Clicking the button "Update Driver" on the Properties page of each item on the Device Manager page seems pretty easy (as opposed to searching out drivers at each individual manufacturer). Do you think updating drivers this way is advisable? I suppose doing one per day might make it easier to identify the cause of any problems that result. My computer is about 2-1/2 years old.

It's not the sort of thing that needs doing regularly but the action won't hurt. However, Windows Update will tell you if a newer driver is available for various parts of the computer that use them, so maybe manual checking isn't really necessary. Better to get drivers from the manufacturer's site anyway in my opinion. Even then, I think it's often better to leave well alone if there are no problems.

If you are going to get interested in computers per se and start experimenting with drivers, programs or the system, I'd suggest installing a disk imaging program (Windows 7 includes this function). It's then possible to try anything you like. If a driver installation or other change to the system makes the computer worse, the disk image can be used to return everything to how it was before anything was done.

Regarding just drivers, there's always the 'Roll back driver' function too. That could be handy if a newer driver is found to cause problems.