Hey, I had a hard time finding my drivers even for Windows Vista and I finally got them, I don't really want to go through the hassle all over again, so could I just move the driver folders over to the drivers folder in Windows 7 and restart? or does it have to do more internal stuff for it to work. Also, I am assuming C:\Windows\system32\drivers is the right Drivers folder?
Thanks for the help!
Hi E
Welcome to seven forums
sorry to have to tell you but they must be installed not just present to function. You should get the most up to date drivers you can find and only fall back if the newest driver doesn't work. BTW every version of every driver is somewhat different and there is a folder in win 7 for the various versions called winsxs. If you install a lot of apps it grows huge.
Hope this helps
Ken
Aw man, well, thanks for thw quick reply! instead of starting a new thread, I'll just ask another question here. In case the windows update doesnt update my drivers, is there a free program like Driver Detective out there? and do those kind of programs work?
Hi Ken,
The Win SXS folders actually contains mostly symbolic links to the actual file locations of the driver variations, so the actual size of the folder is a lot smaller than is reported
As for a driver management tool a lot of members here have had success with Drivermax which allows you to backup your Vista drivers and then transfer to Windows 7 Have not used it myself for a while but I understand that it now supports 64 bit if that is an issue for you
Nigel
I stand corrected abt drivermax and the symbolic links. Mine sxs folder was 13.4 gigs just before I installed 7600 and now it a paltry 4 gigs.
Im off to play with drivermax if it works Im sold.
thanks
Ken
Hi ken,
Usual warnings apply to anything system oriented, but I have used DriverMax with the early builds of Win 7 without issue. I went x64 some time ago and DriverMax has only just started supporting 64 bit hence my not using it for a while.
With the WinSXS size issue i only found out when trying to help cut down disk space usage on a Lenovo laptop with a fixed 30GB system drive. It initially seemed an ideal candidate for moving to a separate drive, (by using a Symbolic Link, strangly enough), but further research found the truth buried in technet
Nigel
I really hope drivermax is able to move vista driver into win 7. It might make things a bit easier. Still think getting updated drivers is th way to go and this gives a welcome option. Ill let you know how it works.
Ken
+1 That and don't delete the install files once installed, put them in a folder on a separate drive/partition or copy to a USB key, then you have them for the next time. Also keep all the download sites in a folder in your favorites/Bookmarks, then it only takes a few minutes once a month or so to check for newer drivers (here's a hint, for the most part the only drivers that see a semi-regulr update are video and sound drivers). No need for a 3rd party app.
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