If you’ve ever re-installed Windows, you’ll know how time consuming it can be.

This is partly because you have to install numerous device drivers (if you can find all your hardware installation disks, that is).

With Driver Genius you can avoid this hassle by creating a driver auto-installer that will install all your drivers at once.

So, let’s get on with it…

Choose which drivers to backup

Fire up Driver Genius and click on Backup.

Now, the first thing to do is choose which drivers to include on the backup file.

Selecting which drivers to backup.

I suggest selecting all of them.

Click Next…

Choose the backup type

Now choose the type of backup.

Selecting the backup type and location.

Select Auto-Installer Archive from the drop down menu.

Also choose a location.

If you’re intending to re-install Windows you’ll want to save it (or copy it) to another drive or disk, otherwise it’ll get overwritten.

My auto-installer file is approximately 72MB, so it’ll easily fit on a CD-ROM…

… but for now I’ve chosen to save it to my slave drive.

Click Next…

Driver Genius will now backup your drivers.

This process took about 45 minutes on my computer (mind you, it’s no spring chicken, so yours may not take as long).

Click Finish at the bottom of the confirmation screen to return to the Driver Genius main screen.

Check the auto-installer works

Navigate your way to the drive or folder you saved the auto-installer to and double click on the exe file to launch it.

You should see a screen something like this:

The Driver Genius driver installation program.

And that’s it. You’re done.

Next time you re-install Windows you can sit back and relax while Driver Genius does the tedious part.

One of DriverCure’s unique features is that it updates your drivers and your software. It’s also a really simple process. So, let’s get started…

Selecting the drivers to update

From the scan results screen, select the drivers you want to update. You can update as many drivers as you like.

To keep this simple, I’m only going to update one driver — my Logitech MX Revolution mouse driver.

Updating my Logitech mouse driver with DriverCure.

After selecting your drivers, click the big green Fix Now button at the bottom of the screen.

DriverCure will now download your new driver.

Downloading a new driver.

Once the download is complete, click Yes to confirm that you want to install the driver.

Confirm driver installation.

DriverCure will now launch the driver installer. If you don’t see anything happen, check your taskbar for any new windows.

Extracting the Logitech SetPoint^TM driver.

Now just follow the installer’s onscreen instructions to install your updated driver.

Installing drivers via the History screen

If you would like to know what versions of drivers are available before you install them, you can view this information by clicking on the History button.

Downloading a driver via DriverCure’s History screen.

You can also install drivers via the History screen. The only disadvantage is you can only install one driver at a time.

Compressed & archived files

If any of the drivers you download are in the ZIP file format, DriverCure won’t automatically install them. You’ll have to navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Downloads and unzip them.

Viewing the default DriverCure download folder.

To unzip your driver you’ll need to use a utility like the excellent and free ExtractNow.

Restart Windows

You will most likely be prompted to restart your computer after installing a driver, so it’s a good idea to save any work and close the applications beforehand.

And that’s it. Now just rinse and repeat.

Installing software updates

You can also install software updates via the scan results screen or the History screen.

Installing Adobe^® AIR^® with DriverCure.

The process is the same as installing drivers except files aren’t usually zipped.

Any questions?

Feel free to get in touch or leave a comment if you have any questions about using DriverCure. We’re always happy to help.

Now that you’ve updated all your drivers with Driver Detective, you may want to backup the drivers you’ve downloaded so you can install them again without having to re-download them. This is a simple process and only takes a couple of minutes.

Let’s get started

Fire up Driver Detective and click the History button.

Choose which drivers to backup

On the Downloaded History screen, check the boxes next to the drivers you want to include in the backup.

Now click on Backup Selected at the bottom of the screen. This will launch the Driver Backup Wizard.

On the Welcome to the Driver Backup Wizard screen click Next at the bottom of the page. This will take you to the Choose Backup Location screen.

Selecting a backup location

Now you need to choose whether to backup your drivers to a CD/DVD-ROM or external media and select the drive from the dropdown menu.

Now is a good time to insert a CD/DVD-ROM if you haven’t already done so.

Now click on Browse and select the folder where you want to backup your drivers to and click OK.

Then click Next at the bottom of the screen.

Writing the backup files

Driver Detective will now complete the backup process by writing the files to the backup location.

Verifying the backup files

You can now use Windows Explorer to view your backup folder and verify your drivers have been backed up.

Another source of backup drivers

All the drivers you have downloaded are listed inside the Drivers HeadQuarters website.

To access them, go to the Driver Detective website and click on the Sign In link at the top right of the page. You can now sign in using your login details you received after registering Driver Detective.

If you click on the History tab it will take you to a page with a list of your previously downloaded drivers. Just click on the links if you need to download any of your drivers again.

It also lists your previous scan results further down the page so you can download drivers by clicking on those links, too.