How Windows 98 Handled Display Driver Updates

Microsoft Windows 98 managed display adapter driver updates through a combination of local setup wizards, physical installation media, and early web-based automated services. Users updated their video drivers by utilizing the Update Device Driver Wizard within the Device Manager or Display Properties, pointing the operating system toward vendor-provided INF files on floppy disks or CD-ROMs. This era also marked the debut of Windows Update via Internet Explorer and the transitional support for both legacy Virtual Device Drivers (VxD) and the newer Windows Driver Model (WDM).

The Update Device Driver Wizard

The primary method for updating a video driver in Windows 98 was through the Update Device Driver Wizard. Users typically reached this interface by right-clicking the desktop, opening Display Properties, navigating to Settings > Advanced > Adapter, and clicking the Change or Update Driver button. Alternatively, it could be accessed directly through the Device Manager under the Display adapters category.

Once launched, the wizard offered two choices:

  1. Search for a better driver than the one your device is using now (Recommended): The OS searched specified locations, such as floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, or local hard drive directories, comparing the version and hardware IDs of found drivers against the currently installed version.
  2. Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want: This allowed advanced users to bypass automated detection and manually pick from a list of compatible hardware models defined in an INF file.

INF Files and Installation Media

Because widespread broadband internet access was not yet standard, hardware manufacturers shipped graphics cards with driver installation disks (typically 3.5-inch floppies or CD-ROMs).

Windows 98 relied heavily on setup information (.INF) files. When a user pointed the wizard to a folder, Windows parsed the .INF file to verify that the Plug and Play (PnP) hardware ID of the installed graphics card matched the definitions in the file. Once verified, the operating system copied the necessary driver files—often dynamic link libraries (.dll), virtual device drivers (.vxd), and control panel applets (.cpl)—to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

The Role of VxD and WDM Architectures

Windows 98 operated during an architectural shift in driver development. While Windows 95 relied almost entirely on 32-bit Virtual Device Drivers (VxD), Windows 98 introduced support for the unified Windows Driver Model (WDM).

Despite WDM's introduction, most graphics card manufacturers continued using the VxD model for Windows 98 display drivers. VxD drivers had direct, privileged access to system hardware and memory, which was necessary to deliver the high-performance 2D and 3D acceleration demanded by DirectX and OpenGL gaming at the time. Updating a display driver often replaced these low-level VxD components.

The Introduction of Windows Update

Windows 98 was the first consumer Windows release to integrate the Windows Update service. Accessed through the Start Menu, this service used an ActiveX control inside Internet Explorer to scan the user's hardware configuration, query Microsoft's catalog, and offer downloadable driver updates that had passed Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) testing. While novel, adoption was limited by dial-up connection speeds, leading most users to continue relying on vendor disks or standalone executable installers downloaded directly from manufacturers like 3dfx, ATI, or NVIDIA.

Installation Prompts and Mandatory Reboots

Unlike modern operating systems, Windows 98 could not reload display drivers dynamically in memory. If an update overwrote files currently in use, Windows prompted the user to insert the original Windows 98 installation CD-ROM to restore core dependencies. Once the driver files were copied, the system required a full restart to unload the previous driver and initialize the new video driver stack.