Let's assume you've installed or reinstalled your operating system. This is not enough for a full-fledged work, because the next very important step is installing the drivers. We will tell you how to install drivers on your computer in this article.
What are drivers?
A driver is a program that allows the operating system to recognize and access devices connected to it. That is, no device will work without a driver. Sound, video, webcam, keyboard, mouse, (network drivers), etc. cannot be recognized, which means they will not work.
How to download and install drivers?
Drivers can be found:
- On the manufacturer's website for your computer.
- On your computer, if you saved them in advance or downloaded new ones.
- On the installation disk or on the disk with the OS, the assembly of which includes the driver.
There may be several options for installing drivers:
- From the installation disc, which usually comes with a computer, laptop, etc.
- Using the installation file.
- Using the device manager.
- Using driver packs (programs that automatically install drivers).
Now about everything in order.
Installing drivers from disk
The disc can contain as a set of drivers (more often when buying a laptop) or drivers for individual devices when assembling a computer or its individual devices.
- To install the drivers, you need to place the disk in the drive and wait for autorun, if this function is enabled, or start it manually.
- Then, when loading the program, select the device that needs to install the driver and install it. There will be no difficulties with this, because installing drivers is no different from installing any other program.
- During installation, a number of questions may arise, the answers to which you must choose yourself. For example, confirm the digital signature or allow the installation of an incompatible driver. With these, too, it is not difficult to understand with a basic knowledge of the operating principles of the OS and equipment.
- When the installation is complete, you must restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Installation using the setup file
This installation method is similar to the above.
- You are looking for an installation file on your computer with the extension. Exe or, more rarely, .msi. Start the installation process by double-clicking on the file and follow the instructions to install the driver.
- If the device driver is in the archive, then you need to unpack it and find the installation files in the folder where it was unpacked.
- When finished, restart your computer.
Installation via "Device Manager"
Provided that you have the drivers on your computer hard drive or on some external media, you can install them using Device Manager.
So, let's start with the fact that you need to enter the dispatcher itself. Using the Windows OS as an example, we will consider how to enter the manager and how to install drivers.
Path: My Computer-\u003e Control Panel-\u003e System-\u003e Hardware-\u003e Device Manager.
If your OS requires a driver to be installed, the device that needs it will be marked with a question mark.
- To install, right-click on the device and select from the list - Update driver. In the next window, we refuse to install from the Internet and click - Next.
- The easiest way is to automatically install the drivers by selecting the "Automatic installation" item, and the system itself will find and install the necessary driver. After the end of the process, a request for permission to restart will appear, with which we agree.
Installation using driver packs
Recently, a variety of packages can be found on the net that contain many drivers for the vast majority of existing equipment. With the help of such programs, which installs almost all drivers, the installation process is very 
fast and does not require deep knowledge.
Typically, the program works like this:
- Request to check for drivers. The program scans the system and finds missing or requiring an update driver.
- Request to download or install. Downloading is possible if you have an Internet connection, and the installation takes place from existing files.
- Installation. The program will automatically install the necessary drivers or update the existing ones.
A feature of setting up any operating system is the installation of drivers. A driver is a special program that allows Windows 7 to communicate with hardware. Naturally, if there are not enough drivers for some motherboards, their work will be inadequate. There will be no sound on Windows 7, or the screen resolution will be extremely low. Operating systems often fail, so an automatic program that independently searches for drivers and installs them often becomes extremely useful. After all, such a problem is solved immediately for any operating system, including the most recent - 10 series.
There are many applications of this type. Most of them work online. In this case, it is enough to simply install such a program on Windows 7. It will solve the problem with the missing elements by itself, practically without user intervention. Among such applications are the following.
DriverPack Solution
The search and installation of drivers is perfectly implemented for any version of operating systems, like XP, 7th and 10th generation. Such an application is easy to download from the network, the installation image weighs decently - about 8 Gigabytes. The huge size is due to the large number of drivers that the application already contains. Thus, you will need to download the package once, install it on a memory card or removable disk, then simply connect it to the desired computer.
