pro | |
| Automatic driver download and installation | no | yes |
| Support for latest drivers | no, only stable | yes, beta and RC |
| Driver restore | no, only backup | yes |
| Driver uninstallation | no | yes |
| Network printers | no | yes |
| Price | free | $19.90 |
The Pro version makes select operations comfortable, for instance by providing you with options to uninstall drivers from the interface or including network printers in the driver scan.
Once you have activated the Pro version you benefit from all Pro features integrated into the program.
Driver Talent will backup all drivers before you install or uninstall them so that you can restore them should the need arise.
So how good is it?
That's hard to tell as it depends largely on the components of the computer that you are using. The experience was positive during tests, as it identified updates correctly for components installed on a test machine.
The backup and restoration option worked satisfactory as well. The only thing that could be better in my opinion is to add the current version of the driver next to the new driver version suggested by the application. Driver Talent displays only the new driver version which means that you need to use other tools, the Device Manager for instance, to verify that the new version is indeed newer than the version that is currently installed on the system.
Now You: Do you update drivers regularly on your system?