"Safe" sources for antiquated drivers

[britechguy]

We all know that the only three truly safe sources for device drivers are the device OEM, your computer manufacturer's driver download pages, and Windows Update. But we also know that there are times where none of those get you what you need.

What has triggered this query is that I have an old Logitech QuickCam model V-UBG35. If you go to Logitech's site, and search on that model, you see that there is a page for it:


. . . but if you go to that page when you're browsing using Win11, you are told that there are no drivers for this version of Windows. OK, I know that, but I can then generally work my way backward by selecting Windows 10, Windows 8, etc., to look for the most recent one, but not on Logitech's site. And this seems to be happening more commonly now, and it drives me insane.

I've used Windows 7 and later drivers all the way up through Windows 11 for a number of older devices without a hitch. If the OEMs won't allow me to get to them, I occasionally need to source them elsewhere. But we also all know that there are scads of sketchy to utterly disasterous sources for device drivers.

So, when you find yourself in a pinch, what are the non-OEM sources you consider to be at least "reasonably safe?"

 

[Philippe]

Try this one: https://www.touslesdrivers.com/index.php?v_page=12&v_code=451
(French )

 

[seashore]

Snappy Driver Installer Origin is still useful.

 

[britechguy]

@Philippe

Thanks. Tried the latest one there, and while it gets the USB microphone working from the device, it's as though the webcam itself does not exist.

Not that this is a crisis, particularly now that I have gotten the built-in camera and mic working, but I'd have to believe that a simple USB device like this has to be able to run under Windows 11, regardless of age.

 

[britechguy]

As an aside to all of this, elsewhere someone was asking about how an update could be shown/permanently hidden from the Windows Update queue of updates. We've all had those odd updates that say they've taken, but show up again, and again and again.

The usual info about the Windows Update Show/Hide Tool was shared, but then I also found this interesting article on thewindowsclub.com: Hiding Windows Updates in Windows 10 or 11 Using Powershell. So I set off to at least try going through the install process for installing PSWindowsUpdate and then looking at what is shown when I run Get-WindowsUpdate afterward to view the queue. [Note, you can do the install for the PSWindowsUpdate module in an unelevated session, but the rest has to occur in an elevated session only.]

Imagine my surprise when I saw this first result, then ran Windows Updates manually, then got the second result immediately afterward:



Those updates related to Logitech have to be the direct result of my having installed the last available driver software. But, they have no KB numbers (not really surprising there) and a manual triggering of Windows Update in Settings does not result in them being sought out and applied. What's up with that?

I would not have expected this sort of disconnect between what PowerShell is telling me an what Windows Update actually does. I don't apply the preview updates, and this one is showing at the top of the Windows Update pane. When run manually the Windows Defender definitions update did exactly as expected: it downloaded and installed. The others now appear to be orphans of some sort.

 

[Porthos]

Windows Update Show/Hide Tool

Ms is going to retire the use of that tool in Win 11 it seems.

Wushowhide2.diagcab is being put out to pasture.

I use this a lot to hide display driver updates that Windows insists on installing after every update. These drivers are old and problematic, something Microsoft does not seem to understand. The link takes me to a page which tries to explain what is being deprecated, and System Maintenance is on...

www.elevenforum.com

 

[britechguy]

Ms is going to retire the use of that tool in Win 11 it seems.

Wushowhide2.diagcab is being put out to pasture.

I use this a lot to hide display driver updates that Windows insists on installing after every update. These drivers are old and problematic, something Microsoft does not seem to understand. The link takes me to a page which tries to explain what is being deprecated, and System Maintenance is on...

www.elevenforum.com

While I have not seen the message shown in yellow in regard to this tool, it's because I haven't used it lately. It's pasted at the base of the windows of all of the "old school" troubleshooters in Windows 11. We'll see how long it takes before that retirement occurs.

One of the reasons I mentioned the PowerShell technique is so that at least one clear alternative is on record here.

 

[Philippe]

Direct from MS, maybe:

Microsoft Update Catalog

www.catalog.update.microsoft.com

Or this one, seems safe: https://www.driverscape.com/download/quickcam-for-notebooks-deluxe

 

[Markverhyden]

My preference, though it can be labor intensive, is to use PCI/VEN to find drivers. It's rare but I've even found drivers from a different OEM that would install and work.

 

[fincoder]

manual triggering of Windows Update in Settings does not result in them being sought out and applied. What's up with that?

Did you check Optional Updates? Quite often some missing drivers are found in option updates, not sure why, seems like a bug to me if the device isn't working it should install the driver automatically.

