A lot of users quite often complain about the presence of several obscure components and software in their computers, the name of which indicates Realtek. What kind of hardware and software is this, some uninformed users do not understand, and installed applications are often mistaken for any disguised virus applets. It should be said right away that in most cases such programs have no relation to viruses. Consider some important aspects, the understanding of which will make it possible to find out what these components are in full.
Realtek: what is it generally understood?
In its broadest sense, Realtek is an officially registered Taiwanese company specializing in the production of microcircuits and related software for their correct operation on computer devices and full control over the management of all settings.
Realtek was founded back in 1987 and has since become one of the world leaders in the field of computer technology promotion.
Varieties of company products
However, the name of the company itself, as it usually happens, automatically migrated to the names of its equipment and software. Today, the corporation mainly specializes in the development and production of the following main products, which are considered the highest priority in its area of activity:
- network and sound adapters and controllers;
- appropriate network and audio drivers (usually with additional control software);
- software sound codecs (AC97, High Definition Audio);
- USB controllers (hubs and splitters);
- wireless modules.
This is a summary of the main activities of Realtek. What it is, from the point of view of the equipment installed on modern computers, it seems, in general terms, is clear. But our users know this company more precisely by sound chips (sound cards) of integrated type, which are built directly into motherboards directly at the factory assembly stage.
Realtek: what is this sound management software?
It goes without saying that in order to ensure the correct operation of such equipment in any system, there is a mandatory presence of appropriate software, presented by drivers, codecs and some additional controls, among which the most famous is the sound manager, presented in Windows-systems as a mixing console with very broad possibilities for setting up the sound.
If you look at the characteristics and capabilities of the software offered by the company for setting up sound, they impress many to such an extent that users begin to search the Internet and install these components on their computers and laptops, completely not thinking about the appropriateness of such actions.
The fact is that neither the driver, nor the Realtek mixer for Windows 7 or similar operating systems of the whole family will work without the installed hardware (from the manufacturer itself or the supported type). Actually, even when the installation of any of the indicated components is started, the installer itself may display a message that the main equipment was not found. But if you became the owner of an audio card from this manufacturer, it would be a sin not to take full advantage of the sound settings.
Related HD Audio Settings
The sound manager, presented in the system as the same mixer, has a lot of interesting settings.
In addition to the basic parameters and sound effects like equalizer, normalization, surround sound and other things, it also has some additional tools that allow you to switch inputs and outputs from digital to analog, change the use of the front and rear panels for speakers, configure audio S / PDIF, transmission signal through the HDMI interface and many other "chips".
Drivers
Speaking about the software part, a few words about the drivers are worth mentioning separately. Since not all motherboards support their use, not to mention the sound chips themselves, it is best to download them for installation or update directly from the official website of the company. In this case, it is desirable to indicate the full marking of the motherboard.
Please note that Windows can install only the main drivers, but the same mixing console and additional components included in the full package of the original control software are usually not installed under any pretext (unless you yourself tell the system where to look for the right driver). But if you have an acute question of updating Realtek drivers for Windows 7 and similar operating systems, it is not necessary to go to the official site. You can give preference to automated programs that will do this for you (for example, Driver Booster from iObit). However, when installing the management software, the “native” updater itself is sometimes “embedded” into the system, which will inform you about the need for an upgrade at the right time. And the update tool Realtek HD Audio Driver at the same time will update all related components that were installed with the driver initially. There is no doubt about that.
Codec installation and removal issues
Finally, a few more words about Relatek codecs. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain what these components are, because most users understand or at least realize that they are designed to encode and decode sound when listening to audio or watching video. If you have a “native” sound card installed, the codecs are installed with the drivers and you should not remove them.
If there is other equipment, the codecs themselves (for example, the same AC97 set) can be installed as additional components to the existing ones, as well as they can be removed in a standard way using the most common program and component section (although the most effective solution is to use uninstallers like Revo Uninstaller or iObit Uninstaller).