Copy drivers from another PC 1

[Acclivity]

I have 2 similar old PC's with same graphics cards and NIC cards. One PC needed hard drive reformat. Can I copy the installed drivers from the still working PC? How would I go about finding and installing them (no INF file etc. ???). I'm having difficulty finding drivers for these obsolete peripherals on the web etc.
Tnx.

 

[m1ckG]

Whats the make and model of the Graphics Card and Network Card??

Have you tried

http://www.driverguide.com

dont bother registering as username is drivers and password is all.

Michael

 

[Twinmoon]

I'm not sure if this applies or not, but I do know you can't copy system files from a 98 to 95.

 

[Acclivity]

Graphics card is Diamond Stealth 2500, NIC is Realtek 8019. Have tried some files from Driverguide.com - seems to be a bit shambolic - half the offered files aren't drivers at all. Tried one named W95... said to work for W98, but it asked for lots of bits off a Win95 CD.

I recently installed a printer on a networked PC 'A'. The printer was already installed on another PC 'B' on the network. When I logically installed it on 'A' the installation process just copied all the drivers over the network from PC 'B' - didn't need the CD at all - so that made me think this process might be more generally possible.

I see that on all my Win98 PC's there is a windows\inf folder, with sub-folders, with sundry .INF files in. But how would I associate such an installed .INF file with all the .EXE and other bits that might make up the whole driver for a given peripheral?

Mike

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, Acclivity,

It looks like you may have major problem.

http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=121

The Diamond website is useless:

http://www.diamondmm.com/

Try here:

http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/uploads14/15646.html

and here for the Realtek

http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/uploads15/1406.html

( username is drivers and password is all. )

Iechyd da! John
23:34 09/10/2003 BST

 

[Acclivity]

Tnx BigJohnD

Have bought a cheap alternative PCI card via eBay,
and downloaded the Realtek driver you linked to.

Tnx

Mike

p.s. Would still like to know if/how
drivers can be copied from one PC to another.

 

[diogenes10]

dont know if this is helpful or not
win98
when I go to device manager and highlight my video card
click properties, click driver, and then click driver file detail I see some paths and vxd info.

maybe this would help you locate files you need to copy.

"The best

 optimizer is between your ears."
   M. Abrash

 

[diogenes10]

two other comments for you

1)If the pcs are close enough you might be able to image the harddrive off the working one and put that image on the other and bring it up that way.

2) Whether option 1 works or not, if the driver issues are that critical, you ought to consider imaging both systems to give you a restore point.

If you dont currently have a copy of ghost, you can get one on ebay either ghost or systemworks pro which includes it. If your copying needs are confined to win95/win98 you could probably use version from a year or two back which would further reduce the cost. (or Powerquest drive image-not familiar enough with versions here to tell you what works and what doesnt.)

"The best optimizer is between your ears."
M. Abrash