Driver collecting before a reformate

I am going to reformat my hard drive with windows xp pro. and I want to know what is the best way to back up and restore the installed drivers. I know that there are tools to do that like driver collector but I have had problems doing it that way in the past. I was wondering if there was a better way. Thanks.

 

The best way is to reinstall them from the original CD or downloading the latest version from the manufacturers website. Nothing beats that, really.

 

If your computer came with recovery disks you could also use those

 

You need DRIVERBACKUP from www.jermar.com . I have used it for ages. Check first for it on MG, and download from there if available.

You WILL like it......

 

If you decide to use such a tool, which i do not recommend, be sure only to use it when reinstalling XP. If you are upgrading to XP from an older version of windows, don't do this.

 

It is foolish to reinstall an OS and leave it at that, with the disk drivers. Peripheral hardware and third party software should preferably run on the latest mfg drivers, not the "generic" drivers in the OS platform. Further, installing peripheral drivers from the original disks is not satisfactory when they have been updated already. The object here is to reinstall the OS, and then have the most current drivers for both system hardware & software in the shortest time and most reliable state. A tool such as WinDrivers archives all system drivers in a cataloged folder, allowing updating from the HDD with those that have been working currently and satisfactorily, using the Add Hardware Wizard or the Device Manager in the MMC. In addition, the archive is invaluable for replacing corrupted or damaged drivers that result from system failure or viral damage.

It's as if the dog ate your term paper, and now you have two choices: Rewrite the paper from the beginning, or pull a photocopy out of the filing cabinet...

 

If the reason for the format was a buggy/unstable system, I sure would not want to be using saved drivers. As another poster stated, install them off your supplied recovery/motherboard disk, or preferably download the new ones straight from the mfg(s).
Crazylegs

 

How many devices actually require this? Maybe two or three in a standard system. Hard disk, cd-roms, dvd-roms, usb mass storage, network cards, ... work just fine with generic drivers.
The most important hardware NOT to use the generic windows drivers for is your graphics card.

As far as i know, windows does not update drivers automatically, so you still have the downloaded installers. Why not use those?
Personally, i consider a reformat a perfect time for upgrading drivers.
(In some cases, newer drivers will not work, because of the lack of support for old hardware. If so, the original drivers are the best choice)

I think it's just one more place for the virus to infect. Besides, archived driver installers can do the same thing. As crazylegs stated, it is stupid to use back upped drivers from a corrupt system. There is no reason to believe a virus would not attack a backup. If you put it on CD, there is absolutely no advantage against archiving the driver installers.

As for the time argument, if you reformat so often this is becoming important, why not create an image of your fresh system? Restore this image when the system crashes, very fast and much easier.
And does this tool backup software bundled with the driver? Like the Catalyst Control Center from ATI?

Conclusion: dumezil already tried such a program and had problems. I see no reason to believe another program would be different. The only reliable driver source is the original installer or CD (or recovery disk). I do not trust any software that touches my drivers, except for the shipped configuration tools.
And why pay $$ for something you can easily do yourself for free?

 

How many devices actually require this?

I have 52 folders backed up, containing multiple DLL files, totaling over 72 mb. Hardware will update from Device manager, and virtually all AV, Firewalls, and Security programs will update from a folder, so installlers are seldom required.

Format/new install IS a good time to update drivers, IF you have broadband. Lacking that (like most of the USA), local update files are preferable.

Virus infection is a non-issue in the archive, especially if in good practice the archive is scanned before use. Storing the archive on an alternate HDD is the best course of action, since you now only have one CD ( the OS, if not using an image) to load into the drive, not multiple ones. Obviously time-efficient. And viral corruption of drivers is perhaps the most frequent result of infection. How much simpler to replace them from the commandline or the GUI, than to reinstall the failed application/system.

Image the system? Excellent Idea. But the image is only as new as the last time it was done. Driver backup takes under two minutes total, versus typically twenty to sixty minutes to image AND restore. A practical schedule is to backup drivers once a week, and to image the drive every thirty to ninety days.

Dumezil did indeed have problems with a backup problem before, and that is why I first recommended this program, as it is impossible to make errors or mistakes using it (if that was the cause of his problems). If his previous problems were caused by a "defective" program, though, he will find this one most reliable.

And really, the original installer or CD is not the only reliable source, anymore than a copy of any document, folder, jpeg, bmp, executable, zip, or whatever else you might find on your computer is less reliable than the original. You are correct that it is foolish to allow any software to indiscriminately manipulate or modify the drivers on one's system, but we are not doing that: we are copying them. Nothing else, just copies.

Finally, the program I suggested is free. No $ involved.

I have used this program and these methods for over two years and I know both the reliablity and the efficiency of doing so. I also installed the recovery console and the i\386 folder on my hard drive for similar reasons. You make a good point about the installer for the graphic card, but that is typically the only hardware that needs the installer after a clean install of the OS.

Indeed, everything I have offered here is an answer to the last statement you made, friend: Why pay money for something you can do for free?

This is a better, faster, and more reliable way to do just that.....

 

To end the discussion, me and The Prisoner both have good arguments and it's up to dumezil to decide. I think the pros & cons of both methods are quite clear now .