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I'm looking for a way to automatically install missing drivers on newly installed machines. All the machines are the same brand and model, so I created a shared folder that hass all the drivers in it. On the machine, I edit the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DevicePath
By default, this value is %SystemRoot%\inf, but I changed this to %SystemRoot%\inf;\\SERVER\drvstr to also include my driver share.
Now, after the installation of Windows, A few drivers are missing as you can see in the picture. Weird, because it must search the drivers in my driver share (right?).
To try and fix this, I click Action, Scan for hardware changes. After a few seconds, I get the following information
it can't find my drivers. However, When I right click a missing device, and click on Update Driver Software, the driver gets installed. I Don't browse for the driver, I choose Search automatically for updated driver software and I'm doing this WITHOUT internet connection. So I'm pretty sure it's getting the driver from my driver share, right?
When I check the installed driver, it's indeed the driver from the share.
- Why isn't the driver installed automatically?
- Why doesn't device manager find the driver when I use 'Scan for hardware changes?'
- Is there a way to automate this problem?
I've tried devcon.exe /rescan, but this doesn't even try to install the drivers. It does nothing so far I can see. I'm also not looking for third party software like Driver Genius. I Want to install the drivers, automatically, from the driver share that I maintain.
Thank you
If this is being done straight after booting, it could be that the server path has not been initialised. Try accessing it from explorer then repeat Scan for hardware changes; or copying the server directory to the local disc and using that in the device path. – AFH – 2014-11-07T12:04:27.290
Accessing the drive from explorer and repeating the scan afterwards doesn't have any effect. No drivers are found. Copying the server directory to the local disc isn't convenient because it's more than 12GB of drivers. That would take to much time. – Jente – 2014-11-12T07:13:32.483
Try:
– kenorb – 2015-06-01T23:19:09.890PNPUTIL -a "C:\path\Driver.inf"
as suggested by MAJIDE.