How to install a driver on a laptop? How to install drivers from disk. Drivers: what they are and how to install them Where to install drivers

How to install drivers on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP?

What is manual or automatic driver installation?

We will try to explain in a language that everyone can understand, without abstruse phrases and complex terms! The principle of manual, simple or automatic driver installation for the above operating systems is the same.

So, let's begin!

Automatic driver installation

You downloaded the driver from the site, it can be either in the form of an arj, zip, rar archive (simple archive), or in the form of a single file with the exe extension (self-extracting archive). A self-extracting archive (example installdriver.exe) is a startup file that already stores compressed files that do not require third party programs To unpack, you just need to run it, point to an empty folder on your disk that you created in advance, and the archive itself will unzip the drivers there.

A simple archive arj, zip or rar - in this case you also need to create an empty folder on the disk in advance and unzip all the files from the archive there, unzip it and not just run the archive, the fact is that often many novice users, after downloading the archive, just open it through “Start” or “Run”, while the archiver program simply shows the contents of the archive in the form of a list of files and any attempts to run something from the archive will lead to an error, so remember that the first thing you need to do is unpack the archive into a separate empty one you created folder, for this in the archiver program (for example WinRar) there is a button “Extract to the specified folder” or “Extract to” after which you simply indicate where to unpack the archive and wait for unpacking.

Now comes the most important part!

You unpacked the archive into a folder you created in advance, went into it and saw the file setup.exe or install.bat or any other startup file with a different name, just run it and the installation program will do everything itself, you just have to reboot the PC (if the installer does not will do it himself) and enjoy the working device.

Now let’s consider the option when you unpacked the archive into a folder you created in advance, went into it and saw an incomprehensible set of several files with the extension inf, ini, sys and others, while there are simply no exe or bat startup files. This may be the case, the fact is that it is often difficult to find drivers for some devices on the manufacturer’s website, especially if it is already outdated, while installation disk you have lost the device for a long time or maybe it never existed at all, in this case resources that have a rich library of old but current drivers come to the rescue where they are usually stored in this form, that is, there will not be any installation programs in the downloaded archive There will only be the driver files that we now have to install.

Manual driver installation

We have a folder with several files. What's next?

1.Go to "Device Manager"

2. We look in the list for the necessary equipment for which you actually downloaded the driver; as a rule, a non-working or incorrectly working device is placed exclamation point, which is hard to miss.

3.Click on the device with the left mouse button, highlighting it, then click the right mouse button - a menu will open, select "Update drivers"

4. A large window will appear “How do you want to search for device drivers”

5.Selecting the top item "Automatic search" updated drivers“Windows itself will find (though not always) the driver needed for the device on the network, this is “automatic driver installation.” But we need to install the driver we have already downloaded from our folder, so we select the bottom item “Search for drivers on this computer” , after which the “Search for drivers on this computer” window will appear, everything is simple here, click “Browse” and look for your folder where we threw those downloaded drivers with strange files;), as a result, in the window we have the path to the folder with the files, click "Next", now Windows will do everything itself and, if necessary, restart the system.

That's basically all, we sincerely hope that this little article will help you install the driver you downloaded and necessary equipment will work great and make you happy. Good luck to you friends and let everything work out!

This is one of the most common questions asked on the Internet in numerous forums, not only by beginners, but also by quite experienced users personal computers. In fact, there is nothing complicated about installing any driver. You just need to remember the typical set of actions that are used to install any driver.

The driver can be installed using two methods. This:

Installing the driver as a regular program;
comprehensive driver installation.

Easy installation drivers

Since, at its core, any driver is a regular program for the operating system, its installation can be done in exactly the same way. That is, if the driver installation file looks like “Install.exe” or “Setup.exe”? then there should be no problems with its installation.

The only problem that may arise when installing a driver using this method is that your operating system refuses to recognize the equipment connected to the computer. This indicates that the driver installed for the hardware is not suitable for it. In this case, you need to download the driver from the official website of the equipment manufacturer. Before downloading the driver, make sure that it is suitable for your hardware. Any manufacturer computer components and hardware indicates for which model and series of hardware a specific driver is developed. Typically, this situation occurs when, when connecting new equipment, a PC user tries to install an outdated version of the driver.

Comprehensive driver installation

This method of installing drivers is a little more complicated than the previous one, but if you remember the sequence of steps below, you will be able to install absolutely any driver for any equipment.