The interface is simple, the application itself searches the network for drivers, then the user marks with daws which ones to install. The easiest solution might be to click the Update All button.
Driver booster
The search for drivers and their installation is also well implemented by this program. It should be noted that such a utility not only finds missing pieces of software for Windows XP, 7 and 10, but also notes which ones need to be updated immediately.
The application usually creates a restore point and then automatically updates the operating system components.
Driver checker
The peculiarity of using this application can be called the fact that it itself creates a copy of all installed drivers on Windows XP, 7 and 10. The interface itself offers to scan the system, after which the shortcomings will be found and eliminated.
Slim Drivers
Another good solution that makes search and installation of device drivers for free. The result is the same as for the previous analogs: a search is made, a report is provided, based on the output of the program, the found components are installed.
DriverMax
Here we can say that the application is very fast. For example, scanning Windows XP, 7 or 10 takes just 15 seconds. For home use, the free version is sufficient. The interface is simple, so no one should be confused by the English language. Once the application is installed, all you need to do is agree to scan.
Customization
Many people think that setting up Windows XP, 7 or 10 is a terribly complicated process. Actually enough operating system and load it into the computer. As soon as the automatic configuration occurs, you only need to install the drivers for the devices. As we have seen above, this can be done using special applications. You need to go to any resource with programs, download the verified installation files and unpack them. For example, the Rutracker portal is a favorite download site. It contains a huge number of installation images of both Windows XP, 7, 10 and any other generation operating systems, as well as applications for them.
Lack of Internet access can be a problem. After all, for the initial installation of the Wi-Fi driver, for example, you need access to the network. This problem can be solved either after searching and installing DriverPack Solution, or after the driver is found manually and also installed on the computer. It is easy to solve this, including on.
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Many users are faced with the need to configure the operating system using drivers. These are special programs that are used to communicate between hardware and the operating system. They allow you to listen to music on your device, play video files and run various applications. If you are faced with problems using devices, then you need to familiarize yourself with the information on how to install drivers on your computer.
What are drivers for a Windows computer for?
Each hardware component is equipped with a driver to communicate with the computer. They are necessary for:
- motherboard chipset;
- sound card;
- network card;
- video cards;
- controllers responsible for the interaction of disks and other devices.
It is necessary to install software components for the operability of devices, starting with the control circuit of the main board and ending with utilities for interaction between controllers.
How do I check which drivers are needed?
By default, the operating system already contains the necessary set of drivers to run, but they may be outdated or partially broken. Therefore, after installing a new version of Windows, you need to check the availability of working versions of drivers and download them. This can be done as follows:
- Go through the main menu to the "Control Panel". Find the "Device Manager" line and click on it.
- You will see a list of all computer hardware. For convenience, it is organized into sections.
- Check each section for missing components. They are marked with a yellow question mark. On some operating systems, they are marked with a black exclamation point within a yellow triangle. The appearance of such a sign means that the drivers were not found during the installation of Windows or their version is too outdated.
Now you just have to find the missing components and install them on your device. To do this, you can resort to using disks, Internet sites, Update Center and utilities. Let's deal with each case separately.
The motherboard and video card always come with disks containing all the drivers necessary for their operation. Installing the driver from the disk is carried out according to the instructions:
- Place bootable media in the optical drive. Wait for the boot menu to appear and select "Run Autostart". This item appears first in the list and may be titled differently. If the start menu is not displayed, then you need to start the installation through "My Computer". To do this, select the drive icon and right-click on it. Select "Open" or "Install" from the drop-down list. The third option is to open the disk through "Explorer" by double-clicking on the left mouse button, select the one with the exe extension in the list of files.
- Usually the disc contains a complete set of drivers. He will appear before you on the list. Install the Chipset drivers first. The procedure for their installation is standard, you need to agree with the terms of the license and confirm your actions several times. Do not change the folder for downloading the software, the system will choose the one you need.
