Greetings to all of you, my dear readers and PC users!
Not everyone knows what drivers are needed after installing Windows 7, and this is very important! That is why I decided to write this article, in which I will tell you not only what software you need, but also in what order it is best to install it. I'll also tell you how to simplify the process of installing drivers so you don't have to spend hours on your computer!
What you need to know first
Before you reinstall Windows, you must take care of all the necessary software in advance. You never know what might happen, the Internet will be turned off, the media with the necessary software will turn out to be broken, or something else. In this case, it will be very difficult to fix such problems. For example, if you delete the OS on a laptop, the drivers for the network card or wi-fi will be broken or simply will not be installed. And that's it, you are without the Internet. Therefore, it is better to take care of the necessary software in advance.
Download the drivers, check them for viruses using Comodo Internet Security, then write them to a flash drive, or better yet, copy them to a logical drive separate from where the operating system is located. Let them always remain there. Even if you install the maximum edition of Windows distribution, you will still have to install new drivers.
Driver installation sequence
There is no special order. Whether you have a laptop for gaming or work, all the necessary software should still be installed. I would advise you to first install the firewood for network card and wi-fi module. This will give you access to the Internet. If suddenly any files fail, you can already download them from the network. They are already built into the OS distribution, even if it is a home base one. But you need to understand that at the time of the creation of the operating system, the firewood of the first versions was put into it.
Next, I recommend that you take care of software for audio devices. At least you can listen to music while work continues. Moreover, you often have to install not only the drivers themselves, but also additional software that helps you configure the sound and adjust it to suit you and your laptop.
Next you can install software for the processor, video card, etc. A list of all devices without the necessary software can be seen in the task manager. Everything marked with a yellow question mark requires installation of programs.
After installing everything you need, you must restart your laptop. Otherwise, the system will then do this itself, but it is not a fact that you will have time to save the data that you will be editing at that time.
I want to give you one valuable recommendation. If you have problems installing drivers, it is better to install them using special programs. For example, DriverPack Solution, you can download from here.
It is easy to install, it will scan your PC itself, find the necessary firewood and install it.
Conclusion
These are all the simple truisms that you should know before you decide to reinstall the operating system. Working with drivers is actually simple, just long and tedious. If you want to be confident in every device on your laptop, install everything manually. If you decide not to waste time, use special programs. There is a good video on this issue.
With this I will say goodbye to you! Share this article with your friends on in social networks, because they will also have to reinstall the operating system sooner or later.
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Often, the correct operation of the operating system depends on the availability of the necessary drivers. But very often there are situations when you install some equipment yourself, for example, connect a printer to a computer, but it does not detect it. The problem is that the system does not have the necessary software, and the user can only find it himself and save it in the OS.
How to install a device driver manually
note! You must understand that it is best to install proven drivers from the official websites of component or peripheral manufacturers.
This process takes several minutes and involves downloading the executable file and running it on the system.
But there are times when you need to connect not the most modern device or for some reason the first installation option is not possible. In this case, follow the steps below:
1. First you must find suitable drivers to install. Remember that for successful execution you need to unpack the file with the *.inf extension, which is responsible for the entire installation process. Be sure to remember the location where you have this file.
2. The next step is to disable User Account Control so that Windows does not complain about sudden changes in the system.
3. Next, go to Device Manager (Start-Control Panel-Device Manager), where an unrecognized device labeled exclamation point, which indicates that the installation was incorrect or the necessary drivers are missing.
4. Right-click on it and select “Update Drivers”.
5. In the new window, select “Browse this computer for driver software.”
In order to search necessary files was also produced in our source folder, do not forget to check the box next to the inscription: “Including subfolders.” Specify the path to the desired directory where you copied the installation files.
After restarting, go to Device Manager and check if the exclamation mark has disappeared. If it is not there, congratulations, you did everything correctly and your device should work correctly. If this does not happen, it is recommended to repeat the procedure, but using a different version of the driver.
In addition, I would also like to say that today on the Internet you can find entire collections of drivers (Driver Packs) that implement manual installation And automatic update. They are especially useful when there is no Internet on the computer, and you need to identify the device.
Every user personal computer Sooner or later you are faced with the need to install drivers. Most often this happens after reinstalling the operating system. Windows systems. But not everyone can remember where exactly all these disks with drivers are located, and besides, disks tend to get scratched and gradually become completely unusable. Is it possible to install drivers without installation disks? Of course you can, and today we will learn three ways in which you can install all the necessary system drivers.