1. First, click on the button “ Start", select the item " My computer", right-click on it and select " Properties ».

3. In the window that appears, select the device connected to the computer for which you need to install the driver. Devices without drivers are indicated by special yellow icons (question marks). Select the device and right-click on it. Go to the menu item “ Properties ».

4. Select the item “ Driver" and click on the button " Update ».

5. The system will prompt you to search for the required driver on the Internet. We need to click on the button " No, not this time", and then " Further ».

6. In the next window of the driver installation manager, select “ Search for the most suitable driver in the specified locations" and subparagraph " Include next search location" After that, click “ Review" and select the folder or disk where the required driver is located.

That's all. Your Windows will automatically find the necessary driver and install it.

Important! If you are going to reinstall the driver for a particular piece of equipment. It's better to delete it first old version with help " Device Manager" and then install new version in a way convenient for you.

Source

When purchasing a new computer or after reinstalling the operating system, the computer refuses to work normally. Most often, the reason for this is the lack of drivers. What exactly is a driver and why is it so important?

You should know that your computer is not one complete device, but a whole set of components. In order for the system to clearly understand what kind of device is in front of it and how to work with it, a special software. This is the driver.

It turns out that without drivers the computer will not be able to work. Therefore, it is imperative to install them. Some drivers should be installed automatically, but some drivers, especially current ones, must be installed separately.

Before we move on to installing important software, let's figure out how to find out about the need to install drivers. How to understand which this moment not installed. For this we need:

What are the drivers?

There is no clear boundary for dividing drivers, but they can still be divided into several groups:

the first group is the driver system components. Simply put, the most important. For example, a driver for the normal operation of the processor or other important elements. It is better not to experiment with such drivers or touch them;
the second is drivers for cards. First of all – drivers for video cards, sound cards and some others. They cannot be classified in the first category, because in some system units there is no video card, no sound card, or any other. As a rule, these are simple, office computers;
third - drivers external devices- Drivers for any gadgets that are additionally connected to the computer and do not affect its operation in any way, but only expand its capabilities. For example, a driver for a printer.

The process of installing drivers from disk

Of course, for such an important system element as a driver, there are several installation options.

The simplest and most basic way is using a driver disk. After purchasing a computer, you should have several disks left - from the motherboard and from the video card (if you have one), at a minimum.

But it is not uncommon for disks with important software to be lost or damaged. And some computers don’t even have a disk drive. What to do in such a situation?

The process of installing drivers from the Internet

In a similar way, you can install drivers via the Internet. The difference will be that the installer will not be launched from the disk, but taken from the Internet. For this:

We write the brand and model of your motherboard in a search engine and go to the official website.
We look for the drivers tab there and go into it.
Download the software for your operating system and open the file.
Next, the program will identify missing drivers and offer to update them.
Left click on the downloaded archive.
IN open window find and double-click the installation file. It may be called "setup.exe" or "install.exe".
The installer should then appear. Read the information and click on the “Next” button. The installation process is simple, read the instructions and follow the recommended steps. Once the installation is complete, restart your PC.

Note! A similar method can be used not only with motherboard, but also with absolutely any other device. On the Internet, as a rule, you can find drivers for any components and external devices.

Comprehensive driver installation

Step 1. Open the Start menu, write “Device Manager”. Click on the result shown.

Step 2. Right-click on the device name and click on “Update Drivers”.

Step 3. A window with two options will open in front of you.

On a note! In some cases, the system cannot find the driver, then you need to use a manual search. To proceed with this option, you must first download the required driver on the Internet.

Go to the website of the hardware developer, in our case the video card.
Click on the Drivers and Support tab.
There are three ways to find the required driver: automatic search; search form; Latest drivers available for download. We used the last option.
Find the appropriate driver that matches your system and download it.
Click on the downloaded file and wait for installation.
Return to Device Manager and select the second search option.
Click the Browse button and locate the driver.
Click Next.
After installation, restart your PC.

Finding and installing drivers using DriverPack Solution

You can install the necessary software quickly and conveniently using powerful program— DriverPack Solution.

This is completely free application, which will automatically find missing or outdated drivers and install new ones. This is the program that many computer technicians use to configure devices. Over the years of its presence on the market, it has managed to prove itself to be excellent.

This is because installing drivers is very simple, because your participation in this procedure is not required. All you need is:

Download the DriverPack installer from the official website https://drp.su/ru.
Install it and open it on your computer.
Select automatic installation and wait until the program itself installs all the software necessary for normal operation.
After this procedure, your computer should start working fully.

