http://www.drivermax.com/
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2000|2003(?)
You are a geek army of one
If you are a person who is constantly being called upon to do your civic duty and rebuild a friend's computer, then you might find this utility particularly handy.
Part of the trouble with performing a clean rebuild (without the factory restore discs) for any computer is the notoriously tedious task of locating the system's drivers so you can reconfigure the hardware properly when you get Windows re-installed. This is especially the case if the system is somewhat rare or the company's website isn't quite "up-to-par" when it comes to driver downloads.
This utility is VERY handy for those custom computer builds where there isn't a centralized site to pull down all the drivers you need.
In the event of an emergency restore - and if the system is working well enough, you can use this nifty tool, called DriverMax, to export the drivers to a folder or zip file. If desired, you can import them to your clean load after you get Windows reinstalled.
You know...
If your system is in fine running condition, it may be a good idea to back up your drivers anyway as part of your own personal disaster recovery plan.
This is handy!
I gotta say, I was skeptical at first, but this little utility does a GREAT job of exporting/importing drivers. I exported them from a system I was rebuilding to a flash drive, then I imported them after the rebuild. I didn't even have to install DriverMax to do it, either. I just copied the installation folder to a USB drive and ran it on the clean system.While performing a driver import a balloon notice appears, telling you the status of the import. Once it completes, you will need to restart the box.
Any prerequisite steps before running DriverMax?
The only thing you need to do prior to using DriverMax is create an account with the publisher's website. You can export and import drivers while using the "evaluation" version, but it is suggested you register for a free serial number...
Side note: I expect that this utility will also work for servers, so this might be something I employ in our company DR plan...
Problems?
One thing I noticed while running DriverMax on the cleanly rebuilt system (with no video driver loaded) was that the DriverMax interface was slightly larger than that of the 640x480 default VGA resolution, making it difficult to find the right button to click on to continue the driver import process.
Likes
- Ease of driver export - even my mom can do this! (sorry mom, but you aren't geeky enough!) - (major)
- Everything, pretty much. This little gem saved me about 40 minutes of rebuild time!
- Strange size issue when running in 640x480 screen resolution - (major)
- Need for serial number, it is stored in the registry - - not so good for using as a portable app on a USB drive, although it will work in evaluation mode - (medium)
Alternates:
4 comments:
Thank you for posting about DriverMax! We will fix the glitch you found.
Good to hear - - oh, can you also add the ability to export printer drivers? :)
When I try to register, it times out after I type in my email address.
Error
EHttpTimout: Time Out
This is with my firewall completed disabled as well.
Two other options (can't be too safe!):
DriverBackup! http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/
- and/or:
DoubleDriver http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Double-Driver.shtml
- an 'Oldie but Goodie' -
Both work Great, easy to run - Check 'em out, and use whichever you feel most comfortable with!
HINT: After you run any (or all) of them, burn the Driver Directory(ies) to CD/DVD; If your Hard Drive Dies, you'll be glad you did!
...you are making regular backups of everything else, aren't you?
;-)
CT
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