copy installed drivers.
- Thread starter cmartin0
- Start date
S.T.A.R.S.
banned
Yes this IS possible.Only the bad thing is that EVERY driver is different and therefore every driver writes different informations into the registry and stores its files on the different locations...
Anyway...there are 3 locations where drivers usually places it's files:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\
...and the third location is the location of the driver itself.For example:
C:\ATI\
Copying ALL these drivers to a new machine WILL WORK if you also copy their informations which are stored into the Windows registry.That is usually the hardest task for most people,but its actually very easy.The file called "system" has all the informations about the hardware drivers.It can be found on the following location:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\system
Simply take that file and put it on your new machine instead of the one you currently have.You can do that with the Ubuntu OS because directly from Windows OS that isn't possible...
However if you don't want to use Ubuntu,simply backup the entire registry from your old computer and apply it on your new one.To do that,do the following:
-Go to "Start"->"Run".Type "regedit" and click the "OK" button...
-Right mouse click on the "My Computer" and then click the button "Export"...
-Name the ".reg" file however you want AS LONG AS ITS ONLY ONE WORD.For example: "SYSTEM.reg"...
-Also make sure that under the "Export range" the option "All" is selected...
-Now save that ".reg" file where ever you want...After you have saved it,make sure you put it on your new machine in the location "C:\"...In this example lets call that file simply "SYSTEM.reg"...
-Now from your old machine copy ALL the drivers from the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\" and paste them into the same location on your new machine...The drivers also has some of their files in the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\" location too so be sure to copy those files from your old machine on your new one as well...IF YOU ARE NOT SURE EXACTLY WHICH FILES ARE FROM THE DRIVERS under the location "C:\WINDOWS\system32\",take a look at the DRIVER DETAILS.There you can see the EACH file of EACH of your drivers...
-After you have done all this,restart your computer and boot into the "Safe Mode with Command Prompt".Type the following command:
cd C:\
Press ENTER...
Type the following command:
SYSTEM.reg
Press ENTER...
Now you will get the message wether you want to or not to apply the registry file.Of course,you click "Yes" and WAIT UNTIL YOU GET THE ERROR MESSAGE!After a couple of seconds,you will get the error message that says that NOT ALL THE REGISTRY WAS APPLIED.This is normal since SOME of the registry is STILL in use and cannot be replaced.Don't worry about that.Now type the following command to restart your computer:
Shutdown.exe -r -t 0
Press ENTER...
NOTE: YOUR NEW MACHINE PROBABLY HAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT HARDWARE SO THE DRIVERS FROM YOUR OLD MACHINE WILL NOT WORK ON YOUR NEW MACHNE UNLESS THE HARDWARE ON YOUR NEW MACHINE IS ALMOST THE SAME!!!DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Cheers!
Anyway...there are 3 locations where drivers usually places it's files:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\
...and the third location is the location of the driver itself.For example:
C:\ATI\
Copying ALL these drivers to a new machine WILL WORK if you also copy their informations which are stored into the Windows registry.That is usually the hardest task for most people,but its actually very easy.The file called "system" has all the informations about the hardware drivers.It can be found on the following location:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\system
Simply take that file and put it on your new machine instead of the one you currently have.You can do that with the Ubuntu OS because directly from Windows OS that isn't possible...
However if you don't want to use Ubuntu,simply backup the entire registry from your old computer and apply it on your new one.To do that,do the following:
-Go to "Start"->"Run".Type "regedit" and click the "OK" button...
-Right mouse click on the "My Computer" and then click the button "Export"...
-Name the ".reg" file however you want AS LONG AS ITS ONLY ONE WORD.For example: "SYSTEM.reg"...
-Also make sure that under the "Export range" the option "All" is selected...
-Now save that ".reg" file where ever you want...After you have saved it,make sure you put it on your new machine in the location "C:\"...In this example lets call that file simply "SYSTEM.reg"...
-Now from your old machine copy ALL the drivers from the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\" and paste them into the same location on your new machine...The drivers also has some of their files in the "C:\WINDOWS\system32\" location too so be sure to copy those files from your old machine on your new one as well...IF YOU ARE NOT SURE EXACTLY WHICH FILES ARE FROM THE DRIVERS under the location "C:\WINDOWS\system32\",take a look at the DRIVER DETAILS.There you can see the EACH file of EACH of your drivers...
-After you have done all this,restart your computer and boot into the "Safe Mode with Command Prompt".Type the following command:
cd C:\
Press ENTER...
Type the following command:
SYSTEM.reg
Press ENTER...
Now you will get the message wether you want to or not to apply the registry file.Of course,you click "Yes" and WAIT UNTIL YOU GET THE ERROR MESSAGE!After a couple of seconds,you will get the error message that says that NOT ALL THE REGISTRY WAS APPLIED.This is normal since SOME of the registry is STILL in use and cannot be replaced.Don't worry about that.Now type the following command to restart your computer:
Shutdown.exe -r -t 0
Press ENTER...
NOTE: YOUR NEW MACHINE PROBABLY HAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT HARDWARE SO THE DRIVERS FROM YOUR OLD MACHINE WILL NOT WORK ON YOUR NEW MACHNE UNLESS THE HARDWARE ON YOUR NEW MACHINE IS ALMOST THE SAME!!!DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Cheers!
Last edited: