First you need to identify which pieces of hardware use updateable firmware. The most common are CD/DVD drives. MP3 players and other USB devices may also have firmware that can be updated. Network routers use huge, complex firmware to handle network traffic so those are a great candidate for firmware updates. Really simple devices only use drivers and no firmware though.
In general, CD/DVD drives and routers are the most important to update. This is because music and software developers invent new forms of copy protection that can confuse an outdated drive and cause delays while reading CDs or playing music. Also if the drive was released with problems in the original firmware that they fixed in a later version it can severe performance problems while reading from CDs and DVDs. Manufacturers also add support for new types of burnable discs.
As for routers, network protocols and new networking technology gets changed and invented and the router needs to be able to handle it. For example, all versions of the Linksys Wireless G router jam up and fail to let any traffic through if you're running a bittorrent or other p2p program. But if you update the firmware from version 1.00.0 to 4.30.5, it fixes the problem and actually adds new, useful features too. Also it patches some security holes that had been discovered in the router.
DVD Drives in Device Manager So once you've identified which devices should be updated, you need to find out the exact model name and manufacturer. If you can easily see the device, look for labels on it stating the model number. A printer should have a model displayed clearly right on the front like "HP Laserjet 1300n" for example. If the device is a CD/DVD drive, the model is usually located on a label on the top. You have to take the drive out to see it though and that's not very convenient so I'd suggest doing it the fast way:
Right click on My Computer and click properties. Then go to the hardware tab and click Device Manager. This opens a list of most of the hardware attached to your computer. Expand each category to find the hardware you're looking for. The model name should be displayed right in the title. In the attached screenshot, you can see that my first drive's model is DUW1616/ARR and my third drive's model is SH-S182M. The first one was actually made by AOPEN but the third one was in fact made by Samsung, not TSSTcorp. I found that out by typing the model number into google, which is a good way to find out who really made it.
Samsung's firmware update page for my DVD drive Once you've found out the manufacturer and model number, you need to find the firmware update. I would strongly recommend you go to the manufacturer's website to get it. If you simply type "SH-S182M firmware" into google you will find sites that have downloads of the firmware but there's no way to know if it's actually the latest version. However if I go to samsung.com and click on support then downloads and search by model number for SH-S182M, it shows me that the latest firmware released is version SB06 (as seen in the attached screenshot). It's likely that the drive came with version SB00 so it's a good idea to update it. For my AOPEN drive, they are on version 1.03 of the firmware. The website states that the latest versions include fixes for some errors that occur while burning audio CDs and they added support for new types of discs and faster burning speeds.
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