Analysis:
Important data in the computer needs to be backed up, and the driver is no exception. Let's talk about the concept of drivers, and then introduce how to extract drivers, backup drivers, restore drivers, delete drivers, install new drivers, and find drivers on the Internet.
1. What is a driver and the importance of a backup driver?
Device driver (abbreviation: driver, English driver: device driver) can be described as the soft "nerve center" of computer hardware. Device drivers usually provide I/O interfaces for devices. The device driver receives instructions from the I/O manager and translates them into specific commands to control the devices it manages. After the device completes these commands, it will notify the I/O manager through the driver. Usually, drivers only provide services for specific devices.
The driver is divided into 16 bits and 32 bits. 16 bit drivers are mostly used in Windows 3.x and Windows 95 systems, and the file extension is usually. DRV。 VXD and. DLL。 The drivers of Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems are 32-bit, and the extensions are usually. sys，。 DLL, etc The drivers of Windows 98/98SE and Windows ME are 16 and 32-bit. Yes. CAT files are generally Microsoft digital signature files for drivers. Microsoft tests the compatibility and stability of drivers developed by hardware manufacturers (this certification is strict). Drivers that can pass the test will get a digital signature (a. cat file) and issue a Designed for Windows logo. In addition, the HCL list is added to add the driver to the driver. CAB file of Windows installation CD. Drivers installed in users' computers are generally stored in the folder C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM for Windows 9x/Me systems; For Windows NT/2000/XP, drivers are usually located in the folder C:\WINNT\system32\drivers. But this is not absolute.
When we reinstall or upgrade the Windows system, the first question that comes to mind is whether the random drive disks of our hardware devices such as graphics cards, sound cards, modems and network cards can be found. However, many of us may not be able to find all the drive disks. Then can we extract all the installed drivers at once and back them up to CDRW, mobile hard disk, ZIP, MO or other partitions of the hard disk? When reinstalling the Windows system, can you put all the drivers back at once? The answer is yes.
Second, how to extract the driver
Next, we will introduce the Software Driver Wizard 2.02, which can help you simplify the tedious steps of driver extraction. Even a novice can complete the drive backup work with a click of the mouse.
The predecessor of this software is a free software "Driver Backup Expert 1.70", and the version 2.00 was officially renamed as "Driver Wizard". The new version of Driver Wizard 2.02 Personal Edition adopts the driver three-pass scanning extraction algorithm, which supports driver extraction, driver package backup and automatic generation of driver installation package in EXE format. Of course, the biggest difference between the free version 1.90 and the paid version 2.02 is the latter two functions. However, as far as extraction and backup are concerned, there is essentially no difference between them.
For friends who have some driver knowledge, you can choose the "driver extraction" mode, that is, the extracted driver file will be stored in a folder named after the hardware device and contain an INF file (this installation information file is needed when installing the driver).
For those who are familiar with WinZip or WinRar software, you can choose the second method "driver package backup", that is, all the extracted driver files are put into a compressed package in CAB format (Microsoft has supported this format since Windows 95, and both WinZip and WinRar support CAB format) to save disk space. Of course, the compressed package also contains INF files; For computer beginners, choose the third way. All driver files and installation information will be compiled by WinDriver Ghost software to generate executable files in EXE format. When you recover later, double-click it.
Click the "Collect All" button to get the driver details of all hardware devices in the computer within two seconds, including the official name of the driver, driver version, driver release date, release company, operating system supported by the driver, the number of files in driver package, and whether the driver contains the digital signature of Microsoft Hardware Compatibility Testing Laboratory. Click the Quick Collection button to get all drivers that are not produced by Microsoft. The essence of this button is to filter out Microsoft drivers, because drivers produced by Microsoft are generally released together with Windows products. When we install Windows, Windows will automatically install and configure the hardware it can recognize, so we don't need to back up these drivers.
Third, how to back up the driver
If you want to back up the driver of a hardware device, you can first select it in the driver list, and then click "Backup Driver" on the right. The software will start searching for the required files. After the search is completed, a prompt will appear asking the user which folder to back up. The default folder is C:\My Drivers, but it's better to change it to D:\My Drivers, because the contents of drive C will often change after reinstalling Windows. Click the "Start" button, and the software will start extracting and backing up drivers. After the backup, you will be prompted whether the extraction process was successful and how many files were copied.
If the user wants to back up all the drivers by clicking a button, try "Back Up All". The driver that needs to be backed up on the author's computer can be extracted and backed up within 2 seconds. All drivers are backed up in the D:\My Drivers folder. It is important to note that each backup driver contains a file named Setup. DIY, so don't delete it without reading it, because this file contains important information needed when installing the driver.
How to restore a single drive through the control panel
The driver recovery function of Windows XP can help users automatically recover the last good known driver in the user's system as needed after installing the wrong driver or the driver that reduces the system performance, thus simplifying the steps for users to delete the wrong driver and install the correct driver. If the user wants to extract one, more or all hardware drivers, then Windows XP is powerless. We will show users of Windows 95/98/98SE/ME/2000 and Windows XP how to use the driver wizard to restore old drivers and install new hardware drivers.
Restoring backup drivers and installing drivers for new hardware devices can be achieved through the hardware wizard in Windows Control Panel. The specific method is to open the control panel and double-click Add/Remove Hardware (A). Select [Next]-> [add/delete equipment failure (1)]->; [Add new equipment]-> [Yes, search for new hardware]-> [Next]->; [Select the corresponding equipment type]-> [Have Disk], enter the correct installation information INF file and related path.
How to Restore a Single Driver Using the Driver Wizard
For users who use the first backup method, there are two commonly used recovery-driven methods: 1. If it is a plug-and-play device, Windows automatically detects and prompts to insert the drive disk, and the system needs to install the information file (extension. INF)； 2. If the device is not plug and play or cannot be automatically detected by Windows, it needs to be installed from the control panel. The "Install Driver" button in the "Driver Wizard" greatly simplifies the latter. Users only need to select an INF file of installation information, wait for a few seconds, and the software can automatically complete the tedious steps of installation. For users who use the second backup method, you need to extract the CAB compressed package to a temporary directory first, and then restore it according to the above steps. For users who use the third backup method, double-click the generated EXE file to enter the recovery wizard, click "Start" and wait for the system to restart.
How to use the Driver Wizard to restore the drivers of all devices?
Click the circled arrow to see some new function buttons. Click the "Restore All" button, and the software will prompt you to select the folder where the drivers are stored. The default folder is C:\My Drivers, but because the C drive needs to be reloaded frequently, I backed up all the drivers to D:\My Drivers. Select D:\ My Driver, and then click the "Start Recovery" button. Recovery can be completed after the system is restarted. For users who use the second backup method, you need to first extract the CAB compressed package to a temporary directory and select it to start the recovery. For users who use the third backup method, double-click the generated All Drivers. EXE file and wait for the system to restart.
I almost forgot to write you the download address of the software. : Software information and download address:
The latest version of Driver Backup Expert is 1.90, which is a green free software. Before 1. 10~ 1.70, there was a serious "unable to copy files (1206)" error under Windows 9x. The 1.90 version has completely corrected this error. The software size is 482KB, and the download address is sky/soft/8 10 1.
The latest version of the driver wizard is version 2.02, which is a * * * software, 15 days. The software size is 1.39MB, and the download address is sky/soft/8760.