Move or copy drivers to a new hard drive

[Atom]

I recently purchased a new notebook which has Windows 7 HP on it. Because of all the bloatware put on it by the mfg and since I have a spare hard drive I wish to do a clean install of Windows. Since I do not have the drivers anywhere but on the original HD, I need to transfer them to the new HD. I tried using DriverMax and found it to be very unsatisfactory. What are the other options?

tom

 

[bobafetthotmail]

go to the manufacturer's website, support section, and they should have drivers for all models they sell, download the right ones to an external drive.

 

[Atom]

go to the manufacturer's website, support section, and they should have drivers for all models they sell, download the right ones to an external drive.

Good advice, and that was my first attempt. The device I wanted to get working first was the WiFi LAN adapter. The existing driver is a Ralink, so I went to their site but it was not there. I had the v number and all, but could not find it. DriverMax was able to find a later version of a Ralink driver, and while it seemed to install and I at least had the device listed in the device manager, I still did not have a working wireless adapter. It seems like I should just be able to put the old drive on my network and copy the drivers files from the old HD to the new HD, but I don't know how to do this, if it's even possible.

I also got bsod while DriverMax was doing it's thing. This did not make me want to pay money to DriverMax to get the rest of the drivers.

 

[Dwarf]

What is the make and full model number of the notebook? As has been pointed out, the best place to obtain drivers is from the notebook manufacturer. It might be an idea to download all drivers pertaining to your notebook, as there are cases where alternative hardware has been used in a production run (e.g. different network adapters).

 

[Atom]

What is the make and full model number of the notebook? As has been pointed out, the best place to obtain drivers is from the notebook manufacturer. It might be an idea to download all drivers pertaining to your notebook, as there are cases where alternative hardware has been used in a production run (e.g. different network adapters).

Asus K73E

I went to their site, and none of the wifi driver downloads for that model matches what I have.

edit: I looked again and it may be there after all; I'll try it.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

DriverMax was able to find a later version of a Ralink driver, and while it seemed to install and I at least had the device listed in the device manager, I still did not have a working wireless adapter.

software that searches and finds drivers is usually unreliable. to not say worse.

Now, in the US support page of your model, there is no trace of a Ralink. There is no trace of it in the UK support page as well.

I mean you could start installing every single driver from the list and hoping that one would work, but it's a bit desperate measure. And may not solve your problem.

Now, you should have easy access to your wifi card, or its data should be on a sticker you can read. Post the wifi card's product name.

 

[Atom]

DriverMax was able to find a later version of a Ralink driver, and while it seemed to install and I at least had the device listed in the device manager, I still did not have a working wireless adapter.

software that searches and finds drivers is usually unreliable. to not say worse.

Now, in the US support page of your model, there is no trace of a Ralink. There is no trace of it in the UK support page as well.

I mean you could start installing every single driver from the list and hoping that one would work, but it's a bit desperate measure. And may not solve your problem.

Now, you should have easy access to your wifi card, or its data should be on a sticker you can read. Post the wifi card's product name.

This is the vendor and device ID from System Information:
VEN 1814 DEV 5390

This is Ralink 802.11n wireless adapter, which I believe is the same as the Azureware listed on the Asus downloads for my notebook.

I've ordered an external USB enclosure for the hard drive I'm installing so I can work on it without having to put it in the notebook. When I finally get all the drivers located, then I'll swap them out. Windows is already installed, so there's not that much left to do.

I just think it should be easier to do this task without having to fish around for the drivers.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

This is ASUS's fault. Or some joker at the assembly lines decided to cut corners.

Anyway, cnet seems to have drivers for something like that. Other reputable sites like it also have the same.

Try and see if they work.

Otherwise, if you're kinda desperate, you can download the driverpack with all the drivers of WLAN adapters they could find. Those packs saved my backside a couple times, but aren't 100% sure to have what you need. Once the pack is on your HDD, you can either run their free utility or let windows handle it (recommended), just extract the drivers to a folder and point the manual driver search to that folder (ticking "include subfolders" as well)

Otherwise, there are programs that can backup drivers. Never used them myself, but that's why reviewers exist.