Installing drivers from the manufacturer's website
This method is the most reliable, since by downloading drivers from the manufacturer’s website you can be completely sure of their compatibility with your equipment. In addition, on the official website the manufacturer always posts the most latest versions drivers. Also, in this way we will avoid infection with viruses that can easily be picked up when searching for drivers on third-party sites. In order to download a driver from the manufacturer's website, you must first find out the model of the equipment for which you need a driver. To do this, you can look at the model name on the equipment itself, and if you don’t want to go inside your computer or laptop, you can use special program for diagnostics, for example Aida 64.
Having found out the model of our equipment, we set off on a search. For example, we need drivers for the motherboard Asus board H 87-Plus. Go to the official website Asus and go to the Support section
In chapter specify the model manually press the button Begin, select the item motherboards and indicate in it the series and model of our motherboard.
Then click on another button Begin and on new page go to the section Download. Here we indicate the type and bitness of our operating system.
After this, a list of different drivers will appear on the page. We select the ones we need, download and install.
Search for drivers by code
If suddenly you are unable to determine the manufacturer and model of the equipment, you can search for drivers on the Internet using unique code equipment. To do this, right-click on the icon My computer, select item Control and in the list window that opens, select device Manager. Then, in the right part of the window, double-click on the device for which we need to install the driver, and go to the tab Intelligence. Here we need to copy the Ven&Dev device marking code.
Now go to the website Devid.info/ru and enter the code of our device into the search bar.
Click Search, then just below we select the type and bitness of the operating system we have installed and download our driver.
Installing drivers from the collection
The fastest and easiest way to install drivers is to install from a collection. One of the most popular driver collections is DriverPack Solution. This free program, which can be downloaded from the website Drp.su/ru, in automatic mode will scan the system and install all the necessary drivers.
The program is downloaded as ISO image, which is then written to DVD disc. Then everything is simple: insert the disc into the drive and activate autorun (if it is not active). There is also a lightweight version on the site - it is a program that, after installation, scans the system and searches for the necessary drivers on the Internet. However, for it to work, you need to have a driver installed on the network card. Overall, DriverPack Solution is an excellent utility for quickly solving driver problems, but it cannot guarantee that the drivers it finds will be completely compatible with your hardware and operating system. Therefore, if possible, it is better to use the first method - downloading drivers from the official website of the equipment.
Still have questions? - We will answer them for FREE
If you have a question about how to install drivers on a laptop, there are several ways to complete this procedure: download the software from the manufacturer’s official website, use automatic search or manual installation from disk, or use the DriverPack Solution program.
Installation from the official website
The safest way to install drivers on a laptop is to download them from the device manufacturer’s website. In this case, they will definitely have the latest version and full compatibility.
But before downloading drivers, you need to find out the laptop model. You can view this information on the device body, on the battery, or using system tools - for example, command line.
- Launch Command Prompt.
- Write "wmic csproduct get name" and press Enter.
The command line window will display the device model. If you don't recognize it, you won't be able to understand what drivers are needed for the equipment to work correctly.
When downloading from the official website, one more condition must be met - Internet access is required. If, after installing Windows, the system does not have enough network card software and a Wi-Fi module, then you will have to download the drivers on another computer or install them from a disk.
The site may not have drivers for all devices - this also happens. But this does not mean that they are not needed, because you do not have to install them. It's just that some drivers don't have a version for Windows 10. 
Therefore, for example, if Windows 8 was initially installed on the laptop, then you first need to open the page with drivers for Windows 8 and install them all. Then you can go to the Windows 10 page and see what updates are available - usually there are few of them.
Installing drivers
If you have downloaded software for your laptop, it is also important to install it correctly, following a certain order. But before installing the software, create a restore point. If something goes wrong after adding drivers, you can quickly roll back the system back to a working state.
- Windows updates.
- Chipset.
- Disk controller.
- Integrated video card.
- Discrete graphics adapter.
- Sound card.
- LAN card.
- Wi-Fi module.
- Bluetooth adapter.
- USB controller.
- Card reader.
- Webcam.
- Utilities for touchpad, keyboard (hotkey support), etc.
Typically, on the manufacturer's website, drivers are presented in the exact order in which they need to be installed. At the top are the most important drivers(for example, a chipset), below are utilities that you can do without, and manuals. 
