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Introduction
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Whether or not you do a full system backup, it’s a good idea to backup your windows drivers. It provides an easy way to protect you when testing new drivers and recovering if a driver is mistakenly deleted or corrupted. You can also improve performance by removing outdated or conflicting drivers and you can restore them if it turns out they were needed. It is suggested that before backing up it's a good idea to use Windows Device Manager to check that all your drivers are working properly. |
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Discussion
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Recently updated to support Vista, they are working on updates that will allow you to quickly find updates for your drivers. Note it does require free registration to get full access to all of its features. |
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It allows you to view, backup and restore your Windows drivers. It also allows you to print out a driver list. It is no longer supported by the developer but works fine on my XP SP2 PC. Note: The author's site appears to be down but you can download Double Driver from this download site. |
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They are worth checking out, and even the free versions offer better GUI's and some features not found in the other versions. |
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4.0 
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Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2003 Server
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Editor
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you are interested in taking it over, please email Elizabeth, our editorial co-ordinator with a little bit about your background and in particular, whether you have any commercial affiliation with products in this category. If you are currently logged in, you can contact Elizabeth directly by clicking here, if not then click here. |
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Windows driver, driver backup, free drivers, free driver backup, freeware |
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Please take drivermax from the top spot and flush it down the toilet where it belongs, its one of the worse programs around and the free version is so restricted as to make it unusable.
Where does DriverMax save a downloaded driver cause I deleted one I hadn't installed off the list by accident?
What about checking out this one?
http://www.techyard.net/identify-download-latest-device-drivers-using-3d...
DriverMax is starting to get a bad rep for its increasing Free version limitations (it's becoming half-baked). The Free version is basically broken now in term of updating (and the system is not definitely correct anyway-- have you guys ever gotten driver updates in another language [o.O] ?) but still functional in backing up and giving detailed information.
I suggest users to NOT use DriverMax's updates for graphics or chipset drivers. Get them from your vendor.
For backing up drivers, Double Driver is recommended, and luckily is back in active development (3.0 released in Sept. 2009).
But the #1 rules remains for hardware/ firmware/ drivers: IF ITS NOT BROKEN, THEN DON'T "FIX" IT.
Double Driver is now at v3.0 as of Sep. 24th.
And portable
Double Driver is now at version 2.1
note: the authors website is already up.
http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm
Use these 3:
- Double Driver
- Driver Magician Lite
- Smart Driver Backup
* Other solutions such as Driver Backup! may require you to run .Net installations before even attempting backup of drivers on a machine
* Be sure to mark all system32 files invisible with the exception of MS folder, which will refuse to be marked hidden unless you unmark it as a system folder using a utility such as attribute changer. As you install these programs, check for the files they dump in the system folder & move them into the same folder as the EXE of the driver backup program. This will enable them to run portably without calling for the "missing" files.
* It is necessary to run more than 1 driver backup program due to the fact that driver backup is a best guess effort, & sometimes one program will miss a file that is needed so you can browse to another one & find the file needed to complete the re-install of the driver.
* Use a flash drive when possible for backing up drivers to speed up backup/recovery. Back them up to a folder first on their harddisk. This is the fastest. After backup up for all the clients, then send them to the flash drive.
* The main drivers you usually have to backup are:
- Audio
- Video
- Ethernet
- Dialup Modem
- USB2
- Cardreader or other weird things such as webcams they may not have the drivers for. Check that they have the drivers first, or if web drivers are available. If not, back up any non-MS driver.
Dave
i had a problem with drive max in one of my computers lately. It found an outdated driver and when I installed the new one ( it would not work!) and I had to reinstall the old one. It was a Realtek audio Driver.
Regarding DriverMax, there are very worrying reviews I found without much effort, including the following (just Google Fileforum, and this programs name !)
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/DriverMax/1216825322/1
How can an application be recommended as number one when it can attract such negative comments elsewhere ?
Drivermax used to be free but it's basically useless now. It limits your downloads to 1 or 2 a day and even those are impossible to get. A bit of a mess. I just tried Radarsync instead and it is GREAT!
by the way, don't put much stock in cnet reviews about anything, especially this product category as they have their own competing product (version tracker). In general, i think that site has gone downhill and its 'editorial' is driven by ad revenue
Gotta agree with you comments concerning CNET as their priority has moved from providing the information users need concerning software to their emphasis on CNETV applications. When you look at a review and you find that it is 2-3 years behind the current times, it makes one a little leery as to their real intentions.
Nice list! I would recommend updating the drivers first bfore backing them up. It think it would be best to back up the latest.. :P The article below uses RadarSync, the only Free software that automatically updates all your drivers.
http://www.out-of-warranty.com/how-to-update-all-device-drivers-and-soft...
RadarSync includes advertising. Note that Gizmo's does NOT currently recommend this product, (but we're always willing to retest).
