Apparently, there is no need to say that most users are aware that for the correct operation of absolutely everything installed on a computer, equipment in the form of "iron" components and some virtual devices, special software called drivers is required. However, quite often there are questions about, for example, where the printer driver is located in Windows 7 (as well as in other operating systems of this family) or some other device connected to the system, when the control software needs to be integrated into the system manually. Let's try to find out, taking into account some of the nuances associated with installing and updating such software components.
Where is the drivers folder in Windows 7 and other systems installed?
On various forums on the Internet, questions related to determining the exact location of the driver of a particular device can be found quite often.
Some users claim that the main directory is the System32 directory in the root folder of the system, others believe that the storage location for the control software is the drivers directory nested in System32 or the DriverStore folder. Who is right? Both are right, because, depending on the type of the driver itself (SYS, VXD, DRV, etc.), the location of the location of the files may change.
How to determine the exact location of the driver?
Now let's try to find out where the drivers are in Windows 7 by determining their exact location on the disk in the system partition. To do this, it is completely optional to “dig” the specified folders manually. In addition, when searching by device name, you are unlikely to find a driver corresponding to it.
The easiest way is to use the standard "Device Manager", select the desired device, go to the properties item through the RMB menu and click the information button on the driver tab. After that, a special window will be displayed, which will show all the absolute (full) paths to the directory in which they are located.
Where are the drivers in Windows 7 for updating?
However, knowing the exact location of the control software may not be enough to update it. Many users rely solely on the tools of the operating system itself when trying to install updates. In general, that's right. However, in this situation, you should remember that when you set the search for the required driver, Windows first of all refers to scanning already installed components.
If a search for updated drivers is specified on the network (Internet), only Microsoft databases are accessed, and drivers are installed that are either digitally signed by the corporation, or software from those manufacturers for which support is declared. In this situation, it is better to use automated applications. But where are the drivers in Windows 7 that can be updated? Unfortunately, they are not in the system. But the corresponding programs access exclusively the Internet sites of equipment manufacturers and developers of such software, after which they install updated components without user intervention.
Where are the drivers loaded when manually downloading?
Finally, let's see where the drivers are located in Windows 7 for cases where the user has found and downloaded them himself. Usually, in browsers that are installed in all recent versions of Windows, the Downloads directory is assigned by default to save downloads, and the presence of such folders is provided for all accounts registered in the system. If your browser is always prompted to save downloadable content, you can specify the folder yourself. As a rule, EXE or INF files are available for download.
In the first case, the driver and related software are installed by launching the applet as an administrator, in the second case, through the RMB menu with the installation item selected. If the system reports that this type of action is not supported, the update can be made through the "Device Manager" by indicating with the browse button where the INF file was saved.
I think many of the laptop users have experienced the problem - how to find driver for laptop... Time passes and sometime, a new laptop reads "to mow". Now I'm not talking about flooded (coffee or beer - which is even worse.) laptop-netbook keyboards. I mean the operating system. In this case, the problems with the operating system depend on many factors ...
- How well does the user know the computer...
- How often does he use...
- Does one use...
- Etc.
There is a phrase - "80% of Windows errors are located half a meter from the monitor screen..." Absolutely agree with these words!
As a person who has been professionally repairing and setting up computers and laptops in his city for more than 10 years, having an address book with more than 4 thousand registered clients in his phone, I can say absolutely for sure - if you have problems with a computer, in First of all - look for the problem in the lack of your own knowledge ...
And my site was created just to replenish your knowledge, so - welcome to the new lesson!
Windows "buggy is not childish"!
It is impossible to work on the Internet!
Games freeze and crash!
You can, of course, try to restore the system. But, there is one caveat ... If your problem is due to viruses, such as the Sality virus, or Conficker, then in this case it is worth reinstalling the system. If only because these viruses find in your operating system, all files with the extension .exe and infect them... And the file with the extension .exe is the startup file for any program. In this case, it is easier to reinstall the Operating System, saving the data you need to a free disk partition before that.