The hardware software is downloaded in the form of executable files. Drivers are installed as regular programs, some require a reboot to save the new configuration. In any case, if you follow the installation sequence, no problems will arise.
Automatic and manual search
If downloading drivers from the official website seems too complicated, then try installing the drivers through the device manager from a disk or folder. With this built-in tool, you can find out exactly what drivers you need, and then install them from a disk or download them from the Internet. 
The order is not so important here - just look at which device is marked with an exclamation mark. This designation indicates that the equipment needs to be installed or updated. How to carry out this operation correctly:
If you run automatic search, then Windows will independently try to find out which drivers are needed, and then download and install the necessary software. When choosing a manual search, you can specify the specific location where the drivers are stored. This method, for example, allows you to install device software from a disk, if available. 
In addition, some driver versions downloaded from the manufacturer's website may not have an executable file. To install such software, you will also have to use a manual search through the device manager. You just need to specify the folder in which the drivers are located to start their installation.
Application of DriverPack Solution
If you do not have the opportunity to access the Internet from a laptop, the automatic search does not lead to anything, and there is no disk with the hardware software, then use the DriverPack Solution program. This is a universal driver package that automatically finds out what software the laptop requires and then installs it from its database.
DriverPack Solution does not always accurately determine the type of hardware and may deliver the wrong software, but if you need to install a lot of drivers, then this is the best option. Errors, if they occur, can be quickly corrected manual update software through device manager. 
After launching, DriverPack Solution tries to find out the models of devices installed on the laptop. Once the scan is complete, a list of drivers that need to be installed appears. A couple of recommendations for using the program:
- Turn on expert mode.
- Do not install all drivers at once, install them one at a time.
- After using the program, clean the startup list by disabling the application for automatic driver updates.
- Don't forget to check the functionality of the equipment.
If a device does not work, reinstall its drivers using one of the methods listed above. In any case, the priority will be to download the software from the official website, but an automatic search through the device manager will also work.
To maintain normal operation of your computer, you need to update drivers from time to time, but searching for and installing them manually is tedious and time-consuming. And why? After all, this work is easy to automate. Today we'll look at ten best programs to update drivers on PCs and laptops of any brands and models.
Intel Driver Update Utility Installer is a proprietary utility for searching and updating drivers for any Intel product (processors, system logic, network devices, drives, server components and other things). Compatible with Windows XP, 7, and newer editions of this system.
The utility automatically recognizes the PC hardware on which it is installed. Checking for new driver versions on the Intel website is done by clicking the “Search” button, downloading and installing at the user’s discretion.
In addition, the Intel Driver Update Utility Installer allows you to find and download drivers for any other Intel devices you choose from the list (“Search manually” option).
The developers warn that the application installs only standard drivers that do not take into account the characteristics of a particular brand of computer. Therefore, before you launch it, you should visit the website of the manufacturer of your PC or laptop and check if there is anything suitable there.
AMD Driver Autodetect
AMD Driver Autodetect is a similar proprietary tool from AMD. Designed to support video card drivers of this brand in current state(except AMD FirePro).
After installation, the utility will monitor the relevance of video drivers and ensure they are updated in a timely manner. It automatically detects the model of the video card installed on the PC, as well as the bit depth and version of the operating system. Once launched, it checks to see if there is a new driver on the AMD website. If there is one, it reports it and offers to download it. To begin the installation, the user just needs to confirm his consent by clicking on the “Install” button.
AMD Driver Autodetect is also available exclusively in Windows version.
NVIDIA Update
NVIDIA Update is a proprietary Windows utility for installing drivers on NVIDIA devices. Like AMD Driver Autodetect, it independently recognizes hardware models and checks for the availability of the latest driver on the manufacturer's website. The decision about installation remains with the user.
DriverPack Solution
DriverPack Solution is a lifesaver for service engineers, system administrators and those who earn extra money by providing services Windows installation and programs. The application is a huge collection of drivers for devices of various brands and models, as well as a module for installing them.
DriverPack Solution is released in two versions - online and offline.
- The online distribution is intended for use on a PC that has an Internet connection. Its difference is its small file size (285 Kb). After launch, the program scans Windows for installed drivers and the relevance of their versions, after which it connects to the database (on its own server) and performs automatic updates.