- Restart your computer, then install the Audio and LAN software in the same way. This will activate the sound and networking components of the motherboard. After every boot, you need to restart your device to avoid errors.
The rest of the programs and utilities that may be on the disk do not need to be installed - there is enough software for the chipset, sound and network cards. If, after installing them, you find unidentified devices in the manager, then you need to search for components for them separately.
The installation of drivers on is carried out in a similar way, if they are necessary for a video card or a standard video controller. A software disc, if the video card is not standard, is optional.
How to download and install drivers on a computer from the Internet
If you purchased a motherboard for a long time, then the software for it is already outdated and it may not be displayed correctly in the manager. The latest version can be downloaded from the hardware manufacturer's website. To do this, you must already have a program for setting the LAN installed, or you can use a USB modem (an alternative to it can be a smartphone).
Before installing drivers on your computer, you need to find out who made your motherboard. You can act through the "Device Manager". Then you need to go to the site, its address looks like the name of the manufacturer and the prefix com / ru. On this portal, you need to select the model of your board (usually the software is located in a section called "Service" or "Support"). Since the range of boards can be large, it is better to use the search bar. Enter the board name into it as indicated in the "Device Manager". If you need drivers for a video card, then the search for them is carried out in the same way.
Then you will only have to choose the operating system model and the missing utilities - for the chipset, sound and network cards. Now you just have to click the "Download" button and wait for the file to be received. The solution to the problem, how to install the downloaded driver on the computer, depends on the form in which you receive the required program. If it is a standard exe-file, then it is enough to launch it by double-clicking the left mouse button. If you received the utility in the archive, then first you need to unpack it, for this you will need to additionally download or install the WinRar or 7Zip program from the DVD. The installation algorithm does not differ from that shown for loading utilities from disk.
If you could not find the required drivers on the manufacturer's website, then you need to contact the chipset manufacturer. In this case, you need to act in the same way, but enter the chipset model in the search bar. In this case, you will have to search for drivers for sound and network card manually.
How do I find drivers for your version of Windows?
Sometimes the previous search options don't find what you are looking for. This is due to the fact that you have installed a new version of the OS for which the manufacturer has not yet prepared a utility package, or you are using an outdated version that has no support. In this case, you can proceed as follows:
- use Windows Update;
- download utilities for the previous OS version;
- use special utilities;
- manually install the required software.
We will deal with the simplest way - using the standard operating system software - Windows Update. It will help you install utilities for the normal operation of network and audio equipment. To work with standard features, follow the algorithm:
- Go to the "Hardware and Sound" menu.
- Right click on the name of your PC and in the drop-down menu find "Device Installation Options".
- In the window that opens, put a marker in front of the phrase "Use the Update Center if drivers are not found on the computer." Save your change.
Now the operating system will search for and update drivers by itself. However, this method is not good enough, as errors often occur. Sometimes it is better to install an additional utility on your PC that will help it quickly install and update all the necessary components.
Utilities for the previous OS version are downloaded from the manufacturer's website. First, you need to study software compatibility: Windows 8 and 10 drivers are suitable for "seven". Windows 7 itself works adequately with those designed for Vista. The only thing that you need to consider when searching is the system capacity. You cannot install components intended for a 32-bit system on a 64-bit one.
Popular utilities for finding and updating drivers
If you do not want to browse the sites and look for individual components for the interaction of the system, you must install one of the special programs. Automatic installation of drivers is performed by one of the utilities:
- DriverPack Solution - this application contains a large collection of drivers for systems with different configurations. For home use, it is recommended to refer to the online version of this program, but it will only work if you have no network problems. If you often work with a computer that is not connected to the World Wide Web, you should turn to the offline version, but you will have to download and install it on a USB flash drive with a capacity of at least 12 GB.
- Snappy Driver Installer is a popular utility from one of the developers of DriverPack Solution. Available in two versions - Lite and Full. You don't need to install it. The first version of the utility searches for and installs drivers from the Internet, and the second one can be downloaded to an external HDD (its volume is more than 30 GB).
