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transferring drivers from old hard drive to new hard drive

by ronr
2 replies
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My current computer is extremely slow and the drive is small so I'm installing new a hard drive with a fresh installation of win 7. Can I copy the current drivers from the old drive and put them on the new drive so I don't have to find all the drivers individually?

I've searched but can't find an easy solution.

thanks Ron
  • Profile picture of the author Elvis Michael
    Ron, the short answer is No, you can't just copy the installed drivers from one place to another. Notice the emphasis on "installed" - meaning, you can only copy the installation files (the files you initially downloaded to install the drivers), but you cannot move drivers that are already in an "installed" state.

    That being said, was your computer custom-built? Or did you purchase from a specific brand? (Compaq, Dell, ASUS, etc).

    The reason i ask is because, if it's from a brand, then downloading all drivers is really quick and easy. If this is the case, just go to the company website and visit their main "Drivers" or "Downloads" section. Once you select your computer model on the website, every driver will be neatly available from one screen. It really is painless.

    I would also recommend that you download the drivers from the website because the ones from your old hard drive may be outdated (again, referring to the installation/downloaded files, if you have them saved on the old drive).
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    EPI is right. IF the drivers are for the SAME endian, family, and bit size, ****AND**** have the SAME dependencies, ****AND**** have the SAME compatibility, ****AND**** have the SAME PARAMETERS with the SAME SETTINGS, ****AND**** are compatible with your hardware, they will likely work, and can be copied. The problem is that if ONE of those things is even SLIGHTLY different, it will either have to be installed properly, or may not work at ALL! A failure could mean your whole OS is virtually "TOAST"! Sometimes even a VERSION CHANGE will cause problems.

    Steve
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