Inf file installation windows 7. How to install .sys or .inf files

04.01.2022

How to force install drivers on Windows 7.

This type of driver installation almost always helps when the driver for the device is not installed by simply running the installation file setup, with extensions *.exe or *.msi.

But the main condition for successful driver installation in this case is that the driver must be completely unpacked and the file with the extension *.inf must be available. Often, hardware manufacturers package their drivers not only with standard ZIP archivers, but also using intricate programs of their own making. Here a program can be very useful for unpacking Universal Extractor, which can be used to unpack almost any driver installer.

Let's consider how to force install a driver in Windows 7 using a webcam as an example Defender AV-W2035. There is a driver downloaded from the Internet AV-W2035_VISTA.zip, which we successfully unpacked into a folder C:/AW-0350-MIC-VISTA. First, we need to look at where our file with the extension is located *.inf. To do this, you need to enable the display of file extensions in Windows folder properties so that file names are written with their extensions. Or use a very useful program Total Commander or similar file manager. After looking through the folders (you can use the file search), we found the file snpstd2.inf

You should remember the entire path to this file so that later it will be easier to find it in Conductor. We connect the camera to the computer and wait for Windows to complete all its operations to detect new hardware.

Opening device Manager (Start –> Control Panel –> Device Manager)

The device is immediately visible USB camera without installed drivers. Right-click on the camera and select the item in the context menu Update drivers...

in the window that opens, click

and then select the button Further

A window will open with a list of equipment categories.
In order not to waste time or rack your brains, we simply point to the first line Show all devices and press the button Further

In the next window we will see a list of available drivers in the system (if any). But since we know that we have a folder with the driver, without selecting anything from the list, we click on the button

Press the button Review…

and using Explorer we look for our file with the extension *.inf, select it with the mouse and follow the button Open

and, of course, a button OK

Now our driver will appear in the window with a list of available drivers (if the driver is not suitable for the equipment, the system will generate an error).

Here you should pay attention to the checkbox Compatible devices only. The fact is that if the connected equipment has not been tested for compatibility with the installed version of Windows, then a driver for it will not be found, despite the fact that it may be completely working. Therefore, in some cases, this checkbox should be unchecked and the driver search repeated again.

So, after the file with the driver is found, select our driver in the list with the mouse and press the button Further

The driver installation will begin.

A Windows warning may appear indicating that the driver you are installing does not have digital signature or has not been checked for compatibility. If you are sure that the driver was taken from a reliable source and is exactly intended for the equipment being installed, then you should absolutely not be afraid of such a warning, but should agree to further install the driver. When the installation is complete, the system will display a completion window.

You can verify successful driver installation by checking Device Manager, where the connected device will no longer have a question mark, and its name will change to the correct one created by the manufacturer. In our case with the camera, this will be the device that appears with the name USB PC Camera (SN9C103)

The installation is complete, you can safely start using your new equipment!

This publication is intended for users who are already somewhat familiar with computers and want to learn how to independently install and configure the operating system. The accessible language of the material and a large number of visual illustrations will help you correctly install Windows 7 and configure your computer to achieve optimal performance. In addition, the book describes in detail basic principles restoring the operating system.

The information contained in this book has been obtained from sources considered reliable by the publisher. However, taking into account possible human or technical errors, the publishing house cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy and completeness of the information provided and is not responsible for possible mistakes related to the use of the book.

Book:

Let's consider a situation where a set of INF files is used to install equipment.

Open Control Panel and start the mechanism device Manager. As a result, a window will open in which you can see a list of all devices detected by the operating system on the computer (Fig. 16.1).

Most of it consists of devices located on the motherboard, and only a few entries indicate devices that are installed in the form of an expansion card or connected using external ports.

Our task is to install a driver for a device that is not detected by the operating system. If your device is not yet connected to your computer, now is the time to do so.

If the device is already connected to the computer, then right-click on the computer name at the very top of the list and in the menu that appears, select Install old device (Fig. 16.2). This will launch the Hardware Installation Wizard, which will help you and guide your actions when installing equipment (Fig. 16.3).

Rice. 16.1. Launch the Device Manager mechanism

Rice. 16.2. Select Install old device

After reading the introductory speech and preparing the driver disk, if needed, click the button Further, to begin the device installation process.