- The offline distribution (size 10.2 Gb) is intended for installing drivers on a machine not connected to the Internet. In addition to the installer, it includes a database of 960,000 drivers for Windows 7, XP, Vista, 8 (8.1) and 10, both 32 bit and 64 bit. After launch, the scanning module recognizes device types and installs drivers from its own offline database.
The online version of DriverPack Solution is convenient for permanent home use. In addition to monitoring the relevance of drivers, it gives the user the opportunity to automatically install and update individual applications, remove software junk, view a list of equipment, information about operating system and computer security.
The offline version is an emergency solution. Its task is to select not the best, but simply the appropriate driver to start the device. And in the future update it via the Internet.
DriverPack Solution and the proprietary utilities listed above are completely free.
Driver Genius
Driver Genius is a universal driver management tool. The latest edition of the program is the sixteenth, optimized for Windows 8 and 10, but can also run on older systems.
In addition to updating the versions of installed drivers, Driver Genius can:
- Create backup copies of drivers and save them in the form of archives - regular and self-extracting, as well as in the form of an installer program (exe). To restore from a backup, you do not need to use Driver Genius.
- Remove unused and faulty drivers.
- Display information about computer hardware.
The backup function is a real treasure for those who often reinstall Windows. However, the program itself is not a gift: the cost of one license is $29.95. You can use it for free for only 30 days.
Snappy Driver Installer
Snappy Driver Installer is an application created by one of the developers of DriverPack Solution and has a lot in common with the latter. Also available in two versions: SDI Lite and SDI Full.
- The SDI Lite option is a module for recognizing devices and searching for suitable drivers on the Internet. Its size is 3.6 Mb. It does not have its own base.
- The SDI Full option is an installation module plus a base (31.6 Gb). Designed to install drivers regardless of Internet access.
Features of Snappy Driver Installer:
- Works without installation (portable version only, can be run from a flash drive or DVD).
- Completely free - no premium features or ads.
- With an improved selection algorithm, which is based on the “do no harm” principle.
- Is different high speed scanning.
- Before installing the driver, it creates a system restore point.
- Allows you to change design themes according to the user's choice.
- Multilingual (there is a version in Russian, Ukrainian and other national languages).
- Adapted for Windows 10.
Driver Booster
iObit Driver Booster is a fan-favorite app computer games. It is produced in editions Free - free, and Pro - paid. The cost of subscription to the latter is 590 rubles per year.
Driver Booster has one single function - scanning the system for out-of-date drivers and installing updates in one click. And not simple updates, but (according to the developers) tuned to improve the performance of games.
- free and very simple utility for installing and updating drivers for PCs based on Windows 7, 8 and 10. Its database includes only original, signed drivers from the official websites of equipment manufacturers.
The application is designed for users with no experience. Russian language support, a minimum of settings and one-button control virtually eliminate the possibility of something being confused or broken. And if the new driver turns out to be unsuitable, DriverHub will remove it from the system and replace the old one.
All DriverHub features:
- Search for missing persons, update outdated drivers And additional software. Automatic installation.
- Simple and expert operating mode. In expert mode, the user can select a driver from several available ones; in simple mode, the program itself selects the optimal version.
- Daily updating of the driver database.
- Storing download history.
- Recovery - rollback drivers to previous versions.
- Displays basic information about your computer.
- Launching system Windows utilities from your interface.
DriverMax Free
DriverMax is a free, simple, English-language utility whose main purpose is to update drivers. Unlike others free applications it contains another useful option - creating a system rollback point and backup of installed drivers of the user's choice. As well as restoring from a backup.
After installation, DriverMax persistently reminds you that it would be a good idea to register on the site and buy a paid license with advanced functions, one of which is completely automatic operation. Annual use starts at $10.39.
Driver Magician
Driver Magician is the last hero of today's review. In the recent past, I had 2 versions, one of which was free. Nowadays there is only a paid one with a 13-day trial period. The license cost is $29.95.
There is no Russian language in Driver Magician, but it is not difficult to use. The range of features is approximately the same as in Driver Genius:
- Scan and update.
- Creation backup copies drivers with the ability to restore both with and without the use of a program (the backup is saved as a zip archive or an installer application).
- Uninstalling the driver.
- Backing up and restoring individual user folders - Favorites Internet Explorer, Desktop and Documents, as well as the system registry (in one file).
- Identification of devices unknown to the system.
During the trial period, the program is fully functional. Compatible with any Windows versions.
That's probably all. Choose what you like best and use it.
