Exporting Drivers in prep for Clean Install

[PeteF]

Let's say I plan to wipe & perform a clean install of WinXP, but the customer
does not have the drivers disks for key components like the onboard sound,
the onboard network adapter, or whatever. How can you export the
drivers from the OS so that they may be reinstalled after windows is
reinstalled?

---pete---

[Seth]

Ya know Pete, everytime I reinstall an OS and have to search for all the drivers, I swear up and down that, "Tomorrow I'm going to find a program that will back up all the drivers". Tomorrow never seems to come.

I heard there was a freeware program that will do this. I did find this (http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/) paid program however.

Shouldn't we just be able to back up the Windows .inf folder? Although I don't think that would contain the installers.

[dale@fcg]

Pete,
Last winter I downloaded a little batch file named "driverback.bat" from PC Magazine that exported all drivers on a pc to a folder called "Driverback". I searched their web site right now and couldn't find it, but I copied the contents of that file below. I'm sure you could just make your own batch file in Notepad with the same content to accomplish the same purpose.

I ran the batch file, and sure enough, all the drivers I knew to look for showed up in the new folder in My Documents. I have not really had much chance to use the exported drivers, but I backed them up to my second hd for future need.

Contents of driverback.bat:

echo off
echo This driver backup batch file was developed by Lincoln Spector
echo for PC World. It will back up the folders containing your
echo hardware drivers to a folder called driverback inside My Documents.
pause
%homedrive%
cd "%homepath%\my documents"
md driverback
cd driverback
xcopy %windir%\help /y
xcopy %windir%\inf /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system32 /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system32\drivers /r /y
cd ..
attrib -h driverback
echo The folders are backed up. You should now copy the contents of the
echo driverback folder to a CD.
pause
cls

[dale@fcg]

Here's the actual file. Just rename it from .txt to .bat

It was PC World, not MAG. But I still can't find it on their web site.


44

[PeteF]

cd "%homepath%\my documents"
md driverback
cd driverback
xcopy %windir%\help /y
xcopy %windir%\inf /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system32 /r /y
xcopy %windir%\system32\drivers /r /y


Ok, I just ran it and it copies the files from the 5 Windows subfolders
listed above and combines them all in one folder named \driverback

I understand what the batch program did but it doesn't make sense
why it combined all the files into one folder. I would have expected
it to create sub folders with the original folder names so that I could
restore the files per each folder. How would you restore all these files
to the proper folders after a clean install?

I can easily modify the batch program to make the proper subfolders
but maybe I'm missing something here.

---pete---

[PeteF]

I heard there was a freeware program that will do this. I did find this (http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/) paid program however.


Ok, cool, it's reasonably priced too. $19.95
Only problem, upon runing it, I don't see any "Driver Restore" funtion.
http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/buy.htm

This looks more useful..
http://www.drivermagician.com/index.htm

Here's another one to investigate..
http://www.driver-soft.com/

---pete---

[Dan18960]

I just bill the customer MORE bench time. After all IF I sold them the system the hardware disks are inside the case!

A little trick I came up with - you go to Office Depot (or MAX - always forget which one is in my neighborhood) and there are Fellowes CD adhesive sleeves. I take the motherboard, video, and any other hardware drivers that are needed and put them inside the case. This has saved me HOURS of web time looking for the drivers and the CORRECT ones after that.

If they got a Dell - then they are billed for me having to sort through the list of drivers - seems Dell has NO clue what they build machines with. :censored:

[kelly]

I use Win DriverBackUp to pull the drivers before reinstalling. When I return the computer, I provide a CD with all the drivers and tell customer to hang on to it.

-td

[mylanta]

Seems like a lot of worry for nothing. If you don't work on 98 or Me, you install XP or 2000, add SP2 or Sp4 unless on cd and do all the Windows Updates which gets almost all of them...Google the one you cannot find and done in 30 seconds.
And if it takes more time that's why we invented hourly rates and the dopes that lose their cd's pay more than the ones who don't.
Besides most of the reformats I do, are so bad it would take 3 light years to install a program to extract drivers on and probably never complete anyway.
KISS?

