Driver updating

I never really though about it before now, but I've never updated the drivers for my Dell Dimension 3000 w/XP home edition in the 5 years that i have owned it. I guess I'm not to experienced when it comes to these areas, but haven't had any problems either.

Should I being doing this? and would there be any possible consequences if I do after such a long period. I checked and there are quite a few updates that I can download, just not sure if I need them or not.

Thanks

 

Greetings, Tnelson.

I made up a saying one time: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Really - I made that up.

Driver updates are usually written to address specific problems - if your machine is running well, performing the tasks that you ask of it, then there's really no need to update.
The fact that you are aware of the updates should suffice - if you do run into any driver-related problems, you'll know where to look for solutions.

 

Caliban is 100% correct, with one exception: if you're a hardcore gamer, updating your video drivers can result in increased gaming performance, but this only really applies if you're using a video card from ATI/AMD or Nvidia. If you have on-board video, chances are you're not a hardcore gamer, and therefore there is no reason to mess with the video (or any other) driver.