Karnali Province2079 BSQuestion 1 of 3
Define hardware. Differentiate between device driver and firmware.
5 marks
Question source
- Exam year
- 2079 BS / 2022 AD
- Level
- Level 5 (Sahayakstar)
- Paper
- Section Kha – Short Answer
- Section
- Section Kha: Short Answer
Model answer
Hardware is the physical parts of a computer you can touch — keyboard, CPU, RAM, SSD, printer.
| Basis | Device Driver | Firmware |
|---|---|---|
| What | Software letting OS talk to a specific device | Permanent software inside hardware chip |
| Location | Installed on disk (e.g. printer driver) | In ROM/Flash of device (BIOS, router OS) |
| Example | Install hp-laserjet.inf to print | UEFI boots PC; router firmware routes |
| Update | Via Device Manager / vendor setup | Via flashing utility, rarely |
Driver = translator for OS; Firmware = brain inside device.