Installing drivers manually using DriverPack Solution

To configure installation settings manually, do the following:

On home page program, click on the “Expert Mode” section.
You need the “Drivers” section, but before you go to it, you need to uncheck the software in other sections, which DriverPack offers additionally. Open the “Software” section, uncheck unnecessary programs.
Open the “Protection and Cleaning” section and uncheck the suggested software.
Return to the “Drivers” section, make active the sliders in the “Show alternative and installed drivers” and “Show additional information” items.
Check and install or uncheck the suggested drivers, if you are sure that everything is correct, click “Install all”.

Important! DriverPack Solution allows you to download a special image with drivers onto a removable drive and install drivers even on those computers that do not have access to the Internet or do not have a driver on network card.

Video - How to install all drivers on your computer

Installation using Update Center

Is it worth updating drivers?

What if your computer is working fine, but you suddenly wonder if you should update your drivers.

If you are completely satisfied with the operation of your computer, it boots normally, does not freeze, and does not have any problems with connected devices, then there is simply no need to update drivers. There is no need to try to fix something that is already working properly, especially if you are not good at it. Along with useful software, there is a risk of downloading unnecessary software or even malicious software.

If you have complaints about the operation of the device, then perhaps updating the drivers to the latest ones will help solve the problem. But still, please note that updating drivers most often does not solve serious operational problems. To improve performance, it would be much more logical to improve the system by purchasing SSD drive or other new components. If this is not possible, then try simply cleaning the system of debris.

Rollback and removal

It would seem that updating drivers always brings only benefits and improvements in the operation of the system and equipment. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. In some cases, it is after updating the driver that a device stops working stably, degrades system performance, or even fails. If you find yourself in such a situation and think what exactly new driver caused problems, it is recommended to roll it back or remove it altogether. To do this you need:

After the rollback, the driver will return to its previous state. Most likely, after this, the system will function normally. Just like before.

If you delete the driver, you will have to reinstall it, but it will be a driver that will ensure full operation of the corresponding device.

So, we have learned how to identify devices for which the driver is not installed and install software for them. In addition, we learned when it is better not to update drivers and how to roll back to previous version drivers. Now you can safely configure your computer and additional equipment for it.

Video - How to find and install drivers on a PC or laptop manually

The stability of the computer and its performance directly depend on the correct installation of the operating system and the necessary drivers.

And if, as a rule, there are no problems with the installation of modern operating systems, installing device drivers may be associated with certain difficulties, especially if not all of them are included with your computer. required disks, which is very common when buying laptops.

Not all drivers are installed in Device Manager

In addition, if you do not purchase the latest PC model, it may include discs with outdated drivers containing errors and without proper optimization, which, for example, very often happens with video cards.

Installation options

Ideally, to install all the necessary drivers on computers, especially laptops, there are two options:

A disk (or flash card) with a hardware installation wizard, which has a built-in convenient program analyze devices and install drivers in the correct sequence. In this case, a minimum of actions is required from the user; it is only necessary to run the installation and hardware configuration wizard on such media.
Then the program will do everything itself: it will copy everything necessary files in a certain sequence and will reboot your computer several times when necessary.
The second option requires an Internet connection and works mainly on laptops. After installing the system, you need to download or install from disk a proprietary program for analyzing the state of the system and installed equipment, which will find all devices, download drivers from the manufacturer’s official website and offer to install them on the computer.

Both of these options are standard and usually their use leads to correct installation and setting up drivers. However, if the manufacturer has not bothered to equip its equipment with such media, or you are using fairly old components whose disk does not contain drivers for the new version of the operating system, you will have to look for other options.

Automatic search using Windows

You need to go to the “Device Manager”, how to do this is discussed in detail in the recommendation, and on the driver properties screen, click the “Update” button, and then select the option to search for a driver on the Internet.

If the search process is unsuccessful, you will have to search for drivers manually, for example, on our website.

Manual search and installation

You need to download the drivers to your computer, unpack them into a separate folder, and after clicking the “Update” button in the properties window, select “Search on this computer” and explicitly specify the folder where the drivers were unpacked.

However, some of the drivers on our website are presented in the form of an installation file that you just need to run.

Please note that before installing the driver manually, you need to select the correct driver and know how to remove it after incorrect installation.
In some cases, installing the “wrong” driver can either cause the device to not work or make the system impossible to operate. Therefore, before manually installing drivers, you should create a system restore point and save important data.

