How to back up my windows 8.1 drivers?


Recommended Posts

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.

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.

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.

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

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:

 

post-27687-0-42982300-1416163125.jpg

 

So I really have no idea what the issue was.

 

 

Also right clicking on the network adapter and clicking properties doesn't show much. 

post-27687-0-07443300-1416163261.jpg

 

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.

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. 

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. 

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • The proportion (or number of iterations) has nothing to with this aspect of Copyright I am describing. In short, it doesn't matter how many times the manager tells you to change something or how. Your work product is always YOURS until and unless you then assign that to the person representing the client/company, usually for financial compensation -- either in salary or as a subcontract work for hire payment. if iterations determined copyright, then businesses would have learned to just keep making changes until they could claim they owned the copyright, without having to compensate the artist for their work. And that would be BAD. The only place where the amount of changes does have a role is in how much does a human modify a previous public domain work (from any source) before it is considered fair use or their own work, etc. For example, if a human makes substantial changes to a public domain (re: AI, by definition) work, then they can then claim that derivative work as their own...but NEVER the original version, of course. That's why anyone can make a movie about Dracula, for example, as long as it is based on the public domain novel, but not if they take new ideas from copyrighted movies made afterwards. As one of the people who personally advised the US Copyright Office on their recent ruling on these very issues, be assured that I specifically used the terminology precisely -- though I made it simple enough for laymen to understand it. If I made this confusing by doing so, I apologize. But, to be clear regarding your assumption that I would agree to your second statement that I quoted above -- the answer is NO. If AI does the work, no matter how much "direction" you give it, it cannot be copyrighted. All AI generated content is in the Public Domain and therefore the copyright cannot be assigned to ANYONE, even you -- until and unless substantial modifications are made to it BY A HUMAN BEING (yourself or a contracted artist/writer/etc.) and then that copyright on the derivative work is legally (in writing) transferred to you. This is a critical distinction. And it is important that people, especially AI sloppers, understand this. For example, YouTube is not paying AI slop generators for the copyright, etc. of their AI slop. What YouTube is doing is sharing AD REVENUE for permission to publish your AI slop. Copyright/ownership/rights never come into it. Importantly, that means that anyone can copy any AI slopware on YouTube, etc. and rehost it anywhere they want, even back on YouTube, and there is nothing legal that YouTube can do about it with regards to copyright protections, ownership, DMCA, etc. Anyone is legally free to use any AI slopware in any way they want. When this ruling was pending, I warned Disney legal of all of this before they did their OpenAI deal -- that it would literally dilute their entire IP portfolio forever. They ignored that warning for the PR and stock bump. But that is why, when the ruling came down last year, Disney quickly extricated themselves from that OpenAI deal, even eating the initial upfront fees -- followed closely by OpenAI ending their entire AI video generating business model. They adjusted their PR release dates to make this less obvious to shareholders, of course. Phew. I hope that this clears up the key distinctions for you and anyone reading. If you have any additional questions or even hypotheticals about AI and Copyright, please feel free to ask.
    • Each of the devices displayed on this page now has a little volume meter next to it to show if there is audio actively playing. About time.
    • Owing to the nature of Windows feature enablement updates, it was distributed over Windows Update services as a complete system upgrade rather than as an ordinary cumulative update
    • Microsoft confirms Windows 11 26H2, urges IT admins to prepare for release by Usama Jawad Windows 11 typically follows an annual update cycle, but Microsoft recently broke that tradition a bit by releasing a "26H1" version in the first half of this year as a "scoped" build for select new silicon PCs only. This version was not available for customers using 24H2 and 25H2 builds, as Microsoft is busy preparing version 26H2 for them, confirmed officially for the first time. In a Windows IT Pro blog, Microsoft has urged IT admins to prepare for the upcoming release of Windows 11 version 26H2. The company has confirmed that this will be a small enablement package (eKB) that will simply light up certain disabled features that are already present in the operating system's code base. This means that the "refined" Windows update and deployment experience will be simpler and quicker, with minimal disruptions, as the feature update will simply toggle a few flags rather than performing a complete replacement. Microsoft has explained that this is all possible because the standard Windows 11 releases share the same servicing branch and hence, the same source code. However, this also means that Windows 11 26H1 users won't be able to upgrade to 26H2 as that is a different branch, but this is something we have known for a while now. Similar to previous annual feature updates, Windows 11 26H2 will offer the following support cycles: 24 months of support for Home, Pro, Pro EDU, and Pro for Workstations editions 36 months of support for Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise, and Enterprise Multi-session editions Microsoft has not confirmed a concrete release date for Windows 11 26H2, but noted that it is "coming soon". If we go by the ongoing release cadence, we can expect it to begin rolling out in early October 2026. As such, IT admins have been encouraged to begin validating Windows Insider releases in the Experimental Channel, plan rollout rings, and strategize the utilization of their existing deployment tools.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Collaborator
      ryansurfer98 went up a rank
      Collaborator
    • Week One Done
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Eurosoft10 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Skeet Campbell earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Sharbel earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      569
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      188
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      79
    4. 4
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      74
    5. 5
      neufuse
      72
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!