Save hardware drivers

[Chris K]

Just re-installed Vista and it needed couple drivers - 1 for my Radeon 1650
SE video card and one for my M/Soft digital media 3000 keyboard

I'm bit concerned about these drivers becoming obsolete (particularly the
former) so I was wondering whether it's possible to save the drivers now for
future install - the driver details document all the driver files &
locations but not sure how to re-install - just drop them in the right
folder?

It seems impossible to just download driver nowadays - it's either direct
install only or part of 200,million gigabyte software install which i dont
want on my machine

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Just re-installed Vista and it needed couple drivers - 1 for my
Radeon 1650 SE video card and one for my M/Soft digital media 3000
keyboard
I'm bit concerned about these drivers becoming obsolete
(particularly the former) so I was wondering whether it's possible
to save the drivers now for future install - the driver details
document all the driver files & locations but not sure how to
re-install - just drop them in the right folder?

It seems impossible to just download driver nowadays - it's either
direct install only or part of 200,million gigabyte software
install which i dont want on my machine

If the drivers become obsolete - it's time to move on - really. Since you
can still download Windows 98 drivers from many manufacturer's web pages.

Or is that the real issue here - you are not going to the manufacturer's web
page for each hardware device to download the proper and latest drivers for
your hardware?

Did you visit here:
http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/drivers.aspx
... for the ATI video card drivers?
If so - did you then click on:
http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx?type=2.4.1&contentType=GPU Download Detail
("All Graphics - Desktop")??
Then select your video card and OS combination using the pull-down menus?

I would greatly suspect that through 2014+ - you will be able to do this.

However - if you had done this - then you would have saved the file relevant
to your OS already and known that once you saved that file - you had to run
it to install it. So - logic says that if you save the downloaded file to
some external media - you can keep it for as long as the media can be
read/used.

 

[Chris K]

If the drivers become obsolete - it's time to move on - really. Since you
can still download Windows 98 drivers from many manufacturer's web pages.

Or is that the real issue here - you are not going to the manufacturer's
web page for each hardware device to download the proper and latest
drivers for your hardware?

Did you visit here:
http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/drivers.aspx
... for the ATI video card drivers?
If so - did you then click on:
http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx?type=2.4.1&contentType=GPU Download Detail
("All Graphics - Desktop")??
Then select your video card and OS combination using the pull-down menus?

Thanks for link - I hadn't found that - did install it but it just confirmed
my earlier statement - the install is 500 million gygabytes big, installs
load software i dont need/want (porn sites, trojans etc) - seems to be some
sort of download manager, prolly to make sure my PC is always kept up to
date with latest viruses - but this is a first - after all that, it
contained *no* video drivers (my original ATI driver is May 2008 and still
is after install - god knows where Vista managed to find that on the web) -
obviously i will uninstall that bloatware but no doubt most of it will
continue infest my OS for ever more

I supose the short answer is that i cant save a driver that's already
installed - a new video card maybe

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Thanks for link - I hadn't found that - did install it but it just
confirmed my earlier statement - the install is 500 million
gygabytes big, installs load software i dont need/want (porn sites,
trojans etc) - seems to be some sort of download manager, prolly to
make sure my PC is always kept up to date with latest viruses - but
this is a first - after all that, it contained *no* video drivers
(my original ATI driver is May 2008 and still is after install -
god knows where Vista managed to find that on the web) - obviously
i will uninstall that bloatware but no doubt most of it will
continue infest my OS for ever more
I supose the short answer is that i cant save a driver that's
already installed - a new video card maybe

The answer is, "Yes, you can save your drivers; but you have to actually
download them."

The thing you need to realize is that you probably have some generic driver
installed by Windows Vista or one that ATI gave to Microsoft (actually
probably paid Microsoft to take) who knows how many versions ago (the latest
version should always be gotten from the manufacturer of the hardware
device) to put on the Windows/Microsoft updates web page/functionality.