Even your antivirus, for which you once paid1500-2000 rubles, this is a file with the extension.exe . Do you really think that you will be given the perfect remedy for all viral problems for2000 rubles?! Yes evenfor 10000r. you will not find the ideal remedy, because here it already plays a role -Human factor. Just as it is impossible to eradicate crime, soit is impossible to eliminate all computer viruses!
Therefore, we do not strain ourselves, but decide what to do. If your computer wizard did not take care that, after installing you (on a laptop or computer) the Windows Operating System, make an image (scan, copy) of your system disk using the same program Acronis True Image, which will contain all installed and necessary programs, as well as drivers, then - after reinstalling Windows, you may encounter the following:
- You will not run games that were previously launched.
- There will be no internet access.
- SD cards from your camera will no longer be detected, etc...
An unscrupulous wizard may tell you that the problem can be solved by replacing the video card, or the hard drive, or something else. Just to earn more from you. Or because the master himself does not have enough knowledge ... Just because you are not smart enough in computers ...
Just in order to somehow exclude such situations (I don’t like “hucksters” and non-professionals ...) I write articles and lessons on repairing and setting up a computer.
This does not mean that if the master told you that you need to change the hard drive, then he is deceiving you! Never offend a person with distrust and reproaches, if you understand little about the problem and called the master to solve your problem! It's just that if you have a lack of knowledge, doubts arise (and doubts arise - EXACTLY from LACK OF KNOWLEDGE!), then you can always ask a question on my website and during 24 hours - get an answer. I visit the site about once a day.
Okay, enough foreplay. I hope the information above was helpful to you. Let's get down to practice!
How to find a driver for a laptop:
So, let's look at the example of a problem with a video driver, if after reinstalling the Operating System you suddenly stopped running games :) - go to "Device Manager":
1. left mouse button, click "Start" (lower left part of the Monitor Screen),
3. in the context menu that appears, left-click "properties". (If you have Windows XP, then - left-click - "Hardware" - "Device Manager". If you have Windows 7, in the left menu block, click "Device Manager").
4. In the window that opens, we find the equipment marked exclamation mark(usually, signed - as unknown device, but there may be another inscription). The main thing to remember is that if there is a Resurrection Sign- This means that the driver is not installed. In Windows 7, if during the installation of the Operating System, the installer was unable to install the driver on the video card, the "standard video driver" will be installed by default (This happens if your copy of Windows is older than the hardware in your laptop or computer. In this case, there will be no Exclamation mark on the video adapter in the "Device Manager", but your games will still not start until do not install "standard video adapter" instead - the correct driver for your video card!).
5. Press the left mouse button twice on the problematic equipment. A window will appear in which we click "Details" and left-click in the "properties"Hardware ID. Next - select it by clicking on it once with the left button :) andpress "Ctrl" on the keyboard and without releasing it, press "C".
6. In the free space of the desktop on the monitor screen, right-click, select "create", then left-click "text document".
7. Open the created document, click once with the mouse anywhere in the document window and press on the keyboard ctrl+v.
8. Open an internet browser and paste in the address bar - http://www.devid.info/en/
9. In the driver search site that opens, in the search bar (where it says - "Enter driver code") paste the copied code from the text document and press "Search":
If you have Windows XP, then select XP in the list of suggested drivers, if you have Windows 7, select the driver for Windows 7. Be sure to take into account the bit depth of the Operating System! What system and bit do you have (sometimes 32 or 64 bits), you can look in the properties of the computer (example for 7-ki - in the first picture above ...). Having selected the driver, click on the icon to the right of it in the form of a floppy disk. A window will appear asking you to download the driver, click once with the left mouse button on the file with the extension .zip or .rar
Click again on the file with the extension .zip and get the file download window. Choose "Save":
12. In the new window, select where we want to save this file (The default is "My Documents" or "Desktop") and wait until the file is downloaded to your computer...
