Drivers
in [Setup and Deployment]
|
Prev: Missing domain line
Next: "Lock" XP Startup
From: David B. on 4 Dec 2009 08:54 Go to Dell's download section and enter your service tag and pick your OS, then go through each section (audio, video, network, modem, etc), matching up the download with what you have listed in device manager for each piece of hardware, and download the one you need. -- -- "Trouble" <Trouble(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:61F76EDF-4E27-44F7-8EF2-C6BACCD8CBB6(a)microsoft.com... >I installed a new hard drive on a friends Dell desktop after his crashed. > After installing XP I had a tough time finding drivers for all the > hardware. > Dell's website had a tons of drivers for his build number and it took > forever > to find the ones that worked. > > I'm thinking I should backup my drivers and while I see a lot of software > for this I would rather understand what I'm doing. Can I just backup > C:\windows\system32\drivers or do I need to do more? > > Thanks
From: Trouble on 4 Dec 2009 15:08 I must not have been clear. The Dell is my friends computer. I did go to Dell and entered the service number and finally got the right drivers but they had a 100 drivers and I only needed 4 so it took forever. My computer is not a Dell. It's custom built. It works fine. My question is: Can I back up the drivers on my computer by copying C:\Windows\System32\Drivers? Or do I need to do something else? This is just in case I have a hard drive failure and can't find the original drivers. "David B." wrote: > Go to Dell's download section and enter your service tag and pick your OS, > then go through each section (audio, video, network, modem, etc), matching > up the download with what you have listed in device manager for each piece > of hardware, and download the one you need. > > -- > > > -- > "Trouble" <Trouble(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:61F76EDF-4E27-44F7-8EF2-C6BACCD8CBB6(a)microsoft.com... > >I installed a new hard drive on a friends Dell desktop after his crashed. > > After installing XP I had a tough time finding drivers for all the > > hardware. > > Dell's website had a tons of drivers for his build number and it took > > forever > > to find the ones that worked. > > > > I'm thinking I should backup my drivers and while I see a lot of software > > for this I would rather understand what I'm doing. Can I just backup > > C:\windows\system32\drivers or do I need to do more? > > > > Thanks > > . >
From: John John - MVP on 4 Dec 2009 15:29 Trouble wrote: > I must not have been clear. The Dell is my friends computer. I did go to > Dell and entered the service number and finally got the right drivers but > they had a 100 drivers and I only needed 4 so it took forever. > > My computer is not a Dell. It's custom built. It works fine. My question is: > Can I back up the drivers on my computer by copying > C:\Windows\System32\Drivers? No, this won't work! > Or do I need to do something else? This is just > in case I have a hard drive failure and can't find the original drivers. This is what David and the others have been trying to tell you, backup the driver files (installation packages) that you downloaded from Dell. Drivers cannot just be copied into a folder and ka-blam! that's it, drivers need to be *installed*. When you install the drivers information the driver information is entered in the registry and the drivers are configured to run on your system. The driver installation package does this for you, unless you are just trying to replace a corrupt file copying a single driver files (.sys files) is of little use. John > "David B." wrote: > >> Go to Dell's download section and enter your service tag and pick your OS, >> then go through each section (audio, video, network, modem, etc), matching >> up the download with what you have listed in device manager for each piece >> of hardware, and download the one you need. >> >> -- >> >> >> -- >> "Trouble" <Trouble(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:61F76EDF-4E27-44F7-8EF2-C6BACCD8CBB6(a)microsoft.com... >>> I installed a new hard drive on a friends Dell desktop after his crashed. >>> After installing XP I had a tough time finding drivers for all the >>> hardware. >>> Dell's website had a tons of drivers for his build number and it took >>> forever >>> to find the ones that worked. >>> >>> I'm thinking I should backup my drivers and while I see a lot of software >>> for this I would rather understand what I'm doing. Can I just backup >>> C:\windows\system32\drivers or do I need to do more? >>> >>> Thanks >> . >>
From: Shenan Stanley on 4 Dec 2009 15:41 Trouble wrote: > I must not have been clear. The Dell is my friends computer. I did > go to Dell and entered the service number and finally got the right > drivers but they had a 100 drivers and I only needed 4 so it took > forever. > > My computer is not a Dell. It's custom built. It works fine. My > question is: Can I back up the drivers on my computer by copying > C:\Windows\System32\Drivers? Or do I need to do something else? > This is just in case I have a hard drive failure and can't find the > original drivers. First - what makes you think that if you lost the original drivers you would be able to find the copy you made at a later date any better? hah Your computer is working now - right? Use Belarc Advisor, get a list of hardware devices, download the driver installation files now - back them up in every way you want. Although there are applications out there that 'backup drivers' - it would be wiser to get the actual driver installation files from the actual manufacturers of the components and save them. In the time you have taken to get to this conclusion you could have downloaded those, burned them to a CD, made a copy of your original installation media and taped both of those things to the inside of the computer case. ;-) -- Shenan Stanley MS-MVP -- How To Ask Questions The Smart Way http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
From: David B. on 4 Dec 2009 16:41
No, that won't work. If the PC mfg didn't provide you with driver CD's you'll have to determine the mfg of the hardware in your PC and download the drivers from them. -- -- "Trouble" <Trouble(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:D2DF8899-391B-459E-9D6F-A1D1CD36355C(a)microsoft.com... > > I must not have been clear. The Dell is my friends computer. I did go to > Dell and entered the service number and finally got the right drivers but > they had a 100 drivers and I only needed 4 so it took forever. > > My computer is not a Dell. It's custom built. It works fine. My question > is: > Can I back up the drivers on my computer by copying > C:\Windows\System32\Drivers? Or do I need to do something else? This is > just > in case I have a hard drive failure and can't find the original drivers. > > > "David B." wrote: > >> Go to Dell's download section and enter your service tag and pick your >> OS, >> then go through each section (audio, video, network, modem, etc), >> matching >> up the download with what you have listed in device manager for each >> piece >> of hardware, and download the one you need. >> >> -- >> >> >> -- >> "Trouble" <Trouble(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:61F76EDF-4E27-44F7-8EF2-C6BACCD8CBB6(a)microsoft.com... >> >I installed a new hard drive on a friends Dell desktop after his >> >crashed. >> > After installing XP I had a tough time finding drivers for all the >> > hardware. >> > Dell's website had a tons of drivers for his build number and it took >> > forever >> > to find the ones that worked. >> > >> > I'm thinking I should backup my drivers and while I see a lot of >> > software >> > for this I would rather understand what I'm doing. Can I just backup >> > C:\windows\system32\drivers or do I need to do more? >> > >> > Thanks >> >> . >> |