[photolady]

And if that doesn't work, you can't find a certain driver from years ago, driverguide usually has one or two or all of them.

www.driverguide.com

Free to register and I've found drivers from modems that no longer are manufactured to sound drivers and anything else you can come across in older pcs.

[kelly]

Yes - it's gotten a lot easier with XP and DriverGuide usually has needed drivers. I've pulled several drivers from them. Key is usually. I've been unable to find the driver for my Smart Media Card reader that I gave to my brother. He's on 98SE and is unable to use the reader.
-td

[mylanta]

Yes - it's gotten a lot easier with XP and DriverGuide usually has needed drivers. I've pulled several drivers from them. Key is usually. I've been unable to find the driver for my Smart Media Card reader that I gave to my brother. He's on 98SE and is unable to use the reader.
-td

Tony,
Price to pay for allegiance to "third world OS"?

[PeteF]

I use Win DriverBackUp to pull the drivers before reinstalling. When I return the computer, I provide a CD with all the drivers and tell customer to hang on to it.
-td

Thanks td,
For anyone else interested, I found the last free version before they went commercial. Get it while it's still there. ---pete---

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page10.html#WinDriversBackup

WinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.0.9 (last freeware version) is a free utility provided by JerMar Software Corp. specifically for backing up your Windows system driver files.

WinDriversBackup can identify all of your Windows driver files and save them to a secure location in two simple mouse clicks. Backing up your Windows driver files means they will be available to you the next time you need to reinstall the driver or the whole operating system. WinDriversBackup places the driver files in one organized location of your choosing.

Home (WinDriversBackup has changed to DriverGuide Toolkit - commercial version)

Download (2404 kB)

[PeteF]

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page10.html#WinDriversBackup

WinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.0.9 (last freeware version) is a free utility provided by JerMar Software Corp. specifically for backing up your Windows system driver files.


Ok, I tested this free version and it works great!
Best use for most people is to backup just the non-windows drivers.
This driver backup program creates a folder.. C:\My Drivers
and then creates a separate subfolder for each driver backed up.
It names each subfolder so that you can easilly identify a driver
if you ever needed to restore it.

Although there is no RESTORE DRIVER feature in this application,
I'm pretty sure all you need to do is use the Windows Explorer
to locate the subfolder of the driver you want to restore and
then select the *.inf file. Right-click -> Install to restore the
driver. Correct?

Yeah, this can come in very handy. I have a computer in mind
that Windows XP cannot find 2 drivers for. Often times, I try to
locate a driver by Googling it or searching at drivers.com and there
are multiple drivers to choose from and many of the ones offered
have real lame descriptions so you end up trying several until
you find the right one. So I can see the value in backing up
& restoring the original drivers on those rare occasions where
you don't have the original driver CDs and you need to perform
a clean install.

---pete----

[Dan18960]

And if that doesn't work, you can't find a certain driver from years ago, driverguide usually has one or two or all of them.

www.driverguide.com (http://www.driverguide.com)

Free to register and I've found drivers from modems that no longer are manufactured to sound drivers and anything else you can come across in older pcs.

GREAT ADVICE!

I have done driverguide more times than I care to remember - but sometimes you get hosed by some off the wall hardware someone bought at a computer swap meet and God help you on finding some of those lost puppies :rolleyes:

[kern]

Ok, I tested this free version and it works great!
Although there is no RESTORE DRIVER feature in this application,
I'm pretty sure all you need to do is use the Windows Explorer
to locate the subfolder of the driver you want to restore and
then select the *.inf file. Right-click -> Install to restore the
driver. Correct?


Pete,
Restore feature is not necessary- all ya need to do is open Device Manager, and click the "update driver" feature for the particular device, and browse to the .inf file for the device.

[athomsfere]

Here is what I use

http://www.nliteos.com/

Download that, you can add service packs, drivers, and tweak Windows.(Like rename the Admin account, disable the Windows Messenger...

Its great, you can even make it a unattended install. I can't imagine doing the old fashioned way again.

You do still need the drivers, but this way you know you have the latest and greatest.

[mylanta]

Sounds like a dream come true....

