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CyberNotes: How to Backup and Restore Windows Drivers

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday


One of the hardest things about formatting your hard drive and starting fresh is digging around for all of the drivers you need. You have your printer, camera, mouse, keyboard, and external drives all nicely installed, and trying to get everything back to normal after reinstalling Windows can be a huge pain. Maybe it isn’t as bad as you think with DriverMax…

In just a few clicks you can have all of your drivers for your computer backed up to a single ZIP file that can easily be stored on a Flash drive. Here’s what you have to do:

  1. Download and install DriverMax. It does require registration if you plan on using it for more than 30–days, but to register the software all it requires is your name and email address. Use one of our disposable email address solutions in case you’re skeptical about giving out your email address.
  2. After you get it up and running, you’ll see a screen similar to the one pictured below. Choose the Export drivers option so that we can backup the drivers.
    Drivermax

  3. Wait for DriverMax to finish analyzing your system:
    Drivermax
  4. Choose which drivers you want backed up. I recommend just doing all of them because when you restore the drivers you can always pick and choose which ones to restore and which ones not to. It is better to have them all safely backed up rather than realizing you forgot to check one of them:
    Drivermax
  5. Now you get to choose whether to have your files put in a folder, or have them stored in a single ZIP file. I recommend doing the ZIP file because then it is both compressed and easier to move since it is just one file.
    Drivermax
  6. DriverMax will now grab all of the drivers it needs to. This can take about 5–10 minutes according to their site, but it only took me about 3 minutes to grab all of my drivers.
    Drivermax
  7. Now the ZIP file is all ready to be stored away in a safe location. Also, if you look inside the ZIP file you’ll see that everything is nicely organized by categories:
    Drivermax
  8. RESTORING YOUR DRIVERS: The restoration process is almost exactly the same so I’m not going to walk you through that. It will ask you things like which drivers you want to install using a screen that is remarkably similar to that in Step 4. Before it loads up all the drivers you choose, it will prompt you to confirm your selection:
    Drivermax

Since I just learned about this software I haven’t had the chance to put it to good use yet, but it sounds like just what I need to use when I format my hard drive. If you have other software that you use to help ease the pain of formatting your computer please let us know in the comments so that all of our readers can benefit from it! :)

Thanks to Freeware Genius for pointing out this great piece of software.

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  1. Radu CapanAll-StarMay 24, 2007 at 6:35 am

    I know I indicated you this program in the past (it’s a Romanian company behind). Yes, it’s working. I had to reinstall Win on some computers without any CD for drivers. You have 2 options: let Win to use autodetection than solve with DriverMax only the unkown drivers (if there are any); or use DriverMax for everything. I would recommend first way, since it may detect new versions for drivers. If you want to be fast, use the second way. It worked for me with no problem every time.

    I recommend to use DriverMax together with Genie Backup Manager Pro. Yep, this is expensive but it’s free for 30days, and you only need it one day: to make a backup and than to restore. What? Is a long list: it can make a backup and restore for My Documents, Emails (with Rules, Accounts, Contacts), Internet settings, Favorites, Fonts, Desktop files (even Registry! why would you restore that?). With DriverMax and Genie Backup Manager Pro you can be sure that you will have your computer back, working faster after the Win reinstall.

    Reply
  2. EmilMay 24, 2007 at 8:52 am

    One question I have. If I’m backing my Win XP drivers, can I restore them in w2k3?
    thanks

    Reply
  3. cannontraneMay 24, 2007 at 10:01 am

    Didn’t you tell us about this program back in September?? :D
    So much for just learning of it! =)

    Reply
  4. RyanAuthorMay 24, 2007 at 6:03 pm
    Radu Capan wrote:
    I know I indicated you this program in the past

    Really? I guess I didn’t have that email anymore.

    Emil wrote:
    One question I have. If I’m backing my Win XP drivers, can I restore them in w2k3?
    thanks

    I’m sure it could, but it is more of a question whether the XP drivers are the same for Windows 2003. I’m guessing they are not.

    cannontrane wrote:
    Didn’t you tell us about this program back in September?? :D
    So much for just learning of it! =)

    Wow, your memory is better than mine! I didn’t remember this program at all, but now it prominently sits in my bookmarks. I wonder if this is the first time that I wrote about something twice. :?

    Reply
  5. silverDecember 30, 2008 at 9:54 am

    when i format my hard drive does the process of formatting delete the folder where i had my backed up drivers?

    Reply