Few people think that someday their computer will crash and they will have to reinstall the entire system. The reinstallation itself no longer causes such problems as before, but installing the driver can be a stumbling block, especially if the driver disk is lost and the Internet does not work for the same reason that there is no driver network card. In this case, a driver backup would be very helpful.

There are many ways to create such backups, but we are interested in the simplest and free one.

Therefore, we will use the free version of the program DriverMax. Go to the official website of the DriverMax program and click on the big green button.

We start the installation of the program by double-clicking with the left mouse button on its icon.

In the first window, click on the button “ Launch».

A window with an installation scale will appear and after a few seconds the program itself will open.

We are only interested in driver backup, so we will not be distracted by its other functions, but will immediately go to the “ tab Backup».

Set the switch to the line “ Create a driver backup archive" and below click the button " Further».

If you are not a completely confident computer user, then first it is better to create a system restore point, and only then start archiving drivers. It never hurts to be on the safe side. It does not take a lot of time. Literally in a minute you will have a system restore point created, which in case of any problems can easily return everything to normal.

After creating a system restore point, first go to some other tab, and then return to the “Backup” tab again, and set the switch to the “Create a driver backup archive” entry.

In the next window, at the very bottom, check the box to select all our drivers, and click the “ Backup».

The process of copying your drivers will begin. Be patient and wait.

After the program has finished creating a copy of your drivers, you need to go to the folder using the link at the bottom of the window

Useful advice for storing your data on your computer

Under no circumstances should you leave the driver archive only in this folder, because... it is created on the disk with the operating system. And if at one point your system does not start and you have to reinstall it, then you may lose this archive.

Also store the program installation file there, because after reinstalling the system you most likely will not have access to the Internet.

This is why I don't store all my files on the same drive as the operating system.

For this purpose, I have 5 hard drives on my computer and some of them are divided into partitions. Therefore, I am not afraid that my system may “fly”. I have a copy operating system on a separate disk and its backup copy.

I advise you not to wait for the system to tell you to live long, and take care of this in advance. Then, in case of unforeseen situations, you can quickly and painlessly restore everything.

How to restore drivers on a new operating system

It's as simple as creating a driver archive. Install Driver program Max to the new OS and select the “ Recovery" There, go to “Restore from a previously created backup” and click the “Next” button.

In the next window, click the button “ Download».

And specify the path to the driver archive and click the “ Open»

In the next window, put a checkmark at the very bottom and click the “ Restore».

And in a few minutes all drivers will be installed.

In one of the articles I described a method using the utility. This time I will describe two more ways that will allow you to create backup copy drivers for any modern Windows operating system. Let's look at the utility built into the system and third-party programs DriverMax and Auslogics Driver Updater.

Let me remind you that this action is very important among users, as it simplifies the search and installation of drivers in the future. After reinstalling the system, why look for the necessary drivers on the Internet or on disk if everything is already in the backup file.

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DISM utility in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10

First, let's look at the DISM utility built into the system. First, create a folder on some disk where a copy of the drivers will be placed. Can be created on external drive, flash drive or other partition, but non-system. The folder name shouldn't be a problem.

Now let's launch the command line with elevated privileges. Right-click on the Start menu or combination Win+X and select the item as shown in the screenshot.

In the line window, enter the command:

dism /online /export-driver /destination:F:\Drivers_folder

F:\Folder_with_drivers - the name of the folder with drivers, located on drive F, you may have a different name for the folder.

The copying process will begin and if the operation is completed successfully, command line will notify you about this.

Restoring drivers on a reinstalled system

Let's say you've already reinstalled Windows and noticed that some drivers are missing, then open the device manager (you can get there by pressing Win+X and selecting the desired item) and right-click on the device without a driver. Opens context menu, where we select the item "Update drivers".

A window appears in which we click option "Search for drivers on this computer".

Specify the path to the folder with the driver backup, to do this, click the button "Review". After specifying the path, click "Further".

Well-known programs that allow you to automatically download and install drivers also have the ability to create backups. An example can be given.

DriverMax program

Download the free version of the DriverMax program and go to the copies section - "Backup". There are two functions here - creating restore points and creating copies of the drivers themselves in the form of an archive.

Choose there "Create driver backup archive", and then press "Next".

Here we select the devices whose drivers we want to save. To select all, check the box. "Select all" bottom right, then click "Backup".

To view saved drivers, click on the button "Open backup folder". Then place this folder on an external drive or flash drive, or on a non-system partition.

Restoring drivers on a reinstalled system with DriverMax

To restore the drivers, click in the program "Restore" and in this section select the item "Restore from a previously created backup" and press the button "Next".