Rice. 16.3. Hardware Installation Wizard

The installation wizard offers two options for further actions: automatic and manual installation equipment (Fig. 16.4). Automatic installation will not give anything, because operating system I already tried to do this during the installation process. For this reason, it is necessary to immediately move on to the second option. Set the switch to position Installing equipment manually selected from the list and press the button Further.

Rice. 16.4. Selecting an action option

In the next window you will see a list of devices of different types, drivers for which are available in the operating system (Fig. 16.5).

Rice. 16.5. Specify the type of device that needs to be installed

Let's first consider the option when you find the driver you need in the list of manufacturers and drivers. Having marked it, press the button Further, to proceed to install it.

In the next window, the Hardware Installation Wizard will show a list of all drivers available in the system for the selected device type, sorted by hardware manufacturer. If you are sure that one of the proposed drivers is suitable for your equipment, then select the desired manufacturer on the left side of the window, and the required driver on the right. After that, you can try to install it by clicking the button Further(Fig. 16.6). This will bring up a confirmation window in which you need to click the button again Further(Fig. 16.7).

After driver installation is confirmed, the Add Hardware Wizard copies the necessary drivers to the system and attempts to initialize the device. If the device initialization was successful, you will see a message window indicating that the driver for the device was installed correctly and the device is ready to use. Otherwise, the wizard will report that the installation failed and the device cannot be started, or that there are some difficulties (Fig. 16.8).

Rice. 16.6. Specify the driver for the device

Rice. 16.7. Confirm driver installation

How to force install drivers on Windows 7.

This type of driver installation almost always helps when the driver for the device is not installed by simply running the installation file setup, with extensions *.exe or *.msi.

So, after the file with the driver is found, select our driver in the list with the mouse and press the button Further

The driver installation will begin.

A Windows warning may appear indicating that the driver you are installing is not digitally signed or has not been tested for compatibility. If you are sure that the driver was taken from a reliable source and is exactly intended for the equipment being installed, then you should absolutely not be afraid of such a warning, but should agree to further install the driver. When the installation is complete, the system will display a completion window.

You can verify successful driver installation by checking Device Manager, where the connected device will no longer have a question mark, and its name will change to the correct one created by the manufacturer. In our case with the camera, this will be the device that appears with the name USB PC Camera (SN9C103)

The installation is complete, you can safely start using your new equipment!

This is not such a common situation, but when servicing a large fleet of user computers, sometimes it happens that for some device the manufacturer has not released drivers for the required OS version. It could be old version OS, or old device. All in all. Sometimes you need to install drivers manually. They are usually supplied in the form of several files. Most often they have the extension inf or sys, but they can also be different.

The procedure for installing a driver in Windows 10 depends on how you install it. Each method has its pros and cons. The most important advantage is that any user, from beginner to expert, can choose the most convenient one for themselves, avoiding system errors and program crashes in the future. We will look at each method in detail separately. Remember that the most important thing is to use drivers from reliable sources so as not to damage the operating system or accidentally launch a virus, the elimination of which will take much more time and effort than installing any driver.

What you need to install the driver

In order to install the driver manually, you need an installation disk or special software, which will guide you through the entire installation procedure step by step. Below we will look at one of these programs - Driver Easy. There are situations when, due to incompatibility of the driver with installation disk gives an error message. It is in such cases that we need programs that will help us find and update the driver. In addition, this option will be more acceptable for owners of netbooks, which often do not have a disk drive. For such cases, there is an option to install the necessary driver from a USB drive, we will also look at that today, since this method has its own characteristics.

Manual installation - instructions

Installing the driver manually using Device Manager

1. Open the panel Windows management 10, simultaneously press the Win + X key (Windows key and X key) and left-click on the “Control Panel” item

2. For convenience, it is advisable to set up small icons.

3. Click on “Device Manager”.

In the Device Manager window, expand the categories and find the device you need. Then right-click on the device name and select Update Driver Software. The photo shows an example of installing the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller network adapter driver.

Installing the driver manually using Driver Easy

1. In the main window of the Driver Easy program, click on the driver of the device that needs to be updated. After this, you will see the standard task manager window, which was described above. Select the device to update.

2. You will see two options in the pop-up window. Click Browse My Computer to install the driver software.

3. Click Browse to locate the downloaded driver file.

Click the Down Triangle button in Driver Easy, then select Open File Location to open the driver folder.