You should *always* get your driver from the manufacturer. If you got the
driver another way - including downloading from Microsoft - there's a
possibility it is not the latest/most stable/best performing version.
Also - Microsoft does not manufacture or directly support your hardware
(other than maybe a keyboard/mouse/some other small peripherals.)

 

[Chris K]

The answer is, "Yes, you can save your drivers; but you have to actually
download them."

Actually meant save a driver that's already installed

The thing you need to realize is that you probably have some generic
driver installed by Windows Vista or one that ATI gave to Microsoft

Nope - when Vista first installed it used generic driver (screen was crap) -
i used "update driver" and after crawling the web for quite long time it
downloaded the correct driver - albeit 2 years old

You should *always* get your driver from the manufacturer.

As per your link - aint happening - i think the card is just too old and not
supported beyond 2008 - but it works fine - would be nice to save it while
I've got a driver *at all*

 

[Shenan Stanley]

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Actually meant save a driver that's already installed

Nope - when Vista first installed it used generic driver (screen
was crap) - i used "update driver" and after crawling the web for
quite long time it downloaded the correct driver - albeit 2 years
old
As per your link - aint happening - i think the card is just too
old and not supported beyond 2008 - but it works fine - would be
nice to save it while I've got a driver *at all*

You didn't actually download/install the driver - Windows Vista found one in
the Microsoft Updates database and installed it - probably a few versions
behind the latest, so may not be as high-performing/as stable. So no - you
cannot save that - and you probably would be better off replacing it from
the actual manufacturer's web page (for the video card anyway - maybe they
keep their own hardware drivers up to date in Microsoft updates... Maybe...)

So, yeah - maybe _you_ cannot get the driver via the link I gave (yet - I am
about to teach you how), but as for it "not happening"; here is the download
links for the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista drivers for your video card as
you listed gotten to via the link I gave you earlier:

32-bit Windows Vista:
http://tinyurl.com/2uqtqts
(just get the "WDM Integrated Driver" - unless you have some need for the
full Catalyst software suite...)

.... and for the 64-bit Windows Vista:
http://tinyurl.com/28md5ox
(just get the "WDM Integrated Driver" - unless you have some need for the
full Catalyst software suite...)

Why the tinyurl versions of the links? The longer URLs even included
spaces - makes them more difficult to post, sometimes other newsreaders will
cut them off, etc; but it makes some feel better, so...

32-bit Windows Vista Drivers for your ATI Radeon X1650 Series:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownlo...ev=10.2&ostype=Windows Vista - 32-Bit Edition

64-bit Windows Vista Drivers for your ATI Radeon X1650 Series:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownlo...ev=10.2&ostype=Windows Vista - 64-Bit Edition

See what I mean? Now you can save them.

The 64-bit version is dated 2/23ish/2010 and the 32-bit version is dated the
same. Although they are end-of-life products - the cances of AMD (who
aquired ATI) getting them off their web pages until Windows Vista is no
longer supported by Microsoft is slim. AMD does say they will not be
producing Windows 7 drivers for them though.

I'll walk you through it so you might learn something from all this and use
it to get other drivers in the future.

I gave you this link first: http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/drivers.aspx

Under the "Graphics - Desktop" heading, the last in that list is "All
Graphics - Desktop" and you click on that which takes you here:
http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx?type=2.4.1&contentType=GPU Download Detail

There you select "Graphics Cards - Desktop", "Radeon X1650 series" and
choose an operating system ("Windows Vista - 32-bit Edition" or "Windows
Vista - 64-bit Edition" in your case, given what you have.) and click on
"View Results". That will reload the web page with the appropriate link
(see above) and I think (hope) you can get to it from there.


You said you had the Radeon 1650 SE video card and M/Soft digital media 3000
keyboard...

Let's round that off with the other driver you could not find so far for
individual download...


Visiting here:
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/

Gets me to here:
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=MK

Where I select "Keyboard", "Digital Media Keyboard 3000", "Windows Vista
(32-bit only)", "English (US)" and click on "Go". It takes me to a link
that has THIS link:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...-BE5B-10705FDD59C0/ITPx86_1033_7.10.344.0.exe
Which is "IntelliType Pro 7.1 32-bit for Windows Vista"...