Now just click on the button "Load" and indicate the path to the archive from the driver.

We indicate the checkboxes of those devices in which driver installation is required. You can select everything using the “Select all” checkbox. Press the button "Restore".

Driver program - Auslogics Driver Updater

This program, like the previous one, has two versions - free and paid. A free one is enough to create a backup. Open the program and go to the tab on the left "Backup copy". Now check the boxes for those devices that have drivers and press the button "Copy".

To save the archive you need to go to the tab "Restore". There should be a line with the date the backup was created. On the contrary, click on the link "Export archive". Select the path where the copy will be saved.

When you reinstall the system, download this program again and go to the tab "Restore", and then click on the button there "Import archives". Now we indicate the path to the archive with drivers.

The files will be loaded into the program window, where you just have to check the boxes of the devices whose drivers need to be restored. And then press the corresponding button.

This is where I will finish talking about creating backups in this article.

Many PC users are faced with the need to reinstall the Windows operating system. There can be many reasons for this - garbage has accumulated due to which the computer began to slow down, viruses on the PC that cannot be dealt with free antiviruses, various glitches, bugs, and the simplest solution is to reinstall windows.

But after reinstallation, a new problem appears - the lack of drivers. In order not to waste time searching for drivers every time, it is recommended to make a backup copy (backup) in advance. In addition, it is not always easy to find a driver for your device on the Internet, and the driver disk has long been lost or outdated.

To create a backup, consider two programs: Driver Genius and Double Driver.

Backing up your drivers using Double Driver

Double Driver - a free driver backup program with a simple and easy interface. You can download the Double Driver program here.

Backup drivers using Double Driver

Restoring drivers using Double Driver

After reinstalling the system, you need to run the Double Driver program via dd.exe:

We are waiting for the end and driver recovery is complete! Now you know how to quickly and freely restore drivers on a new system!

Backing up your drivers with Driver Genius

Driver Genius is a paid program, but a free version with limited features is also available. IN free version The program allows you to create a backup copy of drivers, followed by restoration (limited number of drivers with automatic recovery), or manual installation of drivers on a reinstalled system.

Backup drivers using Driver Genius

Restoring Drivers Using Driver Genius

After reinstalling the system, you need to follow these steps to restore drivers from using Driver Genius:

If you plan to reinstall or Windows update, you may want to back up your operating system drivers so you don't have to search for and download them again from different sources. This is especially useful if your PC does not have Internet access.

Saving your PC's network drivers is a priority in order to be able to immediately connect to the Internet and download missing device drivers.

1. Using special programs that easily save and restore the main system drivers, but do not guarantee 100% results.
2. Using the OS itself using the built-in DISM utility that works with Windows images and saving the maximum number of drivers.

Reference! A driver is a small program used to ensure that the hardware installed on a PC works together with the OS.

Saving drivers with special programs in Windows 7 and 10

Step 1. Press the key combination “Win ​​and R” (“Win” is located to the right of “Ctrl”).

Step 2. Type “devmgmt.msc” in the window that opens and click “OK.”

Step 3. View the device tree. Devices with uninstalled drivers and unidentified devices will be marked in yellow exclamation point and a question mark.

Step 4. Right-click on the required device and select “Update drivers...”.

Step 5. In the window for selecting update methods, click on the “Search and install drivers manually” link.

Step 6. Click “Browse” to select the path (folder) to the drivers, select the folder and click “Next”.

The system will search for the required driver and install it. Once the process is complete, restart your PC.

Working with drivers in DriverPack Solution

At backup OS drivers are usually compatible with the same version of the operating system. Drivers enabling use motherboard, also usually install and work fine.

However, there is a risk that some drivers may not work. For example, on laptops after installing the OS, the touchpad usually functions normally, but its special buttons may not work.

Reference! When using a laptop, it is often necessary to go to the manufacturer's website to download drivers, including graphics, since drivers received from AMD or NVIDIA do not always work normally.

You can also install missing drivers in the OS using special programs that include their own proven driver databases. One such program is DriverPack Solution.

Step 2. Run the installation file from the “Downloads” folder or from the bottom panel of the browser. The program will be installed on your PC.

Step 3. DriverPack will check your PC and suggest it automatic tuning. On the right side of the window, the program will show which drivers and applications will be installed. Click the green “Configure…” button and wait for the drivers to automatically download and install.

Step 4. Restart your PC.

Installing individual drivers

You can also download individual device drivers from DriverPack Solution. Drivers in the search bar of the site can be searched both by the name of the device and by its ID, which is suitable for searching for “Unknown devices”.

