How to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7 on a laptop without programs and without the Internet? How to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7 on a USB flash drive?

"Seven", although it looks quite interesting in terms of design and security, is still not immune from critical errors, and it often needs to be reinstalled from scratch. In this case, not every user knows how to save the driver before reinstalling Windows 7, for example, when switching from "epsilon", not to mention the situation when there was a critical failure in Windows 7 itself.

Let's see what can be done in this situation. In particular, we will consider issues related to the situation, when you do not have an original disk with drivers and an Internet connection. Separately, the other side will be affected: when it comes to specialized programs that work either with or without an Internet connection. In the matter of how to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7 on a laptop, for example, no matter how much you want, you can not discount them. But first things first.

How to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7: general questions

Let's start, perhaps, with the very concept of technology, which is used to save a backup copy. Indeed, this is exactly a backup copy of the installed drivers, which may have a version higher than the one contained in the original database of the G7 itself.

But here there is a paradox. Of course, if you have an appropriate utility or the system's own resources, you can create a copy of it, but there will be a lot of unnecessary stuff that takes up a lot of space, and the question of how to save the driver when reinstalling Windows 7, in general, second plan. The system itself, even if restored, installs its own components, as they say, regardless of the person.

Why is this necessary?

Here one more urgent question arises. Many will ask, they say, and why do all these operations? As an explanation, we can only cite what was said above: the database of the divers of the "seven" even with all its installed packages of updates is unable to update or install the drivers for specific devices. Yes, she will simply install the most appropriate driver in her opinion, and will give out a message stating that he is the best of all that is available.

But then, when you enter the same "Device Manager", the user suddenly sees a yellow background with an exclamation point on some device, which will only indicate that it is working incorrectly or does not work at all. Here user and will start to wonder how to save the driver when reinstalling Windows 7, and until the moment when the process of re-installation started (before everything worked well).

How to restore from a copy

Now a little about what can be done with the created copy (we'll talk about it later and more in detail). In principle, with certain settings, you can easily save it in the system partition (in the same original location (the Drivers folder of the System 32 directory of the Windows root directory) or in another logical volume, and at least write to a regular flash drive or optical disk - .

The very same copy looks like some kind of archive or image, unpacking which you can integrate previously installed drivers into the system. How to save the driver when reinstalling Windows 7 on a USB flash drive, any other media or on a hard drive, now and see. Restoration is made by simply indicating the location of the copy, and not your own database system directory.

Many, however, say that it is impossible to do this by the system's own means, but it will have to involve a bunch of special programs. Let us disagree with this.

How to save drivers when installing Windows 7 without the Internet: basic methods

Of course, if there is an Internet connection, the question of saving copies of the drivers disappears by itself, because there is nothing easier than just downloading the updated programs from the manufacturer's or developer's site. But what if the communication is broken for some reason or just does not work? Here, the knowledge how to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7 without the Internet comes to the rescue. Let's see how to do this by the simplest methods.

Method for saving copies of drivers using Windows 7 proprietary tools

So, we are close to solving the pressing problem related to how to save drivers when reinstalling Windows 7 without programs. To do this, you should use the universal module (service) Power Shell.

To begin with, you can use a search system where you just need to write down the name of the service, and then click on the result. You should run it on behalf of the administrator, even if you are an administrator on your computer or laptop. Now not about this.

Next, in the line, you need to register the command Export-WindowsDriver -Online-Destination "drive letter": \ DriverBackup (for disks and system partitions the letter is specified without quotes). Thus, you can specify the saving of copies of drivers in the virtual partition of the hard drive, which has nothing to do with the system one. Roughly speaking, if the "Wind" is installed on the C drive, but there is a D partition, just point it. If the destination directory is not present, it will be created automatically during the copying process.

Yes, immediately notice that copies of the drivers will not be saved in the original form, but in the form of files like oemNN.inf (.inf - extensions of the standard driver installation file). The most interesting is that not only system files and programs will be copied, but also dynamic DLLs accompanying them. So, if you see their appearance in the process of copying, do not be surprised.

What programs might be needed?

Now a couple of words on how to save the driver when reinstalling Windows 7 using specialized software.

There are a lot of programs for creating copies today. However, among all this diversity is separately worth noting such utilities as Slim Drivers, Double Driver, Driver Checker and the like. Creation of copies of all installed drivers is done automatically, and in the settings you can specify the destination folder (even removable media).

What is better to use as a carrier?

As for this issue, the choice is left to the user. True, in the light of recent trends, it is not recommended to use optical disks, because they are subject to too rapid physical deterioration. But external USB-drives, though usual flash drives, although hard drives, even memory cards, are much better for this.

Here the question will mainly rest on how to restore the drivers from the copy. And not everyone knows that when the USB device is set as a priority for downloading (if it is used as a recovery tool, for example), it needs to be inserted into the slot or port before the computer terminal or laptop is turned on (otherwise it will not be determined, (Or just load the usual "Windu.") Of course, you can use this and copying, but it's better to copy the driver to the system boot disk or other device, and when the system starts offering a diver In, specify their location on removable media (if initially the drivers were saved there or simply copied from the main place).

Can I not make a copy?

It goes without saying that the processes of creating copies of drivers are laborious enough. On the other hand, you can create a copy once, a second one, etc. But not every time to deal with such things?

And here, in the presence of programs like Driver Booster and active connection to the Internet, it is better not to make copies at all. When the installed utility is running even in the background, it automatically detects whether there is a new version of the driver, or, maybe, some driver is simply missing. Installation will be done completely in automatic mode, and it is from the site of the equipment manufacturer.

Instead of an afterword

As you can see, everything is not so difficult as it might seem at first glance. As for the choice of solution, it is better to use third-party utilities, because the system's own resources look attractive, but sometimes they refuse to work, especially if the computer is infected with viruses. However, everyone chooses which decision to use.