If I change it up a bit and on the "Gets me to here" page I select
"Keyboard", "Digital Media Keyboard 3000", "Windows Vista (64-bit only)",
"English (US)" and click on "Go" - that takes me to a page with this link:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...-9F98-F7C4055BB333/ITPx64_1033_7.10.344.0.exe
Which is the "IntelliType Pro 7.1 64-bit for Windows Vista"...


Come back - let everyone know if that helped. As you can see from the first
part of this response - the conversation will be here long after the last
posting. It might be good if someone came across it and got the help they
needed from it - but they might trust it more if you came back at the end
and said if it worked for you or not...

 

[Drew]

I found drivers for the ati 1650 for xp vista and windows 7 32 and 64bit in
about 5 seconds

http://driverscollection.com/?H=Radeon X1650&By=ATI

 

[Shenan Stanley]

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I found drivers for the ati 1650 for xp vista and windows 7 32 and
64bit in about 5 seconds

http://driverscollection.com/?H=Radeon X1650&By=ATI

And it is *still* wiser to get the drivers direct from the manufacturer when
you can. And in this conversation is the way to do this in excruciating
detail.

 

[Chris K]

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</entire conversation - archived indefinitely>

but as for it "not happening"; here is the download links for the 32-bit
and 64-bit Windows Vista drivers for your video card as you listed gotten
to via the link I gave you earlier:

32-bit Windows Vista:
http://tinyurl.com/2uqtqts
(just get the "WDM Integrated Driver" - unless you have some need for the
full Catalyst software suite...)

that's the bloatware i've just installed from previous post (cut down WDM
Integrated Drive) & uninstalled

it's not a driver at all - it's some sort generic download manager - uses
acres space, but does not (did not) update my video driver - in fact it
makes no mention of drivers at all - no executable file once installed -
presumably just runs in the background consuming processing time until it
feels like downloading some virus or uploading my bank details - i just want
the driver (no software) - but as already said - 99% of drivers now come
'wrapped up' in load software and this is no exception - well except that it
didn't even have a driver in it at all whereas most the crap i download at
least come with the driver i want

 

[GSalisbury]

that's the bloatware i've just installed from previous post (cut down WDM
Integrated Drive) & uninstalled

it's not a driver at all - it's some sort generic download manager - uses
acres space, but does not (did not) update my video driver - in fact it
makes no mention of drivers at all - no executable file once installed -
presumably just runs in the background consuming processing time until it
feels like downloading some virus or uploading my bank details - i just
want the driver (no software) - but as already said - 99% of drivers now
come 'wrapped up' in load software and this is no exception - well except
that it didn't even have a driver in it at all whereas most the crap i
download at least come with the driver i want

Not meaning to step on anyone's toes but...
I put "Save Installed Drivers for Vista 64" into a google search (remember
our friend?) and the 1st hit was

BooZet Freeware | Double Driver - backup and restore installed drivers
http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Isn't that what you're looking for?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

that's the bloatware i've just installed from previous post (cut
down WDM Integrated Drive) & uninstalled

it's not a driver at all - it's some sort generic download manager - uses
acres space, but does not (did not) update my video driver -
in fact it makes no mention of drivers at all - no executable file
once installed - presumably just runs in the background consuming
processing time until it feels like downloading some virus or
uploading my bank details - i just want the driver (no software) -
but as already said - 99% of drivers now come 'wrapped up' in load
software and this is no exception - well except that it didn't even
have a driver in it at all whereas most the crap i download at
least come with the driver i want

So get the Catalyst driver and be selective about your installation instead
of accepting the defaults.

Description:
Package Includes:
Display Driver
Catalyst Control Center

But that is the driver for your system. If you don't like the way it gets
packaged - take it up with ATI (whom I would not recommend for much) and/or
download the driver and package and rip what you want out of it/custom
install it.

 

[Chris K]

So get the Catalyst driver and be selective about your installation
instead of accepting the defaults.

