Is there a good freeware program to backup/restore installed drivers (Win XP)

[Lolipop Jones]

Something that would be the free equivalent of programs like "Driver Genius"

thanks all!

[gexecuter]

I have heard that drivermax is pretty good, tough i haven`t tried it myself. Might wanna check it out yourself.

[llc_silly]

drivermax + 1
It is a life saver!!!

I tried drivermax and it backed up all my drivers very quickly,
and I reinstalled all my Windows drivers without any problems.

[PhilB66]

DriverMax not really a freeware... requires a "free" registration code to run and a user account. Also, you must give DriverMax.com permission to transmit and use information about driver updates, information about unknown hardware, information about your computer's installed hardware... yikes.

You could backup with DriverBackup!, Driver Magician Lite, Double Driver, and etc. and use Windows driver install wizard to restore.

[40hz]

I use BooZet's Double Driver.

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Works as advertised. One of the first things I load after a new install.

[gexecuter]

DriverMax not really a freeware... requires a "free" registration code to run and a user account. Also, you must give DriverMax.com permission to transmit and use information about driver updates, information about unknown hardware, information about your computer's installed hardware... yikes.

You could backup with DriverBackup!, Driver Magician Lite, Double Driver, and etc. and use Windows driver install wizard to restore.

-PhilB66 (September 21, 2008, 06:43 PM)

getting a free registration key is not something that would stop me from using program. getting a key is something that takes only minutes in my experience and i would gladly do it for a good program.
The giving information about your PC is not good tough....

btw Driver Magician Lite only backups your drivers, it doesn't restore them which is pretty dumb if you think about it. I haven't heard about the other two.

[Shades]

@gexecuter:

Depends. Those files can be useful if you add hardware through the Windows Device Manager. This is not the way common users would want to take when installing their hardware after (re-)installing...but if you are a power user (a bonafide registered one instead of thinking so!  ) this method can prove quite useful.

Then again, the freeware that is suggested earlier in this tread makes life easier. Personally the Management Console charms me a lot more than the interfaces those backup-software forces on me.