1 How To Install Windows XP/Vista/7 Drivers Using DriverPack Solution

How To Install Windows XP/Vista/7 Drivers Using DriverPack Solution

Hello. I'm going to teach you how to install Windows Drivers easily. Let's define first what is driver (or device driver). Driver is a software that acts as translator or communicator between the hardware and the applications or operating system. It usually communicates through computer bus or any communications subsystem that is connected to computer. To simplify, I'll say that your hardware may not work, or may work but not that good. So, if your computer hardware doesn't have drivers installed, its not going to perform at its best.

How To Know If My Hardware's Driver Is Installed?

Click on Start > Right click on My Computer > Manage > Device Manager.

 You will see the uninstalled devices are categorized as Other Devices.

How Can I Install These Drivers?
There are two options for this job. Manual or Automatic.  In manual installation, you will have to go to the manufacturers official site and look for your device model whereas in automatic, you just have to click some buttons and the software will do the job. Windows have its built-in feature to update the software automatically thru Windows Update, but sometimes it doesn't do the job well. Let's try to update my Ethernet Controller thru Windows Update and see if it can get the job well done.

Right Click on the device and choose Update Driver Software

Choose Search automatically for updated driver software.

Windows is now searching the device driver software.

Windows was unable to install the device driver software.

Not because Windows was unable to do the job means that you'll have to go for a manual installation. This time, we will use an open source automatic driver software installer called DriverPack Solution by Kuzyakov Artur Vyacheslavovich IP. You can download it here. The whole driverpack is like 3.15Gb in size, but trust me, it's worth it. Here, I am going to install my device driver using the DriverPack Solution.

 Right click on the DriverPackSolution.exe and Run as Administrator.

The program automatically detects missing hardware and will tell if it is in the database. Click the Install button

It automatically creates restore point so you can rollback changes.

Device drivers to be installed will be shown. Choose the drivers you want to install and click Start Installation.

Once started, you'll just have to wait for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how many drivers are to be installed.

Now its done. All drivers are installed. It is advised to restart your computer for the drivers to take effect.

Go back to Device Manager and check if the drivers are installed. In my case, the two devices are now installed.

So that's how you install device drivers. Although these automatic drivers installers are supporting most of the drivers, sometimes you might have a device which is not yet in the database, so you have to wait for the Driverpack Solution software update or you can manually install the driver.
That's for today! Thank you for reading my blog. :)

0 How To Create Windows 7 Bootable Image From Installation Files

How To Create Windows 7 Bootable Image From Installation Files

Here I am going to teach you How To Create Windows 7 Bootable Image From Installation Files using a program called PowerISO. You might ask me, "Why should I have to learn that?" and my answer will be, "Simply because your computer might have some problems and you don't have a Windows Installation DVD so your only option is to boot from USB, but then you don't have the Windows Image so I'm going to teach you how to make one.". Then you'll be saying, "Ahhh.".
Kidding aside, this will really help you if you lost your Windows Installation Disc and you won't like that to happen. CD's and DVD's are very prone to damage when they are not handled with care. So I suggest that you create an image back up of your Windows Installation Disc on a USB Flash Drive.

Things you'll need:

• Computer or Laptop with Optical Drive
• Windows Installation Disc
• PowerISO (Download it here.)
• A USB Flash Drive or any backup media

 Let's Get Started:

Step 1. Insert your Windows Installation Disc and locate the installation files

Step 2. Run PowerISO as Adminstrator.

Step 3. Click on New, choose Data CD/DVD Image.

Step 4. Click on Add Files and Folders.

Step 5. Select all files, use Ctrl + A. Then click Add.

Step 6. Click Action > Boot > Add Boot Information

Step 7. Select ETFSBOOT. Click Open.

Step 8. Click OK to add the Boot Information File.

Step 9. You will notice that it is now a Bootable Image.

Step 10. Click Save to create the .iso image.

Step 11. Put your desired image file name and output location.

Step 12. Wait for the saving to finish. This will take some time.

Step 13. Once finished, you will have your image file on your desired location.

Congratulations! you now have a Windows Installation Disc image file! :)

1 How To Set Up An Old Computer

Photo used under Creative Commons from commons.wikimedia.com.

You probably have a dusty, old computer set at your home and wondering if it can still work to serve your needs. Of course there is a chance that it may still work at your command if it doesn't have visible damages. The best thing to do is to check the hardware of the computer. It doesn't matter how old it is, there's always a chance for an electronic device to work even if it was stuck for a long time. Let's get started.

Photo used under Creative Commons from commons.wikimedia.com.

Cleaning the Hardware
It is important to clean the hardware first because it has a great effect on the performance of your computer, whether old or new. Furthermore, it adds beauty to your stuff too. This task is quite easy and will consume at most an hour.

1.  Remove all the screws of the CPU case and detach all of the hardware inside it.
2. Clean up the dusts and other dirt on every hardware, be careful on handling to avoid damage. Be sure to clean your monitor, keyboard and mouse too!
3. After everything has been cleaned, reassemble the CPU and reconnect the input/output devices (that's the monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.).
4. Power up your computer. If the green LED light blinked and you heard some kind of a beep, then you're good to go.If not, you may want to check your power cables.

Photo used under Creative Commons from commons.wikimedia.com.

Booting to BIOS
When booting your computer it is important to go to the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to see your computer's condition and all its basic information. Here you can perform memory test and run diagnostics on your computer. You can also set the boot settings of your computer.

1. Press the BIOS access key repeatedly while booting. Access key differs from brand, you can check yours here.
2. Check if all connected parts are detected in BIOS. It should detect everything that is connected to the motherboard including hard disk, video cards, sound cards, network controllers, keyboard and mouse.
   
3. Configure the boot order of the computer. The default must be the Hard Disk.
4. Press F10 to save the changes made and to exit.

Photo used under Creative Commons from commons.wikimedia.com.

Installing an Operating System
If you don't have an operating system installed on your PC, you cannot use it. Determine the hardware specifications of your computer in order to install an Operating System  your hardware can run. If you have a very old computer, probably it can run Microsoft Windows XP. Here is the minimum hardware requirements for Microsoft Windows XP.

1. Insert the Windows installation disc on your computer's CD/DVD reader.
2. Let the windows load the installation process.
3. Just read and follow the instructions on the screen.
4. After less than an hour, you had already installed Microsoft Windows XP.

After completing the steps above, your old computer would be running Microsoft Windows. Nice! :)