Description:
Package Includes:
Display Driver
Catalyst Control Center

But that is the driver for your system. If you don't like the way it gets
packaged - take it up with ATI (whom I would not recommend for much)
and/or download the driver and package and rip what you want out of
it/custom install it.

Tried all install options, neither update my video driver - was hoping it
would eventually update my video driver so i can uninstall it afterwards -
not blaming you, just explaining that 'just' downloading a driver is no
longer possible - every/all drivers are now accompanied by lot software they
know you dont want - this was rather an exception in that it didn't even
include a driver

which brings me nicely back to my title/opening question - can you save
hardware drivers that are already installed - short answer is yes they can
be saved but can they be reinstalled - that i will continue to persue

 

[Chris K]

Not meaning to step on anyone's toes but...
I put "Save Installed Drivers for Vista 64" into a google search (remember
our friend?) and the 1st hit was

BooZet Freeware | Double Driver - backup and restore installed drivers
http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Isn't that what you're looking for?

I've looked it over - I can already save driver components (they're listed
in driver details) but I'm not sure if/how these can be re-installed - and
booznet dont seem to mention this either

= dont think it will do anything i cant do without it
but thanks any how

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Tried all install options, neither update my video driver - was
hoping it would eventually update my video driver so i can
uninstall it afterwards - not blaming you, just explaining that
'just' downloading a driver is no longer possible - every/all
drivers are now accompanied by lot software they know you dont want
- this was rather an exception in that it didn't even include a
driver
which brings me nicely back to my title/opening question - can you
save hardware drivers that are already installed - short answer is
yes they can be saved but can they be reinstalled - that i will
continue to persue

Downloaded the Catalyst software+Drivers package...
Used 7-Zip to unpack it to a directory...
Found the drivers here: \$_OUTDIR\Packages\Drivers\Display (from that
subdirectory of the directory where I extracted the full software drivers.)

 

[Chris K]

Downloaded the Catalyst software+Drivers package...
Used 7-Zip to unpack it to a directory...
Found the drivers here: \$_OUTDIR\Packages\Drivers\Display (from that
subdirectory of the directory where I extracted the full software
drivers.)

I installed full 'blown' package (took longer than MS Office professional -
god knows what it's done) and this time it did update my driver - then I
uninstalled the software but it un-installed the driver too

Downloaded 7-Zip - extracted the driver only - installed it half way where
upon it insists on installing all the trojan software - scrapped the idea

The old driver will last until my next OS install and I'll buy new graphics
card - one that is properly supported - praying that nobody will ever buy
ATI card - ever!

Cheers anyhow

 

[Michael]

I installed full 'blown' package (took longer than MS Office
professional - god knows what it's done) and this time it did update my
driver - then I uninstalled the software but it un-installed the driver
too

Downloaded 7-Zip - extracted the driver only - installed it half way where
upon it insists on installing all the trojan software - scrapped the idea

The old driver will last until my next OS install and I'll buy new
graphics card - one that is properly supported - praying that nobody will
ever buy ATI card - ever!

Cheers anyhow

Either you need a real education on drivers and computers or you're a total
a$$hole. I'm betting the latter.

 

[GSalisbury]

[snip]

BooZet Freeware | Double Driver - backup and restore installed drivers
http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Isn't that what you're looking for?

I've looked it over - I can already save driver components (they're listed
in driver details) but I'm not sure if/how these can be re-installed - and
booznet dont seem to mention this either

= dont think it will do anything i cant do without it
but thanks any how

From your original post:
"...so I was wondering whether it's possible to save the drivers now for
future install..."
From Double Driver:
"Backup drivers from current Windows"
"Restore drivers from previous backup"
Isn't that what you originally asked for?
No DD won't seek out a new driver for you but once you have what you want it
can save it/them for later use.
I've used a similar product on XP but never looked for a Vista product until
your post.
I downloaded it and ran the dd.exe from the zip file.
I selected All and the default structured output and got 500+ "drivers" in
60+ meg.
Obviously I'd want to get that on an external backup as well.
I'm satisfied it would restore one if I chose/needed to.
Something to consider.
Geo.