There are many things about Windows PCs that can drive you crazy.
Drivers are programs that link peripherals to the operating system.
When a Windows application program wants to make a sound, for example, Windows passes that information to the sound card driver, which tells the sound card to get busy. Which is fine, when it works. But what happens over time is that the company that produces the peripheral updates the driver, fixing a bug or adding functionality. You cruise along just fine until you install software that expects to see the new driver. When it finds your old driver instead, it pouts, expressing its pique by freezing the system or other erratic behavior.