Good time to all and sundry.

Today we will talk about a small, but very efficient utility from the series "Small spool - but expensive" (c). A program called Double Driver is responsible for reviving previously installed drivers and, in case of reinstalling the operating system, allows the user to put everything in its place in a couple of clicks.

So, meet the hero of the occasion, Double Driver - your tool of protection against, sorry for the slang, all sorts of surprises. As you remember, we taught you how to install any drivers quickly and conveniently - " " - now it's time to learn how to save and quickly restore these drivers.

Let's get started.

Double Driver - save drivers and quickly restore them from a backup

Nowadays, almost any computer user is faced with the need to reinstall the operating system. The reason for this may be the consequences of a virus attack or a "bluish" screen, aka. Well, if the matter is limited to banal treatment of malware or resuscitation using safe mode, but what if you need to format the disk and install the operating system from scratch? After all, after the process of "driving" the system will inevitably follow, and for this, in fact, you will need a "native" disk, which has already gone cold for a long time :). What to do then?

One of the smartest solutions is to make a backup in advance using the Double Driver program and then easily and naturally restore the drivers on a new system.

So, the developers tell us the following features of their utility:

• List view already installed drivers;
• Creation and restoration of our, as they say, "firewood" from backup;
• Save and Print the entire list of drivers.

Note:
A distinctive feature of the softkit is the ability to create backup copies of drivers even if the system is disabled (the second additional OS).

Of course, this is not with all sorts of bells and whistles, but still she knows her business quite well. Among other joys, one can note the microsize, free of charge and support for a non-Russian interface (yes, everything is in English). Of course, the first thing to do is download this miracle of programmer thought. This can be done directly, i.e. downloading from the site where you are now.

After downloading the program archive, unpack it, and then double-click on it with the left button and run the file called "dd.exe". You will see the ascetic interface of the program. Press the button " Backup"(1) and then" Scan current system"(See image).

The program in one fell swoop gives us a list of all drivers installed in the system, and we just have to select the necessary ones (or all), click "BackupNow" and select the place (folder) for storing our .. "firewood" (see image).

Note:
In the parameters (output), you can choose how to represent the created driver database: structured in a folder, compressed or self-extracting archive.

Next, the process of saving a backup copy of the drivers begins, which proceeds quite quickly, however .. It all depends on the amount of the created list of drivers. Further along specified address you can go through the explorer and make sure that the program created and structured everything correctly (see image).

In the next step, we take and move the created folder with the drivers (you can save it as an archive) to a removable media (USB flash drive), and copy the distribution package of the program there.

Now, when the “dark day” comes, i.e. it will be necessary to reinstall the system and reinstall the drivers (or just solve some problems with them), we just run the program from removable media, press the “ Restore" button and specify the archive with the drivers on the USB flash drive (see image).

This way, all of our drivers will be safe and sound on the next crash, which will save us a lot of nerves. The program has the ability to save the list of drivers to a text file (“Save” tab), so that you can view their versions, update dates and equipment identifiers.

Of the "highlights" of the program, one can note the ability to create backups of drivers, so to speak, of a broken operating system. Just imagine a situation when the main operating system does not allow you to boot from it, but the user plans to rearrange it, however, that's bad luck - the drivers from the devices are lost and remain in the faulty system, and there is nowhere to reinstall them or there is no desire, or there is no Internet or something something else .. That's when the same Double Driver comes to the rescue, where you just need to boot from any bootloader and, specifying the location of the disabled OS, save the drivers installed in it.

Actually, that's the end of the review, and whoever listened - well done :). In general, of course, the program largely duplicates the manual copying of these, but there are still a number of convenient advantages in speed and other nuances, described to some extent above.

Afterword

Another useful softinka disassembled. I hope that it will be useful to you one day on the farm and will save you a lot of calm and free minutes, as well as, what is important, nerves.

As always, we will be glad to any questions, additions and everything else. Write comments!

P.S. For the existence of this article, thanks to a member of the team 25 FRAME

There are many reasons why you sometimes need to back up the drivers installed on your computer with operating system Windows 10. Maybe you want to reinstall the system and don't want to re-download drivers for your hardware. Maybe your driver is no longer available on official sources or bad internet connection that will not allow you to quickly download all the drivers at once. Most often, it takes a lot of time to look for a Wi FI or Ethernet driver for a laptop. How to connect to the Internet and update drivers if there is no driver for network cards? One of the most annoying problems that we will solve in just 4 minutes.

