Dane Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 So awhile ago, I attempted to do a clean install. It did not go well. Did the clean install of my Windows 8.1 x64 only to figure out, I had no working internet for my wireless because there was no driver. So it didn't show the device. So I used the recovery media, and it worked. So I got my driver information from HP's website. Did a new clean install, attempted to install the drivers and they didn't work, had an error when installing that it was not correct. So did another recovery, and every driver that was with the recovery install was the same. Is there a program I can use to keep my drivers on a flash drive, install the program and restore/install the working drivers? There is one program I installed called Driver Tool Kit. it scanned my drivers currently installed and made backups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedroth Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Download the drivers...then try to install them before performing the clean install. Once you've found some that work, place them in a folder. When you've got all your working drivers, you can put them on a USB pen and use them when its had a clean install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sikhwarrior Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I know with Dell laptops you can download drivers from their website, i would assume HP have something similar in place? quick search on google found this http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/drivers.html so maybe type in your model number into the search? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 I know with Dell laptops you can download drivers from their website, i would assume HP have something similar in place? quick search on google found this http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/drivers.html so maybe type in your model number into the search? Yeah HP's website is where I got them. But the ones that are on their site for my pc are not what came installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Stay away from those "drive programs" they cause more harm than good. Go to HPs website, enter your model, download all drivers for windows 8 on a USB drive. Clean install then use the usb drive to install the different drivers. Otherwise, open devmgmt.msc right click your network adapter, select properties then details, then hardware id copy the string to google and search for a true Windows 8.1 driver. Download and save it to USB then do the same for any other device that was not automatically installed when performing a clean install. What is your computers model and I can help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francescob Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 If you connect your computer with an ethernet cable you can usually find part of the drivers (especially wireless NICs) on Windows Update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Stay away from those "drive programs" they cause more harm than good. Go to HPs website, enter your model, download all drivers for windows 8 on a USB drive. Clean install then use the usb drive to install the different drivers. Otherwise, open devmgmt.msc right click your network adapter, select properties then details, then hardware id copy the string to google and search for a true Windows 8.1 driver. Download and save it to USB then do the same for any other device that was not automatically installed when performing a clean install. What is your computers model and I can help Thanks, HP ENVY 700. Model 700-010xt. Going to HP's website, http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=4132&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=5362530#N4383 That has the list of drivers and whatnot. When I did the fresh install, I went to the device manager, and there was nothing under the Network Adapters. There was no yellow warning signs or whatnot. The two that show up on their site is a "Broadcom Wireless Network Controller Driver2013-04-30 , Version6.30.59.139 Rev. A," and "Atheros Network Controller Driver2013-05-22 , Version2.1.0.13 Rev. A," I downloaded both of them and tried, and got the same warning: "doesn't meet the requirements." So now however, with the recovery image. it shows this: So I really have no idea what the issue was. Also right clicking on the network adapter and clicking properties doesn't show much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotenks98 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 You are not right clicking on the individual adapters and viewing the properies thats why it does not show anything. Also like the others have said the driver backup programs do more harm than good and often are just malware. You come out better downloading them ahead of time from the manufacturer's site. Also keep in mind if you have Broadcom for wireless you might have issues connecting to enterprise networks unless you use a windows 8.0 drive instead of the 8.1 driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 You are not right clicking on the individual adapters and viewing the properies thats why it does not show anything. Also like the others have said the driver backup programs do more harm than good and often are just malware. You come out better downloading them ahead of time from the manufacturer's site. Also keep in mind if you have Broadcom for wireless you might have issues connecting to enterprise networks unless you use a windows 8.0 drive instead of the 8.1 driver. Sorry about that. When I did the fresh install, it was an install of Windows 8 64, and the drivers on their site are for Windows 8. I'd install Windows 8, do the drivers, then do windows updates to get to Windows 8.1 I don't need to conect to enterprise networks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francescob Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Doesn't the HP Envy uses driver packages? You should only need the package right for your model. Otherwise you can use DriverMax to export all your drivers. The HP Ralink driver seems to be here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statikk Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Just navigate to "C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository" and sort by date. Any of the folders that have a datestamp of the day you installed Windows or later should be backed up. The rest came off the Windows disc. After you reinstall you can point hardware with missing drivers to the folder you copied everything into and your drivers will install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Best way to back up a driver is to put it in reverse. No really, I would just download the latest ones whenever you do a restore but keep a current copy of the installer files in case they aren't available in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 So is everything good now or you still have internet issues? you actually right click each individual adapter and select properties then youll get a hardware id that you can google for exact drivers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotenks98 Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Sorry about that. When I did the fresh install, it was an install of Windows 8 64, and the drivers on their site are for Windows 8. I'd install Windows 8, do the drivers, then do windows updates to get to Windows 8.1 I don't need to conect to enterprise networks. There is now a way to skip directly to 8.1. using the 8.0 product key instead of having to do the store upgrade. This will save you a bit of time. Go here for the ISO file. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dane Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 Doesn't the HP Envy uses driver packages? You should only need the package right for your model. Otherwise you can use DriverMax to export all your drivers. The HP Ralink driver seems to be here. I'll remember that for next time. Thanks! So is everything good now or you still have internet issues? you actually right click each individual adapter and select properties then youll get a hardware id that you can google for exact drivers Everything is good since I am still on the recovery version. I haven't done another clean install yet. There is now a way to skip directly to 8.1. using the 8.0 product key instead of having to do the store upgrade. This will save you a bit of time. Go here for the ISO file. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media Ohh I like that! Best way to back up a driver is to put it in reverse. No really, I would just download the latest ones whenever you do a restore but keep a current copy of the installer files in case they aren't available in the future. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanvirdi Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 Best Thing i have tried for drivers so far copy this folder and save into USB or something. C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository File repository has all the drivers there and you have to just go into device manager and point to location it will install automatically. P.S-: You might have to copy that folder before starting formatting unit or use when you install windows do overwrite let that driver to go into the windows.old folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconFrost88 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 The first rule in a clean install is to download all your necessary drivers ahead of time. I keep mine on a large flash drive. Then, regardless of what you need, it's right there in front of you, especially network drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted November 21, 2014 Veteran Share Posted November 21, 2014 driver magician lite http://www.drivermagician.com/Lite.htm scans your system and pulls out all necessary files to have them recognized in your system at the event of a fresh install. it will not install the software that may be needed to run the hardware, example would be scanning software for scanners or wireless card software to better integrate with the wireless card or the software to configure buttons on a keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gotenks98 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Things to be aware of with harvesting drivers, sometimes the installers have specific tweaks that are not in the .inf file so you might come out better just saving the installers instead of trying to harvest the drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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