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Joseph
Asked: 2011-04-22 04:18:37 +0800 CST

make Windows 7 install compatible built-in driver when imaging or with GPO?

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I have a device that has had no specific driver released. In Device Manager, if I choose

Update Driver... --> Browse my computer driver software --> Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer

I get a list of drivers when Show compatible hardware is checked. One of those drivers, which is a preloaded driver provided by Microsoft, works perfectly. How do I get Windows to install this driver without user interaction? We have 10 workstations in a lab that get reimaged regularly and not all the users are knowledge enough or have the driver installation permissions to do this on their own.

windows-7 imaging

5 Answers

  1. Unless I'm misunderstanding, you should be able to attach the device to your "Base" machine, install the working driver. Then when you sysprep and repack that base image it should be included when you re-image a machine using that image.

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  2. Best Answer

    What you want is DevCon from Microsoft. You can't download it by itself, but you can get it by following these instructions:
    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/how-to-obtain-the-current-version-of-device-console-utility-devcon-exe.aspx

    This page has a bunch of examples on how to use it:
    http://www.osronline.com/ddkx/ddtools/devcon_86er.htm

    You can find the Hardware Id in Device Manager under the Details tab in Properties for the device. If the device has multiple Ids, I suggest trying the shortest one first. You'll also want to look at Inf name. This will tell you the name of the install file to plug into DevCon. The path is not listed, but since it's a built-in driver, it should be in C:\Windows\inf\

    Before you start using DevCon, you will need to uninstall the driver you got working, after you get the info, and then rescan for new devices. This should put the computer back in the state like you just imaged it. I've only used DevCon a couple of times, but I suggest using the shortest Id, if there multiple, and trying the update argument first. If that doesn't work, then try the install argument. If that doesn't work, try update with the next Id. It should eventually install. That will give you your command to run. Just add it to SetupComplete.cmd or a GPO along with DevCon and you should be good to go.

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  3. Normally that driver should already be automatically installed when installing Windows 7. You should create a image with the driver integrated into that image. Take a look here: Deploying Windows 7 Part 23: Managing Drivers – Introduction

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  4. Why not create an AutoIT script that installs the device for you? You can then have it check for the driver at every logon, or add it to RunOnce...

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  5. When you do sysprep there's a section which specifies custom drivers to load. Please see the links in the following google search, that should give you an insight on how to perform such installations.

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