OpenGL driver errors are the common errors in Windows. You probably may run into the OpenGL driver errors while playing games, such as Minecraft. But what is OpenGL? And how to update it? Read on to find the answers and the solutions.
What is OpenGL?
How to update the OpenGL driver
What is OpenGL?
Actually, OpenGL is not drivers. it’s usually considered as API (Application Programing Interface) that provides us with a large set of functions that we can use to manipulate graphics and images.
The interesting thing is that OpenGL is not a real API. It’s a specification merely developed and maintained by the Khronos Group. The specification defines how the function should perform and what the output should be. If you want to learn more about OpenGL, you can visit at OpenGL in Wikipedia.
You may get a prompt error message saying the OpenGL driver ( the Intel OpenGL driver, the NVIDIA OpenGL driver, etc.) is having problems. So you thought you need to update the OpenGL driver. As mentioned above, OpenGL is not drivers, so it’s impossible to update the OpenGL driver independently. But why you get such errors indicating driver issues? That’s because the OpenGL library is maintained by the graphics card manufacturer, who implements the OpenGL via the graphics card driver. When the OpenGL is behaving weird, it means the graphics card driver need to be updated. In a word, to update OpenGL, you just need to update the graphics card driver.
How to update the graphics card driver
There are two methods for you to update the graphics card driver:
Method 1: Update the graphics card driver manually
Firstly, you need to identify what graphics card is installed on your PC. If you’re not sure how to check the graphics card, you can visit How to Check the Graphics Card in Windows for the methods.
Secondly, you need to identify what operating system version is installed on your PC. If you’re not sure how to get the operating system version, you can visit Quickly Get Operating System Version (Windows) for the instructions.
With the graphics card model and the operating system version, you can download the latest graphics card driver from the graphics card manufacturer’s website, such as the well-known Intel, NVIDIA and AMD. The driver always can be downloaded from the support page. If downloading drivers manually is a little hard for you, you can choose to update the graphics card driver automatically.
Method 2: Update the graphics card driver automatically
If you don’t have the time to update the graphics card driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.
Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.
You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):
- Download and install Driver Easy.
- Run Driver Easy and click Scan Now. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
- Click the Update button next to a flagged graphics card driver to automatically download the correct version of the driver, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).
Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system (this requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).
In the example below, we update the driver for NVIDIA GeForce GT 640.
Hopefully you find this post helpful. If you have any questions, ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave your comments below.
More articles related with OpenGL:
Can’t find the name of Intel ICD OpenGL driver
NVIDIA OpenGL Driver Error Code 3
NVIDIA OpenGL Driver Unable to Recover from a Kernel Exception