13. Open the downloaded file archive with the driver, find the file with the extension .exe and run the installation by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button.
After the driver installation is complete, we restart the computer or laptop and rejoice that the "Device Manager" disappeared Resurrection Sign!
Thank you for attention!
What is and why drivers are needed?
The driver is a kind of bridge between the system and the hardware of the computer. With its help, the Operating System is told everything that is connected to the computer and how to interact with it.
A driver is not a physical device, it cannot be "touched". This is a program that contains files with which the system can interact with devices.
When you are alone, the OS does not know anything about the external devices of the computer, so it needs to be "acquainted" with them through drivers.
Some versions of Windows already have pre-installed drivers. Usually this is the minimum - for working with sound, video, network, bluetooth, etc.
It cannot be said that without drivers and immediately after installing the OS, you will not be able to work with a computer. You will have sound and video, but these are standard settings and you will not be able to fully use all the "charms" of the connected devices until you install their drivers.
This applies not only to the new OS on the computer, drivers need to be installed for other new devices that you will connect in the future.
Drivers are needed for almost all equipment that is or will be connected to a computer: a sound card, mice and keyboards with additional keys, various joysticks, etc.
For example, if you have not installed drivers for your fancy sound card, you will not be able to fully enjoy the sound from the speakers. Or, without installed drivers for the video card, you will have graphics problems. Well, without drivers for printers, copiers, scanners, web cameras, etc., they will not work and the system will not see them, although they will be connected.
Yes, maybe you will see in the lower right corner that the system has found, for example, a printer, but when you try to print something, nothing will work.
Where are the drivers located in windows?
You can find the driver in (system drive letter):\WINDOWS\SYSTM32\. They often do not have only one file. They are scattered throughout this folder and have the extensions: *.sys, *.dll, *.vxt , *.drv and *.inf (which contains installation information).
How can I find out which drivers are installed?
We go to the Device Manager. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Next, we look for him there.
Or you can use the program.
How to install the driver?
Usually, complete with a device or a computer, there are always disks on which installation drivers. In this case, you just need to start the disk and follow the instructions.
If the automatic installation does not start, then you need to Open the disk through My computer, find and run the setup.exe file there.
If there are no disks, then you need to search on the Internet, for example, on such well-known sites as.
When you connect a new device, a yellow question mark will appear in front of it in the Device Manager. In this case, right-click on this line and specify the path to the disk or file with the drivers.
How to roll back and uninstall the driver.
In the Device Manager, right-click on the desired line and select Properties. The following is shown on the screenshot:
How to find drivers?
Drivers perform the most important function in a computer: they are necessary for the successful operation of various programs. Some devices may well work immediately when connected to a computer, and some may crash in the system or start constantly displaying a window with information about updating the driver. If this happens, you will need to perform this update. And often when buying a new computer or a brand new video card, we are faced with the problem of finding and updating drivers. In this article, you will learn how to find drivers using a special program or standard Windows Device Manager tools.
Finding Drivers with Everest
Let's first figure out which drivers we need to download and install: the Everest utility will help us with this.
This program is designed, among other things, to understand for which devices you need to install drivers.
- Launch Everst, select "Devices" and then "Windows Devices".
- On the right side of the menu is a list of all available drivers. A yellow question mark indicates devices that require driver installation.
- Expanding the tab, you will see a list of devices for which your operating system did not find drivers on its own.
- In order to determine the device, its manufacturer and model, you just need to click on its name with the left mouse button.
By the line Hardware ID (VEN and DEN), you can understand what kind of device it is, as well as find out its manufacturer and model. All computer devices have four-digit numbers.
The first one (it is designated as VEN or VID) is the code of the manufacturer itself. The second one (DEV or PID) is the device model. Having written out these values, you can independently search for information on the Internet. The peculiarity of the Everest program is that it automatically determines the manufacturer and model by code. The data can be seen in the line "PCI device".
