When I install Windows on a machine, it is always a pain to download all drivers: is there any free program that could take care of this? I found a few ones like DriverNavigator but I haven't found any free one.
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4As an aside, you rarely want software to autoinstall drivers. drivers usually come with a bunch of marginware that in the best case is useless and in the worst case can damage your system. For example, unless you have an Nvidia sound card, you don't want to install the HD audio drivers along with your GPU drivers.– NzallJul 7, 2014 at 11:03
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Related: Tool to manage all drivers.– UndoJan 25, 2015 at 21:03
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Additional tip: You can use the built-in tool dism to inject drivers into the install.wim file. If you put the install files on USB stick (or any read-write location) you can mount the install.wim and inject drivers. Don't forget to comitt changes and unmount.– cybernardSep 8, 2015 at 4:23
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6 Answers
You can use SlimDrivers Free:
- free and portable
- Make sure you uncheck the crapware while installing
- Scan for missing or out-of-date date drivers
- Download updated drivers manually
answered Jul 7, 2014 at 1:12
You can use ma-config.com :
- web app, but installs a client software that does the actual hardware detection
- free as in beer, don't know what the license is but it doesn't look like a for-profit website
- no crapware, at least not when I last had to use it which was in 2013
- uses the driver DB from Tous les drivers.com (means "all drivers.com" in French) which is up to date and provides direct downloads for a wide range of drivers
- doesn't force you to install anything and doesn't install anything automatically, it just displays a list of devices for which a driver is needed (whether there is currently no driver or the current one is outdated) and gives the corresponding TLD.com link for you to manually download and install.
Finally, you could also try running Windows Update and making sure to install recommended updates, it often provides drivers in there. While they're not the latest, they usually work fine and that's all you want.
-- UPDATE: driverscloud.com is the new website for this solution
Windows Update
I have always got on fine with just using windows update. Except when I don't have network card drivers, but then nothing can help me.
Generally when you install new hardware windows update just opens.
Instructions for windows 7 can be found here., I'm sure you can find them for your version.
This also will not work in older versions of windows. (It works fine in Windows Vista, 7 and 8, I can no longer remember if it works in XP. It definately does not in 98 or prior)
answered Feb 1, 2015 at 5:28
I personally used the free version of DriverMax for a few years and never had any problems. It is good at identifying unrecognized drivers and offers easy driver backup and restore (keep a regular backup on a USB stick in case you ever need to reinstall Windows)).
The free version only allows you 2 drivers per day, but that is usually enough.
I purchased a year's subscription when I had 3 or 4 PCs to "upgrade" From Windows 8 to Windows 7 and find it money well spent.
Obligatory screen-shot:
answered Feb 2, 2015 at 13:46
Mawg says reinstate MonicaMawg says reinstate Monica
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I use Driver_Booster from IOBIT. It's free and allows you to install all drivers in just one click.
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Welcome amk! The OP requested a free program. Please specify in your answer if it is free. Also, please provide a link directly to the developer. Thanks! Jan 7, 2020 at 4:37
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You can use driver easy. But you have to install the drivers manually. I made this software to solve the headache of manual driver installation. The software is free and open source. It automates the whole process with a wizard. You just have to specify the .inf file and that's all!!! Here is the link to download: https://botien-driver-installer.sourceforge.io https://sourceforge.net/projects/botien-driver-installer/files/BotienDriverInstaller-x64.exe/download
