Download Double Driver – a free driver backup program. How to back up drivers before reinstalling Windows

Backing up drivers in the operating room Windows system 10 must be done before reinstalling the system, or before making changes to the computer hardware. This is the easiest way to reinstall drivers.

The user can archive the drivers installed on the computer in order to restore all drivers after reinstalling the system, or in case of a system failure, restore required driver from the archive. Sometimes, difficulties arise in finding the necessary drivers, especially for laptops, since manufacturers often equip the same models with hardware from different manufacturers.

Drivers are backed up specialized programs for working with drivers. Create backup copy Drivers installed on your computer can be accessed directly in Windows 10.

In this article, we will look at four ways to backup drivers in Windows 10: two methods using the command line and two methods with using Windows PowerShell.

Before creating backup copies of drivers, first create a folder in the root of the disk (directly on the disk itself) where you want to save the backup copies. Give the folder a meaningful name on English, in this example I named the folder “DriverBackup”.

Backing up drivers using the command line

Run . Enter the following command into the command line interpreter window (you can copy it from here):

Pnputil /export-driver * D:\DriverBackup

Please note that you may only have a “C” drive, not a “D” drive like I do, and also have a different folder name. Replace the “D:\DriverBackup” part of the code with your data. In the following codes from this article, also change part of the code to your location to save the drivers.

Wait until the drivers are copied, which will take some time. After the process is completed, the command line interpreter window will show the result of this operation.

You can then open the folder to ensure that the driver backups are saved on your computer.

Backing up your drivers using DISM

The second method for saving a backup copy of the drivers will also be done on the command line using the DISM.exe utility.

Run Command Prompt as Administrator. In a command prompt window, enter the following command (note the drive name and the name of your folder):

Dism /online /export-driver /destination:D:\DriverBackup

Then press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.

After this, the process of exporting copies of drivers to the folder selected for saving will begin.

Once completed, close the command prompt.

Saving a backup copy of drivers in Windows PowerShell (method 1)

Run Windows PowerShell on behalf of the administrator. Next enter in Windows window PowerShell following code:

Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\DriverBackup

Then click on the "Enter" button.

Wait until the drivers are exported to the backup folder.

That's it, copies of the drivers are saved.

Creating a driver backup in Windows PowerShell (method 2)

The second method differs from the previous one in that a text file with a description of the saved drivers.

Run Windows PowerShell as an administrator. Enter the following commands (copy from here):

$drivers = Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\DriverBackup $drivers | ft ProviderName, ClassName, Date, Version -auto | Out-File D:\DriverBackup\drivers.txt

The backup process will take some time.

Once the export is complete, open the folder you selected to save the backup. There you will find the file “drivers.txt”, which contains detailed information about copied drivers.

Restoring drivers from a backup in Windows 10

To install drivers from a backup copy after reinstalling Windows, copy the driver backup copy from the permanent storage location to hard drive computer.

In the “Update Drivers” window, to answer the question: “How do you want to search for drivers?”, select the “Search for drivers on this computer” option.

In the next window, select the folder on your computer where the drivers are saved, and then click on the “Next” button.

Then install the required driver from the list provided.

Conclusions of the article

In the Windows 10 operating system, you can back up drivers without using third-party programs using system tools. Backing up drivers is done using the command line and Windows PowerShell.

Backing up drivers in the Windows 10 operating system must be done before reinstalling the system, or before making changes to the computer hardware. This is the easiest way to reinstall drivers.

The user can archive the drivers installed on the computer in order to restore all drivers after reinstalling the system, or in the event of a system failure, restore the desired driver from the archive. Sometimes, difficulties arise in finding the necessary drivers, especially for laptops, since manufacturers often equip the same models with hardware from different manufacturers.

Driver backups are performed by specialized programs for working with drivers, for example, free program DriverPack Solution. You can create a backup copy of the drivers installed on your computer directly in Windows 10.

In this article, we'll look at four ways to back up drivers in Windows 10: two ways using the command line and two ways using Windows PowerShell.

Before creating backup copies of drivers, first create a folder in the root of the disk (directly on the disk itself) where you want to save the backup copies. Give the folder a clear name in English, in this example I named the folder “DriverBackup”.