Speaking of backup, there are many utilities that will help you create a driver backup for your computer or laptop. Most of the third-party programs work without problems, but why use third party programs when you can back up Windows 10 using your own tools.

Let's use the great PowerShell feature to export and backup all installed drivers in the operating system. Windows system 10. When you make a copy of the installed drivers, then all the necessary files for installing the driver will be saved, including the Setup installer.

Back Up Your Drivers Using PowerShell

• Search for "PowerShell" and click on the best matches right click click on it to run as administrator.
• Or press the WIN+X key combination and select PowerShell (Admin).

In a PowerShell window, run the following command:

• Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination E:\Backup_Drivers

Where E:\Backup_Drivers- this is the place where your driver backup will be exported. Write any convenient storage location for you.

The command may take several minutes to complete the copy of the drivers, after which you can navigate to the path to the folder indicated by "E:\Backup_Drivers" and see the list different drivers. Now you can reinstall these drivers on your computer or laptop.

Drivers are an important component of the interaction of computer hardware with the operating system and the software installed in it. Therefore, when experimenting with them, or updating them, it is recommended to create a backup copy of already installed drivers, so that in which case, you can restore the normal operation of the computer. Today we will tell you about a small Double Driver utility, with which you can quickly create driver backing.

Double Driver- free program, which is in the truest sense of the word a manager of device drivers connected to the computer's motherboard with the ability to back them up. utility, like file manager, displays all the drivers installed in the operating system in the form of a list, and also allows you to save this list and print it.

The most requested feature of the Double Driver utility is backup Windows drivers 8, 7, Vista and XP. Most users choose this program to work because of its free and very fast driver backup speed. By the way, in just a couple of minutes it can create a full backup in an operating system that has been installed for more than a year, and, therefore, quite a few drivers have accumulated in it. In addition, when creating copies, the utility sorts all files into folders whose names correspond to the device names. In addition to sorting by folders, the utility also contains a filter in its functionality that filters all drivers by their developers, for example, from Microsoft, etc.

Backing Up Your Drivers

You can create a backup copy of the drivers installed in the system quickly and in just a couple of clicks using the Double Driver program, which can be downloaded from the link below. The utility does not require installation and can be installed on any removable media.

Run the utility on your PC and in its main window, in top menu, click the “Backup” button, then click the “ScanCurrentSystem” as shown in the figure below.

Next, check the checkboxes next to those drivers for which you are going to make a backup, then click on “Backup Now”. You can mark all of them if there is any doubt that the right ones have been marked.

In the dialog box that appears, specify the location on the hard drive where it should save the backup copy of the drivers, and also activate the “Compressed (zipped) folder” radio button if you want the copy to be compressed into an archive. Also, if you need to create a self-extracting archive, then instead of the above radio button, activate “Single file self extract (executable)”. Click on “Ok” to start the copy creation process.

Wait until double utility Driver will finish its work and inform you about it with a corresponding message.

The created archive with a backup copy of the drivers will be stored in the location you specified earlier and will have the model name of your motherboard, as well as the date the backup was created. To restore drivers from this archive, you need to unpack it, then run the installation wizard and follow its instructions and prompts.

Drivers are an important part of the operating system. They act as intermediaries between the system and hardware devices. Their main task is to interpret incoming signals from both the system and the device itself. Without proper drivers, the device will either not work correctly or not work at all.

As a rule, each device comes with a CD or DVD with necessary drivers. Alternatively, drivers can be downloaded from the device manufacturer's website. The latter, by the way, may be more relevant, since on the site you can find the most fresh versions drivers. This is especially true for video cards.

But sometimes, it happens that disks with drivers are lost, and the manufacturer's website no longer supports this device. Or is it just that the situation is such that given driver almost impossible to find. In such cases, the most best way out- Creation of backup copies of drivers. For this, there is a special software, which, in fact, allows you to create backup copies of already installed drivers in the system.

If you have an old operating system, and you have lost some disks, or you cannot find drivers for some devices (for example, for a printer that has been faithfully serving you for 5-6 years). It is a sound idea to make a backup copy of all installed drivers in the system. Even if you have all the drivers at hand, it is still highly recommended to make a backup copy and keep it somewhere safe. This is not only a way to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances, but also an opportunity to save time during their recovery.

Advice: it is best to use multiple different programs. Since everything happens in life, and it is possible that one of the programs will not be able to correctly restore the drivers. In this case, you will always have spare options at hand. So you save yourself time and nerves.

Note: never forget to backup your data.