If you use automatic installers and download drivers from a trusted site, unpleasant incidents associated with the installation process are quite rare.

Manually adding a printer to the system

In some cases, it is more convenient to install the printer and the necessary software through the “Add Printer Wizard”. To do this, go to the “Control Panel” and select “Devices and Printers”.

Window for launching the Add Printer Wizard

Depending on the Windows versions(7/10), click "Add a printer" or "Add a printer".

The system will try to detect the device automatically; if unsuccessful, select: “The required printer is not in the list.”

In the new window, check: “Add a local or network printer with manually specified parameters.” Specify an existing port. If you find it difficult to choose, you can change the port in the future.

Window to search for a printer using specified parameters

Now you have the option to use:

Center Windows updates. After pressing this button, the system may freeze for some time. The wizard will update the lists of supported equipment. Indicate your model in the "Manufacturer" and "Printers" fields.
Install from disk. Here you need to indicate the location of the unzipped driver if you have already downloaded it.

Window for installing drivers from disk

When finished, it would be a good idea to check the printer connection ports. To do this, go to the “Devices and Printers” section, select the printer and right-click context menu, in which you need to select “Printer Properties”. Find the “Ports” tab and select the appropriate port.

Set the desired printer port

Remember to reboot your system and print a test page after installing the software.

Installation sequence

When installing drivers for just installed system Windows also matters how you install it. In the case of the driver installation wizard, it is followed, but in manual installation mode it is better to follow the sequence of actions that we give below.

It is worth noting that after installing the driver for each device, it is better to reboot the system, even in cases where this is not explicitly indicated by the installer.

Motherboard chipset drivers. Even if all devices are detected by the operating system, it is better to install this kit, and this must be done immediately after installing the system.
Video card drivers. An important stage, the correct execution of which will determine the reliability and efficiency of the graphics subsystem. Particular attention should be paid to installing video card drivers on laptops with a discrete card, since it usually requires installing two drivers, for example, for an integrated Intel video card and for a discrete Nvidia one. If you don't do this, you won't get the capabilities your laptop is designed for.
Drivers sound card. As a rule, Windows can install its own drivers on most sound cards, but in order to get all the capabilities of your sound card, you need to install its “native” software.
Network card drivers. On modern boards with a built-in network card, this step is performed at the stage of installing chipset drivers, but if you are using a discrete card, it is better to install the driver from the manufacturer.
If we are talking about installing drivers on a laptop, after completing the above, you must also deliver drivers for the touchpad, Wi-Fi, webcam, as well as other devices, for example, the built-in modem and BlueTooth module.
Drivers for expansion cards. This could be, for example, a TV tuner, a video capture card, or other devices connected directly to the system board.
Drivers of all peripheral devices connected to a computer, which may include printers, scanners, external modems and other equipment.

Most of all the drivers you need for Windows systems you can find and download on our website, which will always come to your aid if you have problems finding and installing drivers for your computer. He will also be able to help you with a number of other technical issues related to setting up your PC and optimizing its operation.

Many users are faced with the need to configure the operating system using drivers. These are special programs that are used to interact between hardware and the operating system. They allow you to listen to music, play video files, and launch various applications on your device. If you encounter problems using devices, then you need to read the information on how to install drivers on your computer.

Why are drivers needed on a Windows computer?

Each hardware component that interacts with a computer is equipped with a driver. They are needed 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 operation of devices, starting from the control circuit of the main board and ending with utilities for the interaction of controllers.

How to check which drivers are needed?

Default operating system already contains the necessary set of drivers to run, but they may be outdated or partially inoperative. Therefore, after installing a new version of Windows, you need to check for 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.
A list of all computer equipment will open in front of you. For convenience, it is organized into sections.
Check each partition for any uninstalled components. They are marked with a yellow question mark. On some operating systems, they are marked with a black exclamation mark placed within a yellow triangle. The appearance of such a sign means that no drivers were found when Windows installation or their version is excessively outdated.

Now all you have to do is find the missing components and install them on your device. To do this, you can resort to the help of disks, Internet sites, Update Center and utilities. Let's look at each case separately.

The motherboard and video card are always supplied with discs 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 have a different title. 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. From the drop-down list, select “Open” or “Install”. 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 from the list of files.
Typically the disk contains a complete set of drivers. He will appear in front of you on the list. First install the Chipset drivers. The installation procedure is standard; you need to agree to the terms of the license and confirm your actions several times. Do not change the folder for downloading the software, the system will select the one you need.
Reboot your computer, then install Audio and LAN software in the same way. This will enable the audio and network components of the motherboard. After every boot, you need to restart your device to avoid errors.