Step 1. To search by device ID, right-click on the device and select “Properties”.

Step 2. Go to “Details” and select “Equipment ID” in the drop-down list.

Step 3. Click in the “Value” field on the top line and press the “Ctrl + C” combination, copying the data from the line to the PC memory.

Step 5. Insert the cursor into the search bar and press “Ctrl+V”, inserting the device ID data into the search bar.

Step 6. If DriverPack finds a suitable device driver, it will provide a "Download Driver" download link. Select the version of your operating system (indicated by the arrow) and click the download link.

Step 7 Run the downloaded file by selecting “Install only...”.

Step 9 Suitable driver device will be installed. Click "Close".

Step 10 Restart your PC.

Backing up your operating system drivers before reinstalling it can easily return all PC devices to their working state. If you were unable to create copies of any drivers, you need to go to the equipment manufacturer’s website and download their latest versions from there.

Video - How to save drivers when reinstalling Windows

Good day!

I think many users have encountered the installation of one driver or another; even the new Windows 7, 8, 8.1 operating systems are not always able to independently recognize the device and select a driver for it. Therefore, sometimes you have to download drivers from various sites and install them from CD/DVD disks that come with new equipment. Overall, this takes a fair amount of time.

In order not to spend this time searching and installing every time, you can make a backup copy of the drivers, and if something happens, quickly restore it. For example, many people often have to reinstall Windows due to various bugs and glitches - why look for drivers again every time? Or let’s say you bought a computer or laptop in a store, but it didn’t come with a driver disk (which, by the way, often happens). In order not to look for them in case of problems with Windows OS, you can make a backup copy in advance. This is exactly what we will talk about in this article...

Important!

1) It is best to make a backup copy of the drivers immediately after setting up and installing all the equipment - i.e. when everything works well.

2) To create a backup you will need special program(more on this below) and preferably a flash drive or disk. By the way, you can save a copy to another partition hard drive, for example, if Windows system installed on drive “C”, then it is better to place a copy on drive “D”.

3) You need to restore drivers from a copy to the same version of Windows OS from which you made it. For example, if you made a copy in Windows 7, then restore from the copy in Windows 7. If you changed the OS from Windows 7 to Windows 8, and then restore the drivers, some of them may not work correctly!

Programs for creating a backup copy of drivers in Windows OS

In general, there are quite a lot of programs of this kind. In this article I would like to focus on the best of their kind (in my humble opinion, of course). By the way, all these programs, in addition to creating a backup copy, allow you to find and update drivers for all computer devices (more on this in this article:).

1. Slim Drivers

One of best programs for working with drivers. Allows you to search, update, make backups, and restore from them almost any drivers for any devices. This program's driver database is huge! Actually, I’ll show you how to make a copy of the drivers and restore from it.

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Small free utility to create backup copies of drivers. Many users use this one, personally, I haven’t used it that often (a couple of times over the entire period). Although I admit that it may be better than Slim Drivers.

A very good program that allows you to easily and quickly create and restore drivers from a copy. The only thing is that this program has a smaller driver base than Slim Driver (this is useful when updating drivers, but does not affect when creating backup copies).

Creating a backup copy of drivers - instructions for working in Slim Drivers

Important! To work, Slim Drivers requires an Internet connection (if before installing the drivers, your Internet does not work, then, for example, when you reinstall Windows, problems may arise when restoring drivers - it will be impossible to install the Slim Drivers program to restore the drivers. This is such a vicious circle).

1. To create a backup in Slim Driver, you first need to configure the location on your hard drive where the copy will be saved. To do this, go to the Options section, select the Backup subsection, specify the location of the copy on your hard drive (it is advisable to select a partition other than the one where you have Windows installed) and click the Save button.

3. Literally in a matter of minutes (on my laptop in 2-3 minutes) a copy of the drivers is created. The successful creation report can be seen in the screenshot below.

Restoring drivers from a backup copy

After Windows reinstallation or unsuccessful driver update - they can be easily restored from our copy.

1. To do this, go to the Options section, then to the Restore subsection, select the location on your hard drive where the copies are stored (see just above in the article, you need to select the folder in which we created the copy), and click the Save button.

3. The program will warn you that you will need to restart your computer to restore it. Before rebooting, save all documents so that some of the data is not lost.

That's all for today. By the way, many users praise the Driver Genius program. I tested this program, it allows you to add almost all the drivers on your PC to a backup copy, plus it will compress them and place them in an automatic installer. Only during recovery, errors are often observed: either the program was not registered and therefore only 2-3 drivers can be restored, or the installation is interrupted halfway... It’s possible that only I was so lucky.

Happy everyone!