 

[britechguy]

Nothing in optional updates. And do note what I found in PowerShell in terms of updates Windows is aware about, but does NOT seem to want to apply.

 

[Merovee]

Snappy Drivers https://sdi-tool.org/

Latest, and all are drivers from Certified sources. best there is..

Robert

 

[Merovee]

Latest is 37.9 gb, so use at least a 64 gb's flash drive, as there are new updates coming out all the the time with certified drivers from many sources.

 

[fincoder]

Snappy Drivers https://sdi-tool.org/

That's the wrong one, the one that's compromised. My emsisoft antivirus blocked access to it.

This is the right one: Snappy Driver Installer Origin

Snappy Driver Installer Origin – The original driver installation tool for Windows.

www.snappy-driver-installer.org

Latest is 37.9 gb, so use at least a 64 gb's flash drive

No need to download the entire driver set, not for the Origin one anyway. It will download the required driver pack on demand.

drivers from Certified sources. best there is..

The Origin one is the best there is, yes. However I'm not exactly sure the drivers are from certified sources. A member here, @glennd, maintains SDI Origin (open source).

 

[Sky-Knight]

There is no such thing as a safe source of software that is out of date, not maintained, and not provided by the original manufacturer.

There are many sources of... questionable value that one might qualify personally as "safe". But for me? I won't use device drivers in production that didn't come directly from the manufacturer's website.

Windows Update as as source is the weakest thing I'll use in this space. Largely because I have little choice in the matter, but also because it's a managed supply chain with reasonable checks involved. That's the only 3rd party I'm willing to accept.

@britechguy PSWindowsUpdate isn't perfect, it shows some very strange behavior from time to time. My RMM uses it to perform Windows updates, and it will often report updates that are already installed. If you attempt to install them again, I haven't had an issue yet... it just completes successfully REALLY QUICKLY, because the installer knows it doesn't need to do anything.

All in all PSWindowsUpdate is very useful, especially on the reporting side. But it's not perfect at least if you consider the GUI to be the source of truth. I'm not honestly certain what is "correct" here so I try to make sure both match.

 

[britechguy]

I won't use device drivers in production that didn't come directly from the manufacturer's website.

Which, if you're talking for yourself, fine. But out here in "the real world" where we often have to support things that are not new, there is no option to fetch directly from the manufacturer anymore.

There are archives that are pretty darned well vetted, and others that are sketchy as hell. Very few go from one state to the other, as it's the people running them that make them what they are. And the good ones are generally archives of what are manufacturer supplied driver packages no longer downloadable from the manufacturer.

That's why knowing what people have found in the former category, rather than the latter, is a service to our community.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Which, if you're talking for yourself, fine. But out here in "the real world" where we often have to support things that are not new, there is no option to fetch directly from the manufacturer anymore.

There are archives that are pretty darned well vetted, and others that are sketchy as hell. Very few go from one state to the other, as it's the people running them that make them what they are. And the good ones are generally archives of what are manufacturer supplied driver packages no longer downloadable from the manufacturer.

That's why knowing what people have found in the former category, rather than the latter, is a service to our community.

No, I'm talking professionally. I will not install anything that's not from a trusted source because trusted code matters, and I cannot warranty the unit after the fact. If the software doesn't exist, from the MFG I'll do some digging based on the hardware ID, if that results in an alternative driver from another OEM or something trustable I'll use that. If no such source exists... the system is scrapped or returned to the owner without the software in question installed.

Again I WILL NOT install software from an untrusted source. I'm not going to be liable to for a trojan infection. Anti-malware software is so far behind in the security game at this point it's not reliable, regardless of vendor. Refurbished machines are plentiful and inexpensive, there's no reason to accept such risk.

 

[britechguy]

Again I WILL NOT install software from an untrusted source.

Again, good for you. Some of us are not so rigid, about any number of things, as you are. And we have to meet our clients where they are, and help them. For many of us, that means making decisions you choose not to. We're not wrong for us, and you're not wrong for you.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Again, good for you. Some of us are not so rigid, about any number of things, as you are. And we have to meet our clients where they are, and help them. For many of us, that means making decisions you choose not to. We're not wrong for us, and you're not wrong for you.

Technical equivalent of a mechanic sending someone home with bad brakes.

 

[britechguy]

@Sky-Knight: You live in a fantasy world, plain and simple. And your assessments have zero connection to reality. I'm the only one who seems to be willing to waste my breath pushing back at your inane assertions and your attempts to make your idea of the perfect be what overrides the perfectly fine, thanks.