For convenience, you can copy and paste the location of the downloaded files into the field.

The path to the file:

As you already understood, the update takes a lot of time and requires basic knowledge of working with a personal computer. In addition to updating manually, Driver Easy can automatically search, download and install all drivers that need updating. But, as we already said, this is not safe, since this function works in automatic mode, and in this case it is impossible to make a backup copy in case of a serious failure.

Installing the driver from a CD or DVD

Almost all computer and hardware manufacturers provide a set of drivers for various hardware devices. For example, the driver CD that comes with your printer contains drivers for many different printers, not just the one you purchased. When installing drivers, make sure that you are installing drivers for your printer model and not for another one. Also, make sure that you are installing it for the version of Windows that is installed on your computer. The process of installing a driver from a CD is no different from the standard installation process of any other program. Be sure to follow all instructions in the installer the first time you run it. In some cases, you need to remove the old driver before installing the new one.

If you have a driver CD but your computer doesn't have a drive or it doesn't work, you can also load the drivers from a USB drive.

Installing drivers from a USB drive

After copying the drivers to a USB drive, you can install the necessary software on your computer. Make sure the drive is connected to your computer, open Windows Explorer and find your device name in it. For example, if you have a USB drive that is assigned to the E: drive when connected, then you need to click on the icon named E: in order for the contents to open.

Once the drivers are found on the disk, you must determine exactly how they will be installed on your computer. If the directory contains executable files or an installation file (extension *.exe), then you can install the driver using this file. If the drivers are compressed into a ZIP file, you will need to extract the file using archivers such as 7-Zip and WinZip.

Installing inf file

If the above recommendations did not help you, then all instructions for installing drivers and hardware devices are always contained in a file with the .inf extension, which is located in the C: Windowsinf folder. The folder containing the information files is protected and hidden. To make it appear, in the folder view settings, check the “Hidden items” checkbox. To find the information file for the device you need, follow these instructions:

Open Device Manager;

Right-click on the selected device and select “Properties” from the menu

After that, go to the “Details” tab. Expand the list and select “INF Name”. The file name will be displayed in the "Value" field.

Once you know the file name, go back to the Task Manager, select the device, click "Update Driver" and specify the path to the *.inf file (in this example it will be C:Windowsinfoem3.inf)

Installation, configuration and restoration of Windows 7 100% Vatamanyuk Alexander Ivanovich

Installing a driver from an INF file

Let's consider a situation where a set of INF files is used to install equipment.

Most of it consists of devices located on the motherboard, and only a few entries indicate devices that are installed in the form of an expansion card or connected using external ports.

Our task is to install a driver for a device that is not detected by the operating system. If your device is not yet connected to your computer, now is the time to do so.

Rice. 16.1. Launch the Device Manager mechanism

Rice. 16.2. Select Install old device

After reading the introductory speech and preparing the driver disk, if needed, click the button Further, to begin the device installation process.

Rice. 16.3. Hardware Installation Wizard

The installation wizard offers a choice of two options for further actions: automatic and manual installation of equipment (Fig. 16.4). Automatic installation will not do anything, since the operating system has already tried to do this during the installation process. For this reason, it is necessary to immediately move on to the second option. Set the switch to position Installing equipment manually selected from the list and press the button Further.

Rice. 16.4. Selecting an action option

In the next window you will see a list of devices of different types, drivers for which are available in the operating system (Fig. 16.5).

Rice. 16.5. Specify the type of device that needs to be installed

Let's first consider the option when you find the driver you need in the list of manufacturers and drivers. Having marked it, press the button Further, to proceed to install it.

Rice. 16.6. Specify the driver for the device

Rice. 16.7. Confirm driver installation

In this situation, the only way out is to try installing another driver, for example, one that came with the device or one downloaded from the manufacturer’s website on the Internet.

Rice. 16.8. Driver installation failed

To install a different driver, click the button Install from disk(see Fig. 16.6). As a result, a window will appear in which you need to click the button Review(Fig. 16.9) and in the file selection window that opens, specify the location of the file with the driver.

Rice. 16.9. Installing a driver from another source

After pressing the button OK the wizard will try to install the driver. If this driver can work in Windows 7, it will be installed and the device will be able to function.

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