This review discusses programs that can not only create backup copies of drivers, but also restore them. Programs that cannot restore drivers are mentioned under the "Other Programs" section. First of all, this is due to the fact that for ordinary users, and even more so for beginners, the task manual recovery drivers may be unbearable. Therefore, in the review, one of the most important criteria for consideration is the correct restoration of drivers in the system.

Some of the programs reviewed can also update drivers, but this is not an important criterion. Initially, the consideration is precisely in terms of backup and recovery. The upgrade is just an added bonus. In addition, we specifically draw your attention to the fact that the most the best place Where you can find updates for drivers are manufacturers' websites.

Unfortunately, not all of the considered programs are able to show a list of drivers installed in the system. If you are interested in the list of installed drivers, then you can use a great little utility called DriverView from Nirsoft.

Overview of Free Driver Backup and Restore Programs

Double Driver is a convenient and powerful tool for backing up and restoring drivers

It has a simple interface and is very easy to use. The most notable feature is that the program allows you to create backup copies of drivers from running system. Which will be especially useful in cases where for some reason your system does not boot, and it is not a fact that you can revive it. This functionality gives the program a significant advantage over its counterparts. So keep it with you marked "for a rainy day."

By default, only third-party drivers are selected in the backup list. This is very convenient, since there is little point in Windows copy There are no drivers, except in rare cases. To work with the list, there are a number of buttons for quick selection: invert selection, select all or deselect. You can also select individual drivers. Selected drivers can be copied to a separate structured folder (default option), to a compressed folder, or to a self-extracting file (some kind of archive). Last option, by the way, led to the departure of the program.

Recovery is just as easy. Select the location where your driver copies are stored. Then select from the list exactly those drivers that you want to restore. And start the process. It is worth noting that the drivers are restored quite quickly. At the same time, after the restoration, all devices felt great.

Double Driver allows you to save a list of drivers in text file. You can also print the list directly from the program. This is very handy when you need to keep track of which drivers have been installed on your system. The list is quite informative. For each driver, its name, version number, date, hardware ID, and much more are written.

All in all, Double Driver is a simple, reliable program, which includes a series unique features. Therefore, it can be safely put at the head of any list.

SlimDrivers backup and restore software is a good tool with a nice design

has a modern and attractive user interface, which from the first minutes has to itself. The backup and restore selection lists are very similar to the standard device manager. And given that SlimDrivers is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, this fact becomes completely unsurprising. However, SlimDrivers works just as well with both system and third-party drivers. But, unfortunately, you will not be able to select all system or all third-party drivers. So in such cases, you will either have to backup all the drivers, or manually select from the entire list.

Another feature that can be considered a disadvantage is that SlimDrivers stores drivers in folders named based on the base name or device ID. If you restore the drivers by SlimDrivers itself, then this will not cause much of a problem. But, if for some reason, you have to restore drivers not through the SlimDrivers program, then this can become a really big problem, since you will have to work hard to find the necessary driver.

Unfortunately, SlimDrivers was unable to back up device drivers that were not connected to the system.

Also, during the restoration of the drivers, several errors occurred. However, after the restoration was completed, a detailed inspection showed that all drivers were restored. But still mistakes are mistakes. Therefore, it is difficult to say that the program is reliable.

One more point that needs to be mentioned. Be sure to select the same folder for backup and restore. If you do not do this, then in the recovery section, the list of drivers will be empty. And you won't be able to select individual drivers. You will have to restore the entire backup.

By default, SlimDrivers is launched every time the system starts. Therefore, you will have to spend a little time to disable this setting, for example, using the startup manager. Also, the first time you run the program, SlimDrivers will open homepage in the browser. But, only at the first.

SlimDrivers has a habit of staying in the system tray even if you close it. To really exit the program, you need to close the tray program. To be honest, this is a clearly unnecessary feature and clutters up your desktop more than it's useful. After all, backup and restore operations are of a single nature, and not daily.

However, for a program of this class, SlimDrivers does its job quite well.

Note:

1. SlimDrivers is installed online only. The program does not have a standalone installer. So if you do not have Internet access, then this will be an unpleasant surprise for you.

2. When installing, carefully look at the checkboxes and what exactly will be installed. Since the installer in every possible way and under different guise (depending on the version of the program) tries to install the panel AVG Security.