[mylanta]

Rich - I consolidated your new thread with the existing one - Terry

Win Drivers Backup....free download!

http://www.shareup.com/WinDriversBackup-download-424.html

Someone was asking about this a while back.

[PeteF]

Win Drivers Backup....free download!

http://www.shareup.com/WinDriversBackup-download-424.html

Someone was asking about this a while back.

We had an extensive thread on this topic here...
http://www.kickenhardware.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2887#13

I'll add some comments in that thread about the practical use
of WinDriversBackup. ---pete---

[PeteF]

http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page10.html#WinDriversBackup

WinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.0.9 (last freeware version) is a free utility provided by JerMar Software Corp. specifically for backing up your Windows system driver files.



Ok folks, I originally tested this application and is does do a nice job
of backing up all the drivers into individual folders. The problem comes
when trying to restore. In actual use, I had problems identifying the
driver that matched the specific hardware I needed to restore.

I can't recall the details at the moment, but I had backed up the
drivers and then reinstalled WinXP. This left me with a few items that
needed drivers. Only problem is, I could not determine exactly which
driver to use from the backups and how to do the restore. Some driver
backup folder contained a *.inf files but others did not. As best as
I can recall, it was the onboard drivers that I had a problem with.
Fortunately I found the CD that loads the motherboard drivers and
that solved my problem. WinDriversBackup was no use.

No doubt WinDriversBackup can be useful but in practical
use it is not a cure all for a lost driver CDs.

Question... What do you do when you reinstall WinXP and
it leaves a few drivers uninstalled but all that device manager
reports is no driver for... "Ethernet controller" or the onboard
sound but it gives no other details for you to know what to
seach on for an appropriate driver? Plus the fact that you
can't positively identify the motherboard manufacturer or
model.

---pete---

[mylanta]

I missed the last few posts and so ididn't realize it was the same program mentioned there.

[kelly]

I echo Pete's experience with WinDriver Backup. It puts drivers into folders, but you have to work to figure out what folders contain which drivers.

If I end up not having the right driver for a generic Ethernet Controller or an unknown device, I use AIDA32 to determine what hardware is physically installed and then locate the driver on the web. If you have Internet access, let Windows try to figure it out by letting it connect and try to find the driver.
-tony

[dbarrow]

Having the driver and installing the driver can be two different things, and require an MSI installer to do it.

The onboard sound may have not only drivers but an exe to the sound control GUI, and inf, and other related files that get installed to a 'sound' folder of some type.
Yes, you can get Hardware Wizard to update the driver and maybe even install the correct one but without the remainder of the package... SOL.

Video can be another problem.
You can install the latest driver package for it but without the original install MSI for the particular model to installthe inf and tell the machine which card it is, SOL.
Went through that when I swapped out a vetter vid card to daughter's machine. ATI card, latest CAT driver package, but it wouldn't let me use 3D "No 3D device installed".
Not until I 'installed' the card using the original cd that came with the card did it work, afterwhich, I could update to the latest CAT.

You can find all the inf files in \Windows\inf folder but they usually don't have a recognizable file name. If you copy them in before trying to detect the hardware, the Wizard may choose the right driver because it can find the inf.
BUT, there are many other reg keys that need to be generated by the install process.

Mobo and chipset drivers can be date and version specific to a certain BIOS rev and if they updated the driver after several BIOS revs, the newer version may not work unless BIOS is updated to the particular version required.

If you don't have the original install cds, for anything, best to hunt them down and download them off the web first to have the complete installer package or it's never going to work right, if at all.

[PeteF]

If you don't have the original install cds, for anything, best to hunt them down and download them off the web first to have the complete installer package or it's never going to work right, if at all.

Lucky for me, most of the jobs I get, the customer has all the original CDs.
However, in those rare cases where no Motherboard CD was available
and I did a clean install of WinXP which resulted in a few onboard
devices not working, I was able to locate a model number on the
motherboard. It's not too comforting to only find a model number and
then just hope you can track down the name of the manufacturer
and then hope you can find their website and the needed software
to get the onboard devices working again.

The above scenario is waht I was hoping to address with some
kind of Windows driver backup utility. Unfortunately, it seems
not so easy to do. :frown:

---pete---