Backing up drivers using the command line

Run Command Prompt as Administrator. Enter the following command into the command line interpreter window (you can copy it from here):

Pnputil /export-driver * D:\DriverBackup

Please note that you may only have a “C” drive, not a “D” drive like I do, and also have a different folder name. Replace the “D:\DriverBackup” part of the code with your data. In the following codes from this article, also change part of the code to your location to save the drivers.

Wait until the drivers are copied, which will take some time. After the process is completed, the command line interpreter window will show the result of this operation.

You can then open the folder to ensure that the driver backups are saved on your computer.

Backing up your drivers using DISM

The second method for saving a backup copy of the drivers will also be done on the command line using the DISM.exe utility.

Run Command Prompt as Administrator. In a command prompt window, enter the following command (note the drive name and the name of your folder):

Dism /online /export-driver /destination:D:\DriverBackup

Then press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.

After this, the process of exporting copies of drivers to the folder selected for saving will begin.

Once completed, close the command prompt.

Saving a backup copy of drivers in Windows PowerShell (method 1)

Run Windows PowerShell as an administrator. Next, enter the following code into the Windows PowerShell window:

Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\DriverBackup

Then click on the "Enter" button.

Wait until the drivers are exported to the backup folder.

That's it, copies of the drivers are saved.

Creating a driver backup in Windows PowerShell (method 2)

The second method differs from the previous one in that a text file describing the saved drivers will be created in the save folder.

Run Windows PowerShell as an administrator. Enter the following commands (copy from here):

$drivers = Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\DriverBackup $drivers | ft ProviderName, ClassName, Date, Version -auto | Out-File D:\DriverBackup\drivers.txt

The backup process will take some time.

Once the export is complete, open the folder you selected to save the backup. There you will find the file “drivers.txt”, which records detailed information about the copied drivers.

Restoring drivers from a backup in Windows 10

To install drivers from a backup after reinstalling Windows, copy the backup copy of the drivers from the permanent storage location to your computer's hard drive.

In the “Update Drivers” window, to answer the question: “How do you want to search for drivers?”, select the “Search for drivers on this computer” option.

In the next window, select the folder on your computer where the drivers are saved, and then click on the “Next” button.

Then install the required driver from the list provided.

Conclusion

In the Windows 10 operating system, you can back up drivers without using third-party programs using system tools. Backing up drivers is done using the command line and Windows PowerShell.

In one of the articles I described a method using the utility. This time I will describe two more methods that will allow you to create a backup copy of drivers on any of the modern Windows operating systems. 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. Why search on the Internet or on disk after reinstalling the system? necessary drivers, 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 "Next".

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 free version 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 external media or a flash drive, or to 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". 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.

Drivers are a fairly important part of the operating system. Although, most of these drivers can be easily restored, since there are necessary disks, or simply the drivers are included in the standard Windows package, or they can be downloaded from the hardware manufacturer’s website.

Still, there are times when drivers cannot be obtained from other places. For example, drivers for old equipment that is no longer supported, or, for example, unique home-written drivers. This is why sometimes you should think about creating a backup copy of your drivers.

As a possible solution, you can download and install one of the driver backup programs. Such programs can not only create copies, but also restore drivers. That is why such programs are used not only for backup, but also for transferring drivers for computers of the same type - this procedure saves a lot of time (you do not need to download anything or install each driver separately).

On the other hand, there is an easy way to do this backup on our own, without installing any additional programs. And this method also has its advantages. First of all, you are not dependent on programs. For example, some of these programs do not have portable versions and they need to be installed. Secondly, drivers don’t break down very often, so take some time to manual recovery- not a very expensive activity. Thirdly, if something goes wrong, you will always have a way out.

In Windows 7, all drivers are located in several directories located in the system directory "%SystemRoot%\System32\". Two standard protected folders "DriverStore" and "drivers". And sometimes it happens that there is also a "DrvStore" directory. These directories must be completely copied.

In addition, you also need to completely copy the "%systemroot%\inf\" directory. This catalog contains information files to install the drivers themselves. There is no way to install the driver without these files. Sometimes these files are forgotten, thinking that driver files alone will be enough.

Note: Of course, you don't have to copy all the directories completely. If you are tech-savvy enough, then you only need to copy the necessary files.

• User Account Control in Windows 7/XP/Vista

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