Devhux
08-23-2004, 08:32 PM
Several months ago, I posted a thread in the Hardware forum about why I no longer liked my Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. As of tonight however, my dislike for Creative has spread further -- this time into the realm of my Audigy 2 NX soundcard.... or rather, it's drivers.
Now I know that the words "Creative" and "good drivers" usually don't go together, but my issue isn't related to the quality of the drivers. Instead, I realized today that the driver files Creative posts on their site are update ONLY drivers -- they are not meant as a replacement to the original driver CD. With most products (almost anything without "Creative" in the name), you can actually download the drivers for the product right off the website.
Unfortunately, I discovered after the fact that Creative doesn't follow this standard procedure. How can they offer Mediasource as a free download, but they can't have self-contained drivers? After a recent system reformat, I discovered that I didn't have the CD handy (not counting it as "important" to keep), so I had to go digging through tons of discs just to find this one. (Now it's in the first page of my CD binder -- right by my drive image and application discs).
Considering the files on the CD aren't even up to date (and don't provide all the features the card supports), the newer drivers are a requirement -- yet I have to go through the hassle of installing the original ones first. BAD Creative.
Now I know that the words "Creative" and "good drivers" usually don't go together, but my issue isn't related to the quality of the drivers. Instead, I realized today that the driver files Creative posts on their site are update ONLY drivers -- they are not meant as a replacement to the original driver CD. With most products (almost anything without "Creative" in the name), you can actually download the drivers for the product right off the website.
Unfortunately, I discovered after the fact that Creative doesn't follow this standard procedure. How can they offer Mediasource as a free download, but they can't have self-contained drivers? After a recent system reformat, I discovered that I didn't have the CD handy (not counting it as "important" to keep), so I had to go digging through tons of discs just to find this one. (Now it's in the first page of my CD binder -- right by my drive image and application discs).
Considering the files on the CD aren't even up to date (and don't provide all the features the card supports), the newer drivers are a requirement -- yet I have to go through the hassle of installing the original ones first. BAD Creative.