Now that you have your Arduino board hooked up to the computer, you will need to take a few minutes to install your drivers so that the program you write actually works. For those using a Windows 7 computer or a Windows operating system that is older, there are a few extra steps that needs to be taken to ensure that the system recognizes the Arduino board. These steps will need to be completed any time that you use a brand new board with your computer. For those using a Windows 8 or higher operating system, Linux, or Mac OS, you will be able to skip over the following steps. Your system will already have the technology present to recognize the Arduino board without these steps.

For those using the earlier versions of Windows operating systems, these steps will help you get your drivers onto a computer so that when you write out a code, they will go over to the board the right way. The steps that you need to take include:

• Make sure that the Arduino board is plugged into the computer correctly. You will notice that your operating system will start going through the process of driver installation, but it won’t be able to finish the process. You should get a message that the installation failed.
• After this installation process has failed, you should go to your Start Menu before clicking on the Control Panel.
• Look through your Control Panel until you find the tab for System and Security. Click on the System Tab.
• After this window has some time to load up, you can search for the Device Manager. Make sure to click on this.
• From here, there should be a tab for Ports. Look to see if there is a port that is open and which is called Arduino UNO (COMxx). Sometimes, the Ports tab is not going to show up for the particular device that you are working on. If this happens to you, do a search for Other Devices and then search for Unknown Devices.
• Once you find your device, you can right click on it. There will be a few options that come up for you to choose from. You should pick Update Driver Software.
• Finally, it is time to select a file that is named Arduino.inf. This one should be under your Drivers folder for your Arduino Software download. If you are working with one of the older versions of your IDE, you will need to look for a file that is named Arduino UNO.inf. 
• After clicking on these things, your operating system can go through and finish the rest of the installation process without needing anything else.

Keep in mind that you will only need to go through these steps if you are working with an operating system from Windows that is older than Windows XP. For any of the newer versions of Windows or the Mac and Linux operating systems, you can skip over these steps because your computer will automatically notice the board. You just need to hook in the USB cable to the right spot and the computer will recognize the device, making it easier for you to start your work right away.