- Driver Booster is chosen by fans of computer games who are often faced with the fact that the installation asks for a driver. This is a truly automated utility that scans the system and installs missing components in one click. The developers claim that the software components installed on your PC have been improved to improve system performance, which is very important when playing games.
- Driver Genius has a 30-day trial period. It works well for regular use, but the license will cost around $ 30. It includes a driver package backup feature, useful for those who frequently reinstall the system.
- Driver Checker - will cost you about $ 40, but it contains several useful functions: backup, recovery, removal of failures, export of software components from other devices connected to one local network. This program was the first to be optimized for Windows 10. The disadvantage of this utility is that it does not have a full trial period. Without paying, it only reserves drivers.
- DriverMax Free is an English-language application that can not only update the software, but also create a starting point for system recovery. This software is free, but then you need to use it manually, if you want to fully automate the process, you will have to pay about $ 11 a year for a license.
- Driver Magician is an English-language utility that has a 13-day trial period. It can back up not only drivers, but also individual user folders, for example, "Documents" and others.
The listed applications have earned the best reviews from users. They differ in compatibility with any version of Windows and ease of use. In addition to them, you can resort to using other programs that are no less simple. Even a beginner with minimal knowledge of working with a PC can cope with updating and installing software using utilities. After completing the work of any of the listed programs, you need to reboot the system to save the changes made to its work.
Manual search and installation of drivers on the computer
The most difficult task is manual push installation of software components. It is worth resorting to it if an error occurs while installing the driver in other ways. Follow the algorithm:
- Go to the "Device Manager" and find the device on which the software could not be installed.
- Right-click on it and find the "Properties" item in the drop-down menu. He usually goes last.
- Go to the "Details" tab in the window that appears.
- In the upper selection box, stop at Device ID.
- A line with a set of characters will appear in front of you. Copy it.
- Go to any site offering to find drivers or paste the copied value into the search box.
- From the search results, select the site that offers to download drivers for your version of Windows. Download the required archive or exe file, install it in the same way as the drivers from the official hardware manufacturer.
In some cases, alternative services offer components without an executable file. In this case, the installation will proceed differently. Go to the "Device Manager" again, right-click on the unrecognized device and stop the selection on the "Update driver" item. In the next window, put a marker on the line: "Search for drivers on this PC." Specify the path to the desired file in the downloads folder. The operating system does the rest for you. A reboot is required after installation is complete.
Now you know how to install the required drivers. It is not a complicated procedure that will allow you to use all the capabilities of your PC. Share this information with your friends, comment and tell your stories.
To install a device that Windows 7 cannot recognize and install automatically (legacy device), use the Add New Hardware Wizard ...
To install a device that Windows 7 cannot recognize and install automatically (legacy device), use the Add New Hardware Wizard.
Discover Start -\u003e Control Panel -\u003e Device Manager... In the opened window Device Manager right-click on the name of your computer (the topmost line) and select the item Install old device.
Another way to start the Add New Hardware Wizard is to open Start, enter to the search bar hdwwiz and press Input.
A window will open Hardware Wizards and after pressing the button Further you will be presented with two options:
* Search and automatically install equipment;
* Select hardware from the list and install it manually.
Choose the first option Search and automatically install hardware and press Further.
If the equipment is found, then click Further and follow the instructions of the wizardto install the driver.
If the equipment could not be found, then you will see the following window:
If your device is not listed, double-click Show all devices (top item) and wait until Windows 7 creates a list of all devices for which drivers are in the database.
If your device is not in this list either, then click the Have Disk ... button.
Now click the Browse button and point to the drive or folder where the device driver file is located (the file with the extension .inf, not .exe). The folder with the .inf file can be located either on removable media or on a hard drive. Click OK and follow the instructions of the installer.
Note. A digitally signed driver is a driver that has been tested to be compatible with Windows 7. Installing an unsigned driver may cause the operating system to malfunction (optional, but sometimes it does). Therefore, be sure to create a system restore checkpoint before installing the device.
