Into the Dead

Pci Simple Communications Controller [better] -

Don't use a "Driver Updater" software. That is how you get adware and a blue screen.

A little yellow warning triangle next to an ominous entry:

Think of it as a mechanic who lives inside your engine block and can work on your car while you are driving it—without asking for permission. When you see that yellow warning, it means Windows knows something is plugged into the PCI bus, but it has no driver to talk to it. pci simple communications controller

You’ve just finished a fresh install of Windows. The desktop is clean, the taskbar is empty, and you feel that sense of digital zen. Then, you open Device Manager .

If your PC is stable, ignore it. If you have OCD about Device Manager icons, install your chipset drivers. Don't use a "Driver Updater" software

So, we know this is a piece of hardware plugged into the main highway of your motherboard. Here is where Microsoft’s naming scheme gets a little... lazy. There is nothing "simple" about this controller.

It sounds vaguely technical, slightly confusing, and oddly specific. Is it a virus? Did you fry your motherboard? Did you forget to plug something in? When you see that yellow warning, it means

There is a lot of conspiracy theory noise around the Intel ME (Edward Snowden leaked documents suggesting it could be a backdoor). Whether you believe that or not, installing the driver doesn't make the hardware go away—it just makes Windows stop complaining about it.