Using the resource, you can easily find the driver you need. To do this, you just need to enter the code in the search menu. In this way, you can calculate all devices that require driver updates or installation. Installation is best done in the following sequence: a driver for a video card, then for a sound card, for a wi-fi adapter, 
for a webcam, and then there is a TV tuner, scanner, printer, etc. You can learn more about finding the most necessary driver - a video driver - in our article.
Search for drivers using standard Windows tools
Let's look at another easy way to find drivers using the Windows Device Manager. To open Device Manager, select the My Computer shortcut on the desktop and right-click on it, then select Properties. After these manipulations, the "System" window will open, select "Device Manager" in the left menu. When you select this item in a new window, you will see all the devices installed on this computer. Particular attention should be paid to the line "Sound, video and game controllers", as well as "Network adapters". These items are considered the most problematic among users.
So, by right-clicking on the device we want and selecting "Properties" 
we will open a window in which you need to select the "Details" tab. Further, the sequence of actions is as follows: "Path to the device instance" - "Value" - and you will see the necessary code. Copy this code - it is a driver cipher, by which you can find out the manufacturer and model of the device. And how to find a driver using this code, we wrote in this article above. After downloading the necessary archive with the driver, install it by running the .exe file without changing the installation path. Next, you need to restart your computer, and you can admire the result of your actions.
Some notes on reinstalling drivers
In order to reinstall the driver for more stable system operation, you must first uninstall the old version. To do this, you need to go to the "Device Manager" menu, select the desired device, click "Properties" - "Driver" and remove it. After that, install the new driver from the pre-downloaded distribution kit (installation package).
Further, we note that searching for a driver by code may not always end successfully, because old versions of drivers are often stored on the same site. What to do? Do not be upset, because each manufacturer provides for its 
product support, which also includes creating and updating drivers for devices.
Driver updates contain various additional features that were not available in previous versions. This, in turn, will be necessary for you to work comfortably at the computer, especially if you use new versions of various programs - for example, work with graphic applications or play new computer games.
By accessing the websites of device manufacturers (www.radeon.ru, www.amd.ru, www.nvidia.ru), you can independently find the necessary driver and download it. Driver installation instructions can also be found on the manufacturer's website. There are a lot of devices and models now, and each manufacturer has its own website. All that is required of you is to know the brand of the device and go to the official website of the manufacturer. And how to find out the type and model of the device, we have already found out.
We hope that you liked our article, and you may be interested in another similar material -. Good luck with your further development of the computer!
Many people associate the word "storage" exclusively with information, but experts and more advanced users know that drivers are also stored in Windows and are actively used as needed.
Who are drivers and when might they be required?
A driver is a so-called connecting bridge between the hardware and the system of a computer device. It always assists in telling the OS what is connected to the computer and how it works. Driver acts in the form of a program with files that interact with devices. After Windows is installed on a new computer, the operating system immediately does not know anything about external devices and drivers are required for “acquaintance”.
Usually, new versions of the OS immediately have “firewood” for working with the following programs:
- bluetooth
- sound
- home network
- video
- additional devices
Video, as well as sound with standard settings, does not make it possible to take full advantage of the connected devices without installing "firewood".
Where are any Drivers stored in a Windows 7 system?
In the seventh version of Windows, the key installed drivers are located in a folder called "Drivers". It is located on drive: C / windows / system32. Even if the folder is found, you will not need to copy it for further reinstallation. The best method is to use the Device Manager.
For example, you need to know where the sound driver is located. To do this, expand the line for sound video and gaming devices and select the sound driver by clicking on properties. When the window opens, you should go to the information tab, select the option called "device description". There will be information about the location of the desired driver and other data.
You can also use the official website of your computer manufacturer. There are the latest versions of the released "firewood" and numerous programs that provide the ability to make a quick update, or a backup copy. Experts do not recommend using this method for inexperienced users (in order to avoid possible system errors).
Having studied the information and clearly following the instructions, you can correctly find the drivers and perform the necessary manipulations with them.