If after installing the device Windows 7 starts to work with errors, then you need to roll back or remove the device driver, then turn off the computer and disconnect the device from the motherboard. If a device incompatible with Windows 7 is built into the motherboard, then after removing the driver, disable this device in the BIOS.
You can install an old device in another way as described in this article:
The article is taken from open sources: http://www.wseven.info/install-device/
Some drivers are supplied only in the ".zip" format, which does not include the ".exe" installation file. They are as easy to install as regular drivers. Now we will tell you how to install a printer driver for their archive
Notes:
- you do not need to connect the printer until it is specified in this manual;
- these instructions apply to all Windows operating systems, from XP to 10.
First of all, the downloaded driver must be unpacked. This can be done with the free 7-Zip program (you can download it on the official website http://7-zip.org.ua/ru/), or with the paid WinRar program. Also, archives can be unpacked using basic Windows tools (if the archive is in zip format) or if the archive is self-extracting (usually it is, exe format).
Example 1. If we take the Xerox Phaser 3010 as an example, then you will download the driver archive (in exe format), which are simply packed into one file. You need to run the downloaded archive (by clicking 2 times with the left mouse button) and you will see a window where you need to specify where to unpack the drivers.
Example 2. If we download the driver in zip format, then we need to use archivers to extract the drivers. To do this, you can install one of the above listed archivers and then right-click on the archive. In the context menu select: "Extract all" or "Extract to current folder" or "Extract to (the name of the folder will be written here)".
So, the unpacked file, if you haven't changed anything, will be located in the same folder as the downloaded archive. If you are offered a path where to unpack the drivers, be sure to pay attention to this path so that you do not later look for drivers throughout the computer.
After unpacking, make sure that there are no files in the ".exe" format (for example, "Install.exe" or "Setup.exe"). If such a file was found, then the installation must be carried out in standard mode (run the file and use the prompts of the installer), if not, move on to this guide.
Go to "Control Panel" - "Hardware and Sound" - "Devices and Printers". In the top menu, click "Add Printer".
After that, a window with an indicator of device search will appear. Without waiting for the results, click "The required printer is not in the list."
After that, select the lowest item - "Add a local or network printer ..." and click "Next".
In the port selection menu, just click "Next" - in this window, the settings are not important.
In the next window, click the Have Disk button.
In the window that appears, click "Browse". 
Now we indicate the path to the folder that you unpacked. Next, click on the ".inf" file with the left mouse button, and then click "Open".
Click "OK".
In the next window, select a printer (by clicking the left mouse button) and then click "Next".
You don't need to change anything in this window, just click "Next".
When we do these manipulations, the driver installation will begin. Now we are waiting for this process to complete on your computer. A window will appear asking you to share this printer with network users. We do not need this, so we leave the selected top parameter by default and click "Next". It is possible that this window will not be displayed for you. Then there will be a window like this: 
Here you need to click "Finish". Now we go to the folder where the devices and printers are located (it was described above how to enter here) and right-click on the printer that was just installed. Click "Remove device" (the drivers will remain in the system).
After that, we connect the printer to the computer, turn on the printer and Windows will automatically install the necessary driver for your device.
Driver installation via device manager
If the above method did not help you, then in this case we want to suggest another. Traditionally, the downloaded driver must be unpacked. Most often, the built-in Windows archiver is enough for this purpose. We have already discussed this archiver above.
Now you need to do the following: connect the printer to a PC or laptop. Open Start, write to the search bar "Device Manager" and press "Enter";
You will see a summary of all devices connected to your computer. Your printer will be located in the Other Devices section titled Unknown Device. Right-click on this device and select the "Update drivers ..." item.
In the "Driver Update" window, select the manual driver search item (item 2).
We select the item for choosing a driver from the already installed drivers.
In the menu for selecting the type of device, select "Printers" and click "Next".
And the final stage: in the Add Printer Wizard window, select the "Install from disk" item, then "Browse" and specify the path to the .inf file from the unpacked folder with the driver.
After that, your printer will be installed on your computer or laptop.