3. The program is inherently portable. You just need to copy the executable from the SlimDrivers folder to Program Files. Oddly enough, there are no other files in the folder. And it seems that the program needs only an executable file for its work. This raises the question "Why then create an installer?", And from point two comes the answer "Then". Well, plus everything, the program leaves traces on your system. In principle, the reasons are clear, and it is difficult to condemn a free program. On the other hand, once installed, you will get a portable program forever.

The DriverMax driver backup program is a good example of when old versions are better than new ones.

. Prior to the 6th version included many useful options. But, starting with version 6, most of them have sunk into oblivion. Pretty unpleasant moment.

In terms of set of settings and features, every free new version of DriverMax takes a few steps back, which is very disappointing. Now you can not see and save the list of existing drivers. Previously, these features gave a big plus to the program. Also, earlier versions allowed you to save both system drivers and third-party ones. For now, you can only save third-party drivers. You could also create backups for hidden devices in the past. Now there is no mention of them.

The interface looks modern and attractive. Also now the interface does not freeze between operations. There were delays in earlier versions. It seems that the developers decided to make free version nice prototype. And successfully go to this goal from version to version.

In the backup window, you will only see third-party drivers. In principle, everything is clear enough in the window. You can select all or just a few drivers. If you don't select a backup path, the drivers will be saved in a zip archive in the My Drivers folder inside My Documents. By the way, this is exactly the place where by default DriverMax looks for backups for recovery. Subsequently, you will not have to do anything with these archives, the program restores drivers directly from them.

The recovery process is still slow. Noticeably slower than analogs. If we compare the versions of DriverMax, then of course it is faster than previous versions, but still very slow. But, despite the speed, the program restores drivers to the conscience.

Note:

1. Again, study the installer windows carefully. They will again try to impose AVG Security on you. Look at all checked boxes. When installing additional components look carefully at their names. And if you see AVG Security, then feel free to cancel the installation.

2. Now the program starts by default with the system. So you'll have to take the time again to turn off this setting. Again, you can use the startup manager. Just like SlimDrivers, it hides in the system tray when closed. So to completely close it is necessary to close the program in the system tray.

DriverBackup! good alternative

allows you to both create backup copies of drivers and restore them. But, unfortunately, during testing, the program was unable to restore the drivers, for an unknown reason. Really more disappointing. Since the program shows great promise, because it can do a number of really good things. Driver Backup! can create backup copies of drivers from a non-running system, which clearly distinguishes it from analogues.

Driver Backup! does a really good job of creating backups, as it includes a number of useful settings. When launched, the program displays all installed drivers on the system. With one click, you can select both system and third-party drivers. In this case, the choice can be even more detailed. You can select all drivers with full portability (according to DriverBackup!) or all drivers with digital signature. And all in one click. Drivers are stored in folders with corresponding device names. The program also generates a special .bki file, unique to the program, that contains information about the backup files. This file is used during recovery setup to humanize the list of drivers.

Driver Backup! can create backup copies of phantom devices, i.e. devices that were once installed in the system, but are missing in this moment time. Which is especially useful if you often connect various peripherals(printers, scanners, etc.)

The help file is well organized. It describes in sufficient detail and clearly all possible operations. The program can be used from the command line.

Although the program is portable, it can hardly be called fully portable because starting from version 2 it requires .NET 2.0. Therefore, if there is no framework 2.0 on the computer, then the program will not work. This can be considered a disadvantage. It would be possible to use earlier versions, but they do not know how to restore drivers.

Nevertheless, the program is made in good faith, and if it were not for the problems with restoring drivers, as well as the mandatory presence of .NET 2.0, then it could be called the best program.

Driver Backup! is in active development, so it remains only to wait for the release, which can be put at the top of the list.

Other Windows Driver Backup and Restore Programs

These programs are also designed to create backup copies of drivers.

• DriverMagicianLite. It copes very well with the task of creating a backup copy of installed drivers, but, unfortunately, it does not know how to restore drivers at all. Nicely organized interface. All third-party drivers are highlighted among the general list. Really convenient, because the system can have a lot of drivers. To create a copy, you can select both individual drivers and the entire list. The backup is created as nicely structured folders with friendly device names.
• Driver Pack Solution Lite. Not recommended. The program is more likely to update drivers than to create a backup copy. Just like the rest of the programs on this list, it does not know how to restore drivers. And it doesn't seem to work correctly. According to the description, the program can save a backup copy to an .exe file. But! There is no difference between backups with selected .exe format and regular format.

  The program installer contains a bunch of unnecessary adware. She suggests installing Delta Toolbar, changing search engine to Delta, as well as change the browser home page. And a number of other changes. Therefore, during installation, you must very carefully look at each installer window for the checkmarks.

