Stop Losing Your Essential Drivers! Learn How to Backup and Restore Drivers in Windows 11 with JUST Cmd!!
Drivers are an essential component of a computer system that helps hardware devices communicate with the operating system. Without drivers, our computers would be unable to perform basic functions like playing audio, printing documents, or connecting to the internet. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that we keep our drivers present and updated. Losing or corrupting drivers can cause a lot of inconvenience and problems. This article will detail how to backup and restore drivers in Windows 11 using just Cmd.
Why Backup Your Drivers?
Backing up your drivers is a crucial practice that can save you from problems like system crashes, hardware malfunction, or a virus attack. Without drivers, your computer system will not be able to function as intended, which could result in loss of data or worse. Therefore, it is essential to have a backup copy of your drivers. You can backup drivers to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, DVD, or even cloud storage.
How to Backup Drivers Using CMD
Command prompt or CMD is the built-in command-line interpreter that comes with all Windows operating systems. CMD can handle several tasks, such as executing scripts, running programs, and performing advanced system tasks such as backing up drivers. The first step in backing up drivers using CMD is to launch the Command Prompt window. To launch CMD, follow these steps:
- Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type “cmd” in the textbox and press Enter.
After launching CMD, follow the below steps to backup your drivers.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt window with admin-level privileges. To do this, right-click on the Command Prompt icon in the taskbar, and select “Run as administrator.”
Step 2: Type “DISM /Online /Export-Driver /Destination:
Step 3: Press Enter, and the Command Prompt will start backing up your drivers. Wait until the process is complete.
After completing the above steps, you will have a backup of all the drivers on your computer. It is essential to note that the backup you create using CMD will not include third-party drivers or drivers that are unsigned.
How to Restore Drivers Using CMD
If your computer develops driver issues, you can use the backup you created earlier to restore your drivers. Follow the below steps to restore drivers using CMD.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt window with admin-level privileges.
Step 2: Type “DISM /Online /Add-Driver /Driver:
Step 3: Press Enter, and the Command Prompt will start restoring your drivers. Wait until the process is complete.
After completing the steps above, Windows will automatically restore all the drivers from your backup file, fixing any issues on your computer. Note that to restore drivers, you must have saved your backup on a local drive or external device that is currently available.
Conclusion
In summary, backing up your drivers is a highly recommended practice to preserve your system’s health and prevent data loss. Using CMD, you can easily backup and restore all the drivers on your Windows 11 machine. Although carefully following the steps provided above will help safeguard your computer system, always check to confirm that you have the right drivers installed after restoration. You can also automate the backup process using third-party tools, which will simplify things for you.
If we talk about Windows 11, the operating system automatically downloads the latest device drivers during the Windows updates and installs the same. However, specific drivers must be installed manually to ensure the device’s proper functioning. After installing the device drivers manually, you can use the Command Prompt utility of Windows 11 to create a backup of all drivers installed on your system. If you create a backup of your installed drivers, you can use them in need. Also Read: How to Download & Install Windows 11 On PC/Laptop
Steps to Backup Device Drivers in Windows 11 using Command Prompt
This article will share a step-by-step guide on backing up drivers using the Command prompt in Windows 11. Hence, if you look for an easier way to backup drivers on Windows 11, read the right guide. Let’s check out.
1) How to Backup Drivers using Command Prompt
We will use Windows 11’s Command prompt utility to backup all installed drivers. The process might take time, but it does the job of premium software for free. Follow some of the simple steps we have shared below.
Click on the Windows 11 Search and type in Command Prompt. Right-click on the CMD and select Run as administrator.
On the Command Prompt window, execute the command shared below: dism /online /export-driver /destination:"<destination_folder>"
Important: Make sure to replace “<destination_folder>” with the destination path you want to save the backup file. 3. Command Prompt will take a few seconds to scan all installed drivers. Once scanned, it will backup the driver.
- To confirm the driver backup, open the destination folder. You will see all your driver files in the folder.
That’s it! You are done. This is how you can backup all your installed drivers on Windows 11 via Command Prompt. You can keep the backup file in a safe location and reuse it when you feel the need.
2) How to Restore Drivers on Windows 11
If you wish to restore the device drivers, follow some simple steps we have shared below.
First, click on the Windows 11 search and type in Device Manager. Next, open the Device Manager app from the list.
On the Device Manager, right-click on the device you want to install the driver for. On the context menu, select Update driver.
On the Update Drivers Window, select Browse my computer for driver software
On the next Window, click the browse button and select the folder where the driver backup files have been stored.
If the backup file is stored in a subfolder, check the Include subfolders option. Once done, click on the Next button.
The Device Manager will automatically scan the folder and install the appropriate driver.
That’s it! You are done. This is how you can restore drivers from the backup file created using Command Prompt. It’s pretty easy to backup drivers using Command Prompt on Windows 11. If you find this method complicated, you can use third-party driver updater software to update all your Windows 11 PC device drivers.
