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Thread ID: 77148 2007-02-28 20:31:00 Putting all drivers onto a disk Strommer (42) Press F1
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528918 2007-02-28 20:31:00 Would it work to copy and paste all drivers onto a CD or DVD? I guess all drivers are located in Windows, probably System32. If all the files there or other places within Windows are copied, could this disk then be used when we get the message "insert the disk that came with the hardware / software"? This would be useful when doing a reformat > reinstall, or corruption problems and not having the original CD.

I have two other current threads relating to drivers but thought making a disk should be separate.
Strommer (42)
528919 2007-02-28 20:39:00 No, it wont work, if u copy/paste the drivers (if theyre already installed). As the entries would have to go into the registry, before whatever device works.

And the files relating to whatever driver gets installed to the system/32 folder, (and sometimes to more than 1 folder), after u install it.

And just copying/pasting them to a cd or dvd, this wont happen.

Get the drivers off whatever site, extract the zip file then burn them to cd or dvd.

It will usually have an inf file or a setup.exe file. So, u can install the driver, either by running the exe file, or by going thru device manager, and selecting the inf file.
Speedy Gonzales (78)
528920 2007-02-28 20:54:00 ... which reminds me.... "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Strommer (42)
528921 2007-02-28 21:18:00 If I remember correctly, there are some utility programs which can detect and back up the drivers to a folder or CD.

Can't remember what programs are they.
bk T (215)
528922 2007-02-28 21:29:00 ... which reminds me ... . "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

:lol: The same would apply to programs that have already been installed. You cant just copy programs that have been installed already, to another hdd and expect them to work.

They wont, as above the entries for them would have to be in the registry, so Windows knows what you're running and where to look for its config etc.

OTOH if u use some kind of image/backup program, it'd most probably work, coz the program is not only backing up the program thats installed, its also backing up the registry info for it. So, it'll know where to find the info, for whatever program after.
Speedy Gonzales (78)
528923 2007-03-01 02:44:00 Steve L, this is what you want:

WinDriversBackup Personal Edition

www.aplusfreeware.com
zqwerty (97)
528924 2007-03-01 03:58:00 This application, Driver Genius Professional (www.majorgeeks.com), has been mentioned before as being good. Jen (38)
528925 2007-03-01 05:36:00 Steve L, this is what you want:

WinDriversBackup Personal Edition

. aplusfreeware . com/categories/util/backup . html" target="_blank">www . aplusfreeware . com

And its a freebie ! :thumbs:

Thanks .
Strommer (42)
528926 2007-03-01 05:40:00 This application, Driver Genius Professional ( . majorgeeks . com/download4056 . html" target="_blank">www . majorgeeks . com), has been mentioned before as being good .

Although it costs $30 USD, it looks very good and maybe, just maybe Speedy will approve . :rolleyes:

Driver Genius is a professional tool for backing up or restoring the drivers, it can fast detect all the devices in computer and backup the drivers, and it can make the drivers into the zip-compressed format or self-extractor format files . When you reinstall the operation system, you can use restore-drivers function to restore all the drivers . You need only click the mouse, and then the drivers will be installed into your system automatically . Certainly, you can also make the drivers into an auto-install package, in this way, the drivers installation is as simple as the other software installation . It has the simple wizard mode and even beginner can also use it easily .
Strommer (42)
528927 2007-03-01 20:00:00 lol well thats $30 US. So, what $60 or so NZ??

It looks ok, but I wouldnt bother. I would rather download whatever drivers extract them, then burn them to a cd or dvd. At least its free.
Speedy Gonzales (78)
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