  The interface of the program is quite strange. Plus, you will find a number of features that are generally not needed for driver update/backup programs. Of course, the device manager can be considered the necessary functionality, but there is not much point in it. But what is clearly superfluous is access to the control panel installed programs. It is also not clear why the program has a bunch of extra utilities, such as memory testing, defragmentation, antivirus scanning. The program also has an item for BIOS updates. And apparently this point is not only superfluous, but also dangerous.

• DriverGrabber (invalid link). The program is too simple, and does not have any settings at all. Creates backup copies of third-party drivers only. You can make copies of Windows drivers only by editing the necessary INI files. It's hard to imagine that ordinary user can do it. The program is not developed, and does not have its own normal site. At the same time, it is difficult to say whether the program will work on 64-bit systems and on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
• driver collector. The official website no longer exists and the program is no longer being developed. There are no settings in the program. It also does not know how to create backup copies of drivers in batch mode. Instead, you need to select and create copies manually. This somewhat undermines the goal of "make the world easier".

Test procedure

Testing was carried out on Windows XP. Despite this, the reviewed software is also great for backing up drivers on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

First of all, with the help of each program, backup copies of the drivers from the reference operating system were made. Drivers were installed on it from various manufacturer's CDs. Motherboard, webcams, network card and others.

After that, tests were made to restore the drivers on another hard drive, which was connected instead of the drive with the reference system. The test hard drive had an identical a copy of Windows xp. But, in which no third-party drivers were installed (essentially. clean system). For a test copy of the system, a system image was made so that after each test the system could be returned to its the initial state. Within each test, only the program under test was installed (if required). And, in fact, an attempt was made to restore all the drivers. Then the drivers were compared according to the list, as well as simple checks on the health of the equipment. For example, try to view a picture from a webcam.

Quick Selection Guide (Free Download Windows Driver Backup and Restore)

Double Driver

Disks with drivers from a recently purchased motherboard, or from a video card, tend to disappear at the most inopportune moment.

And such a moment comes, most often when restoring the system or setting it up from scratch, when disks with drivers are simply necessary.

Of course, to download drivers for the motherboard, you can visit the manufacturer's website, go to the "support" section and download the most new version. But nothing can come of this, for network adapter you also need the driver that was on the lost disk.

You can backup the driver CD to your HDD in advance, but this will not help if the entire hard drive fails, and not individual logical drives.

Moreover, the "drivers" directory is often sent to the trash - it's big, but you need 3-4 drivers.

The author tried a couple of times to store system drivers on a flash drive, but with the same ending. In general, data safety is a hot topic, and you will like another useful backup program - Cobian Backup.

May your system live happily ever after, but if you had to restore everything from scratch, use the small Double Driver program in advance. Checked: it is better to devote a few minutes to her, and she, in case of problems with the operating system, will save you a lot of time and nerves.

Double Driver - backup and restore drivers

This program is nothing more than a tool for working with drivers installed in the system. It is capable of analyzing installed drivers in a very short period of time - no more than a minute, creating a list of them and making a backup copy.

Double Driver is easy to use and easy to use, which is not a hindrance even the lack of Russian and Ukrainian languages. Even an inexperienced user will be able to cope with the program.

The program interface is clear and functional: Double Driver has a toolbar with a set of function buttons. So you don't have to look for the "necessary button" among the array of windows.

In addition, all the tools are arranged in order, according to the frequency of their use.

To scan the system, you need to select the "Backup" tool and click the "Scan Current System" button.

Then we make a choice of drivers that we want to add to our backup.

By analyzing the available system drivers, Double Driver displays a complete report on each of them - manufacturer, installation time, etc.

The analysis result can be printed using the "Print" tool.

As already mentioned, the program is characterized by high speed, while it consumes few resources and the overall performance of the PC does not drop during operation.

By creating reserve base, Double Driver cares about the user's convenience: the copied files are not thrown into one directory - they are distributed over directories that are named identically to the names of the devices.

Is it worth saying that a saved backup takes up much less space on a flash drive than a copy of the entire disk?

It is not known why, but the developer introduced one detail into the program: during operation, you can configure the display mode of both all drivers of the system as a whole, and the display mode of drivers exclusively from Microsoft Corporation.

To restore, you need to use the "Restore" tool and click the "Locate Backup" button. You will be given the option to select a backup to restore.

During the restoration of a set of drivers, the program also shows its best side - as when creating a copy, it takes very little time, no more than a minute.