The Cnet review is unconvincing:
http://download.cnet.com/RadarSync-Free-Edition/3000-20432_4-10265194.ht...
I've tried on and off Driver detective paid version, and I agree that it's not worth the money. It advises updates not suitable for my toshiba.
Since 2 weeks I am trying out Driver Max. It looks very nice, but that is the main plus of it. It takes ages to download a version, only one per day, and it does not necesarily give you the right update.
I wonder if one is willing to pay, is there any good program at all, or is the best solution to let the program look for updates, then check out at the original website of that driver. By the way: Thanks Gizmo for your fantastic site, I'm using 90% of your program advices!
I've used drivermax and recently it's having problems with it's server. Now you can only do 1 update per day...(BORING!) and their database is in a whacky mode cause sometimes it alerts me about driver updates but but the next day those drivers that required update are updated after all!!! Weird stuff. Does any of you recomend any free driver update software??? I've heard about Radar Sync. Is it good?
I suggest that the new editor of this section try to focus more on driver update software rather than backup.
I have the impression that Driver max is nothing but an agent of driver detective.
after many exstensive checks using driver max i have come to one conclusion its utterly usless. i have checked on 7 diffrent computers with some of the same drivers and some diffrent and 2 brand new computers but hold on the new ones drivers are out to date. now it seems odd that a alien costing $1800 is out of date when it was made no more that 2 mounths ago and the drivers are past that of drive max. so once again its usless
A new Editor is about to take over this category, so we have hopes that it'll be thoroughly updated. All our recommendations seem rather old, and, although my opinion doesn't count for much, I totally agree with you about Driver Max.
you might want to take a look at driverbackup v 2.0...the reviews on various sites are pretty good.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/
Another free solution is DriverGrabber
It grabs YOUR drivers, and related support files (.cat, .dll, .cpl, .exe), and categorizes them in folders (Display, USB, etc). It skips generic drivers that are automatically loaded by Windows, so you aren't wasting time and space).
One caveat: if you have corrupt or incompatible drivers, it will apparently grab those too, as in the case of my display drivers.
I have downoaded and installed DriverMax several times, but so far as I can see there is no way I can register or obtain a registration code - it just does not work and according to the website codes are no longer issued. So far as I can see this software can no longer be called freeware - although not sure what happens when the 30-day evaluation period ends?
Thank's for the info. I was about to use Driver Detective (paid version) but I'm having second thoughts now.
Double Driver http://www.boozet.org/download.htm is the best that I've found...no muss, no fuss, auto re-install; the works
What opinion do people have of Radar Sync then?
3DP Chip: http://www.vga.pe.kr/xe/177569
RE: Hellsinger's comments. I'm pretty sure drivermax doesn't support 64-bit OS. RadarSync does, so you can use that for driver update (tho not backup).
Driver Magician Lite, small, fast, and seperates windows drivers from hardware specific/updated drivers. (No need backing up drivers that are already on your Windows CD). Also, if you use it with programs lite nLite, you can put your non-windows drivers on your "new" windows disc, and they will automatically install.
i agree, its the best i ever worked with
Driver Backup 1.0.0.1 free 37kb is excellent .
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=driver+backup+1.0.0.1&meta=
The best Driver Backup and restore software is WinDriver Ghost.
http://www.zhangduo.com/driverbackup.html
It does an intensive scan for all your hardware and virtual drivers and allows you to package them into an exe which you can save/backup. Then when your system goes down you just need to run the exe and all your drivers automatically install.
The paid version has a ton more you can do with it, but the free version is good too.
Drivermax, for me, was an evaluation. I installed it before, and now, it says my time is up. Isn't this "Best FREE Windows Driver Backup"?
I found WindowsDriverBackup, which I like more than any of those. It's fast compared to Double Drive, and it it's NOT A TRIAL.
http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/util/files/wdb.zip
good advice dude.. noted.
Be very careful about using DriverMax, as in my experience they do not keep your email address safe. I have received a 'phishing' email using the address I gave to, and only gave to, DriverMax.
Smart Driver Backup
Easy and high-speed backup of your Windows device drivers.
Download Smart Driver Backup 2.11 here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/2mbuwu
http://rapidshare.com/files/87015208/SmartDriverBackup2.11.zip.html
For restoring drivers use DriverForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/driverforge
Spammy links loads of popups
I have read the comments put forward by subscribers. I sometimes do not have the time to search for drivers so I downloaded drivermax. What i found was, that it basically a type of p2p program for sharing drivers. What it did do was slow my computer down from an express train to to a slow track.
