Hey guys and girls

I wrote this simple guide on finding the right drivers (for missing drivers - and those unknown drivers) if any with Windows 7. For instance , now we are going to look drivers for our Ethernet (I've removed the drivers just to demonstrate on how to look drivers) . The main reason why I am showing this is that rebranding occurs for instance D-link rebrands their Broadcom drivers as D-link DWL-510 (for instance). The real thing is based on the chipset. So by getting device id and vendor id , we can trace who really made the card and by finding out who did , we can install the correct (mostly generic drivers) to get our device to work.

To do this , firstly go to Device Manager. It can be done in several ways (it can be launched from Start , by typing Device Mananger). Right click Computer , going to properties and selecting Device Manager. These are the common ways to start. Alternatively you may type devmgmt.msc (or by creating a shortcut to it)

As we see below, there is an unknown device in which Windows 7 isn't able to find the correct device for it. So to find out more about the device , I right click it and select properties. Alternatively you may double click this




Select Detail Tab and then select Hardware IDs from the drop down list




Now you'll see few IDs.

Take note of VEN and DEV . In this case its PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8136 . I would ignore the rest as its device sub-id , sub-vendor. These how vendors rebrand a generic card into their own name.

Now I fire up google and google for 'PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8136' (You may see the results by clicking here)

So I've managed to find out that the Unknown Device is my Ethernet card , and its made by Realtek. There are couple of links in the results and one it from Realtek's site. I've an option of trying peoples suggestion there in Google. Some of them even have links to where to download the drivers. So I've my options opened and I do know who made the card instead of just saying I've HP Gigabit Ethernet . This is another way you could find latest drivers for your card if its not updated by OEM.

This holds true if Windows 7 installs generic drivers. These generic drivers include for WLAN , sound card whereby you'll have some problems such as "distorted audio" or other slow downs. For this case , its possible to use drivers from Windows XP , Windows Vista and even earlier version of Windows 7. Here is the list

For Windows 7 X86_64 (64-bit) , you could use drivers from :-
Windows Vista 64-bit (98% compatibility with Windows 7)
Windows XP 64-bit (ot works for certain PCI cards (legacy) , (legacy) TV Tuners and Radio tuners whereby there is no more drivers) (Do turn off driver signing)

Keep in mind that if you use Windows 7 x86_64 and if you have some old drivers written for windows xp 64-bit , there may be some issues with it. For instance MCE-150 TV tuner , if you have 4GB of RAM , you'll have to set the memory limit in windows as 4095 (aka less then 4GB) - otherwise it wouldn't work at all.

For Windows 7 i386 (32-bit) you could use drivers from :-
Windows Vista 32-bit (99% - its higher because on how kernel , low level stuff are being handled is as almost the same as vista)
Windows XP (May not work for all devices , however its possible to get really old devices to play nice with Windows 7)

Hope you've learned something today about your hardware

This guide works with Windows Vista as well !

Alternatively use this database to find who made your card/device :- http://www.pcidatabase.com/



This post has been edited by prasys: Sep 6 2009, 10:21 PM

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good info n guide here..

Great guide, it will help a lot of users to solve their driver problems.



This post has been edited by JusticeDeserves: Sep 7 2009, 02:04 AM

Fantastic guide. There's lot more to come when the actual release is out..

can u help me..
i want bluetooth driver for my inspiron 1420..

Try here
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/...ng=en&TabIndex=

how thats works?

Realtek already has Windows 7 drivers for their LAN and audio.

Intel has chipset drivers but they are based on Windows 7 RC1.

ATI and NVidia have their Windows 7 drivers out for a while now.

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1155060&hl=

Look in one of the spoilers in that thread above, find for the one with a list of manufactures.

Many other manufactures already have got drivers for Windows 7.

hye
can help me to find driver for win 7 32-bit?

im using benQ s41

Is that BenQ Joybook S4?
or is that some other hardware?

BTW: You can use Vista drivers too if you can't find it. Read prasys tutorial first, then try his methods. I am still trying to get your drivers, but can't find a proper and legit link.

s41 bro

can used vista driver for seven ah??
ic
tq!!

from my experience, ATI drivers for vista are not compatible for Win7, so beware... just a warning.

my laptop acer 4520, have install windows 7 ultimate 64 bits, i download latest realtek audio driver from their website but my pc don't have sound. i try compatible application but until now no solution for this.

You downloaded the 64bit driver right?

i download 64 bit realteck driver, still can't detect my sound card.

where can i find win 7 driver for hp laserjet M1005 MFP?
the vista driver cannot be installed into mu win 7

Anyone knows if there is driver for ATI mobility radeon x1400? I'm using Toshiba M100. Now in very funny mode as the graphics is screwed. Getting 1.0 from the score

Thx for the info!

i searched my sound card and 4-5 different models came out. and the one that is closest is not even the card that i have.. help

PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_100A1102&REV_00

that was the refference code