There is no need to install other programs and utilities that may be on the disk - the software for the chipset, sound and network cards is enough. If, after installing them, you find unidentified devices in the manager, then you need to look for components for them separately.

Drivers are installed in the same way if they are needed for a video card or a standard video controller. A disc with software, if the video card is not standard, is included additionally.

How to download and install drivers on a computer from the Internet

If you have purchased for a long time motherboard, 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 up a LAN installed, or you can use a USB modem (a smartphone can be an alternative to it).

Before installing drivers on your computer, you need to find out who manufactured your motherboard. You can act through the “Device Manager”. Then you need to go to the website, its address looks like the name of the manufacturer and the prefix com/ru. On this portal, you need to select your board model (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 name of the board 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 a similar way.

Then you only have to select the operating system model and the missing utilities - for the chipset, sound and network cards. Now all you have to do is click the “Download” button and wait to receive the file. The solution to the problem of how to install a downloaded driver on a computer depends on the form in which you receive the desired program. If this is a standard exe file, then just double-click the left mouse button to launch it. If you received the utility in an archive, you first need to unpack it; for this you will need to additionally download or install it from DVD program WinRar or 7Zip. The installation algorithm is no different from what is given for downloading utilities from disk.

If you couldn't find necessary drivers on the manufacturer's website, then you need to contact the chipset manufacturer. In this case, you need to act similarly, 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 to find drivers for your version of Windows OS?

Sometimes the previous search options do not allow you to find what you need. This is due to the fact that you 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 lacks 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.

Let's deal with the most in a simple way– use of 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 your PC's name and find "Device Installation Options" in the drop-down menu.
In the window that opens, place a checkmark next to the phrase “Use Update if drivers are not found on the computer.” Save your change.

Now the operating system itself will search for and update drivers. However, this method is not good enough, as errors often occur. Sometimes it's better to install on your PC additional utility, which will help him 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 the compatibility of the software: Drivers from the “seven” are suitable for Windows 8 and 10. Windows 7 itself works adequately with those designed for Vista. The only thing you need to consider when searching is the system capacity. You cannot install components designed for a 32-bit system on a 64-bit one.

Popular utilities for searching and updating drivers

If you don’t want to surf websites and look for individual components for system interaction, you need to install one of 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 use the online version of this program, but it will only work if you do not have network problems. If you often work with a computer that is not connected to World Wide Web, it’s worth turning to the offline version, but you will have to download it and install it on a 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. There is no need to install it. The first version of the utility searches for and installs drivers from the Internet, and the second can be downloaded to external HDD(its volume is more than 30 GB).
Driver Booster is chosen by fans computer games, which often encounter 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 trial period of 30 days. She is good for regular use, but the license will cost about $30. It has 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, restore, delete faults, export software components from other devices combined into one local network. This program was the first to be optimized for Windows 10. The disadvantage of the utility is that it does not have a full trial period. Without payment, 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 per year for a license.
Driver Magician is an English-language utility that has a trial period of 13 days. It can back up not only drivers, but also individual user folders, for example, “Documents” and others.

The listed applications deserve best reviews from users. They are compatible with any version of Windows and easy to use. In addition to them, you can resort to the help of 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 any of the listed programs, you need to reboot the system to save the changes made to its operation.

Manually searching and installing drivers on your computer

The most difficult task is the forced installation of software components, done manually. You should resort to it if an error occurs when installing the driver using other methods. Follow the algorithm:

Go to Device Manager and find the device that failed to install the software.
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 field, stop at the “Device ID” item.
A line with a set of characters will appear in front of you. Copy it.
Go to any site that offers to find drivers or paste the copied value into the search bar.
From the search results, select the site that offers to download drivers for your version of Windows. Download the desired archive or exe file, install it in the same way as 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 Device Manager again, right-click on unidentified device and select “Update Driver”. In the next window, place a marker on the line: “Search for drivers on this PC.” Specify the path to the required file in your downloads folder. The operating system will do the rest for you. A reboot is required after installation is complete.

Now you know how to install the necessary drivers. This is not a complicated procedure that will allow you to use all the capabilities of your PC. Share the information you receive with your friends, comment and tell your stories.