Driver Backup and restore software let us create backups of important system drivers which are required to be installed at the time of reinstalling the operating system. This is useful for situations when you have lost your device drivers CD or when you have bought a computer that came with a preloaded system and no device drivers CD. After you format your computer and reinstall Windows, the first thing you do is install all the device drivers. Generally, the drivers come on a CD/DVD, with the hardware devices. As an alternative, they can also be downloaded from the manufacturer’s site, and that’s the best place to download the drivers, or their newer versions. If you happen to lose your driver’s CD, you will have to find all those drivers on the net and download them. If you want to avoid such hassle, then use these free utilities which can easily backup and restore Computer Drivers whenever you want.
1. Double Driver
Double Driver is a portable application. It is a Free Driver Backup Utility that can be used to view all of the drivers installed on your computer and then Backup Drivers, Restore Drivers, Save Drivers or print a list of chosen drivers. Installed Driver details such as Setup Information, Hardware ID, Version, Date, Provider and Class are displayed and can be printed for reference. Double Driver works on Windows XP/Vista/7 (32-bit or 64-bit).
You can download Double Driver from http://www.boozet.net/dd.htm.
2. SlimDrivers
SlimDrivers is a lightweight program that allows you to download and install the necessary drivers for your computer. For backup and restoration, it provides a driver list, which is very similar to the list seen in Device Manager. SlimDrivers free version can scan Your PC for missing, broken or out-of-date drivers. It will let you download and install drivers “manually” (i.e. one by one) straight from the SlimDrivers interface.
SlimDrivers works on Windows XP/Vista/7. You can download the free version from http://www.slimwareutilities.com/slimdrivers.php.
3. DriverMax
DriverMax is a new tool that finds and downloads the latest driver updates for your computer. You can export all your current drivers (or just the ones that work ok) to a compressed file. After reinstalling Windows you will have everything in one place! No more searching for rare drivers on discs or on the web or inserting one installation CD after the other. This program is registerware. You have to supply a valid email address within 30 days to get the free registration code.
DriverMax works on Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2003. You can download it from http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/.
4. DriverBackup!
DriverBackup! copies the installed drivers in your Windows system and recreates the INF files needed so that they can be reinstalled in Windows in the future. For backup, DriverBackup! is very good, providing some useful options. When started, it presents a clearly laid out list of drivers, with all installed drivers selected by default. The software is released under the GNU General Public License, which means it is both free and open source. Note that the drivers are packed in a RAR archive format. It requires the MSCOMCTL.OCX to be installed on your system. If you get an error message asking for MSCOMCTL.OCX, search for it with Google – it is freely available in many places.
DriverBackup! works on Windows XP/Vista/7. You can download it from http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/.
5. Semper Driver Backup
Semper Driver Backup is a handy and very easy to use application that allows you to backup your drivers to and from local systems. What makes Semper a bit different from other driver backup applications (such as Double Drivers) is that it provides easier driver identification and installation, by creating a single source driver folder containing all driver files and not just the setup files.
Semper Driver Backup is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. You can download it from http://www.sempersoftware.com/node/7.
Other Words
In this post we only list free drivers backup tools. We don’t list commercial tools like Driver Magician, which usually have additional convenience features to backup and restore your drivers. If you have already installed a new system and do not have drivers for it, you can Google the drivers or use a commercial software like Driver Detective to find proper drivers for your computer.
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