I do need driver updates, and I had a paid for version of DRIVER MAGIC however, they did an update and they are asking for more cash which I will not do. I have found now the best thing to do is find the drivers you require on one of these sights and then trawl through the internet until you find the correct one and load them. I have to agree with andrew, if you can find the drivers on the manufacturers sight it is the best procedure. hellsingers comments are very good uploading drivers and downloading drivers is not a good idea
Thanks to everyone for the comments. The prior anonymous poster put it well, I recommend these tools primary for backing up existing drivers. Great care should be taken when replacing or upgrading driver via these utilities. The best source for update is the manufacturer's web sites.
Andrew Seward
Bets46 Category Editor
Are you in Against Me!?
Just for the record I use Driver Max all the time and for my purposes it is great!! Updating drivers is something I do manually, but I fix machines all the time and sometimes find a computer that I can fix, but that there are no drivers PERIOD. In these cases I can use Driver Max to extract the drivers from the machine, then reinstall Windows on the machine then restore the drivers. It is perfect for those situations where you cannot get drivers.
In response to Hellsinger. I agree you need to be wary of blindly assuming the drivers driver max suggest, are going to work.
I didn't read a Driver description, & loaded a vista driver. My system didn't like that. Luckily, I just restored my partiton from a Ghost image.
Since then, I have updated the drivers on 3 pc's with no problems.
Latest Version is 4.4
In my experience driver backup programmes are fine for relatively small, simple drivers, like modems and chipsets. However, trying to use such a programme to backup drivers for more complex things like video cards is seldom a good idea. In fact, in general it is better to find out what the hardware is and download new drivers for it before reformatting, rather than trying to backup/restore your existing drivers.
Double Driver site is http://boozet.org/dd.htm. v1.3 is available as of the time this comment was written.
There is a Big problem with Drivermax actually .
Yes it have a very cool and clear GUI , you can back up your driver But cannot restore all driver . moreover it make conflict into driver .
After updating all my driver under vista ultimate 32bit (default update software), and after checking 3 different website based Driver scanner ..after all of them telling me that's i am 100% up to date ...Drivermax owever telling me otherwise.
For Drivermax :
Drive-----------------------------------------------Your ver------------------- Latest ver
Realtek High Definition Audio---------------6.0.1.5657---------------6.0.6000.16386
Realtek RTL8168B/8111B(NDIS6.0)---------6.206.502.2008----------6.1837.926.2006
Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 244e ----------- 6.0.6001.18000 -------------7.0.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2934-------------6.0.6001.18000-----------8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2935-------------6.0.6001.18000 -----------8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2936-------------6.0.6001.18000 ----------- 8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2937-------------6.0.6001.18000 ----------- 8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2938-------------6.0.6001.18000------------8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB - 2939-------------6.0.6001.18000 ------------8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 - 293A------------6.0.6001.18000------------- 8.3.0.1011
Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB2 - 293C------------6.0.6001.18000 -------------8.3.0.1011
As you can see under Vista the latest driver for intel ICH9 are 6.0.6001.18000 but For drivermax it is 8.3.0.1011.
8.3.0.1011 actualy is the intel ICH9 for window xp 32 and not vista .
Wen Asking Drivermax to auto download the driver it give me a File that's are unsigned and unknown Manufacturer .But stated thats it is the driver i need at 100%
So What will happen if i update to the latest driver recomended by Drivermax , Actually i did try !
Wen i was under Windows xp i have trusted Drivermax and installed them ALL .. Resulted , Windows Xp totaly dead ! and the Latency was so bad(over 35 000 us) that's I Fried one of my pci card .Try to Restored all driver ..LOL yea sure !
So What Do Really Driver Max ?
Actually i find out thats eachtime you Use Drivermax , Drivermax Upload all your driver to their data base. So to explain basicaly how it work , If There is 78% of people using a motherboard Brand X using a OEM driver Based ICH9 for linux, windows XP or Vista and You are using a motherboard Brand ZBased ICH9 and running windows xp or vista ..Drivermax will say thats your driver are not up to date since you dont match the 78% . And Driver max Focus only on number version ...not the manufacturer nor the date of the version.
How can a Realtek RTL8168B/8111B version 6.206.502.2008 are not up to date wen 6.206.502.2008 is the latest driver ?
Is it Realtek High Definition Audio 6.0.1.5657 a vista version ..... so 6.0.6000.16386 must be a linux version then but on the same intel chipset!Or maybe it is a 64bit driver and not a 32bit then ?!?!?
Anyway , i just want to make understand people thats Driver scanner software those not fake version number just to make you feel bad and push you to update and buy their driver software ...some do ..but some those not understand thats a motherboard can be used for linux,windows, osx and thats a chipset can have up to 19 driver up to date but not for the same system .If 89% of people update their driver with a Wrong driver version , then Drivermax will like you to fallow them ...
For now Drivermax are all automated and their is no body checking if all driver are compatible or not with your system .
Honestly dont use it even if is free ... dig your brain a little and update your driver by your self !
thanks to Hellsinger for v useful comments!
good
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