Drivers

[peter.clark]

Hello All,

I'm looking for the best solution for obtaining drivers - I know there are hundreds of tools to help with this.

Currently I do a "blanket" install of drivers using DriverPack Solutions to get most up to date and then Driver Genius for the stragglers.

Unfortunately, some drivers (like Dell Modem's in particular) are a cause of great irritation and I have to manual hunt them down.

Has anyone come across and all-in-one automated solution? Rather than trawling through dells support side with the service tag?

Pete

 

[uprighttech]

We currently have pretty much the same process as you - DPS to get the bulk and then we usually hunt down any others from the manufacturer. To be honest, if I was having trouble finding a driver for an old modem after a N&P, I wouldn't worry about it much unless the people are on dial-up or faxing from it.

 

[citizensmith]

Same as you guys adding 3DPchip into mix.
Have find some of the earleir vista or older xp dells and cheapo packard bells need the modem drivers loaded to enable the onboard sound

If you doing N&P why not check to see if the drivers are already there. maybe in the recovery folders? I know that dell have custom tweeks to their nvidia drivers so the manuf direct downlaods wont always work

 

[Kitten Kong]

In the past I have used Driver Agent. It does cost pr machine, but you can have it run on many machines, and always downloads the latest drivers for any machine. Also it is fully automatic.

 

[mraikes]

I start with Driverpack and finish with Drivermax for the stragglers.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

If you doing N&P why not check to see if the drivers are already there. maybe in the recovery folders? I know that dell have custom tweeks to their nvidia drivers so the manuf direct downlaods wont always work

Chances are...those drivers already in a directory on the HDD, or bundled on the restore CD that came with the computer...are waaaaaay outdated.

We just go to the manufacturers website and download the latest specific for the model we're working on. Ends up really being pretty quick 'n simple.

I can see those driver wizard easy peasy install CDs being good for some home built/clone/motherboard of the month club oddball computers with weird parts that you never heard of. Doing driver searchs for those on the internet would take days..so those CDs help in that case I guess. Luckily we really don't deal with those, as we're 99% business...and the bit of home computers we get are pretty much still name brand ones.

 

[brandonkick]

I use driver genius and it gets almost everything.

If there are things I still need I'll do the following:

Windows Update
Manufacturer Website ( I use AIDA64 to ID the hardware )

If the machine in question is booting and has no issues, use driver genius to back the drivers up and then use driver genius again to reinstall them.

I wouldn't worry about those bothersome modem drivers much longer, who even uses 56K anymore!

 

[citizensmith]

Chances are...those drivers already in a directory on the HDD, or bundled on the restore CD that came with the computer...are waaaaaay outdated...

Totally agree, but at least they worked with the hardware.

I can see those driver wizard easy peasy install CDs being good for some home built/clone/motherboard of the month club oddball computers with weird parts that you never heard of. .

Like this odball Dell, Dimension 530 originally had vista instaled then user used dell disk to downgraded to XP. Eventualy the drivers where diy updated somehow and they brought it in with ATI error message on BSOD,
The factory fit upgraded video card ATI HD2600XT only worked with drivers from dell site. It was either unrecognised by ATI driver packs or caused jerky desktop response and a BSOD on any sort of video playback if you found something that looked a good fit for that card.

Left field? maybe, One off probably, but these curve balls can cause headaches when doing the right things just dont work the way it should

 

[ITMAN]

About 2 years ago I started double driver backuping every machine that came in to me. I now have a great back store of drivers and ESP with win vista/7/8 I can find drivers just by searching the repository.

 

[Disposable_Me]

The solution is to not do it the automated way.

Device Manager > right click on unknown device > properties

"Details" tab > Hardware IDs (2nd option) > Copy first result (usually the longest one)

go to google type this:
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_81681849&REV_03 site:driveridentifier.com

It's always the first or second result, this site indexes the driver .INF and matches your device on a driver_ID level, which has expressed compatibility in the .inf file. Regardless of which manufacturer makes the driver, it will work.

Click the download link (HDD looking button with a green arrow) usually say some manufacturer undeneath.

Login (make an account or grab one off www.bugmenot.com) I use the lvh1989 one all the time, works perfectly.

Say you can't pay right now

Say you can't pay.

Get free 1 day pass (At this point the cookie is saved, spam google search the rest of missing drivers and you won't get bugged for logging in)

It seems like a lot of steps, but it's super straight forward after you do it once or twice and becomes automatic. I've never had a computer take more than 20 mins to get all the drivers for (even those stupid card readers) including download times.

 

[Altster]

The solution is to not do it the automated way.

Device Manager > right click on unknown device > properties

"Details" tab > Hardware IDs (2nd option) > Copy first result (usually the longest one)

go to google type this:
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_81681849&REV_03 site:driveridentifier.com

-OR-

Go to http://www.pcidatabase.com and do your lookups there. I've been using this site for quite some time now and found it to be very reliable. There are times though when I must use other resources (including Google).

VEN(dor) = Realtek Semiconductor Corp. (10EC)
DEV(ice) = PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Family Controller (8168)

Download location (Win, Linux/Unix, DOS, Novell, etc.) = http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...n=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true

As long as you have an accurate VENdor / DEVice alpha-numeric code you should be able to find just about anything using the "pcidatabase" website. And it's just one less program to install, use and then un-install (if you un-install your technical apps once you are done with them.) I prefer to uninstall any extra technical software because many users can and will get in over their heads if they decide to "fix their own computers" for whatever reason(s.)