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How can I locate a specific driver on my WIN11 PC and copy it to my thumb drive?

Anonymous
2022-12-15T05:36:16+00:00

Hi,

How can I locate a specific driver on my WIN11 PC and copy it to my thumb drive?

I know the Driver Name and the version but not its actual filename. It's for an older printer. My WIn11 computer found it and downloaded it which was great but I would like to have a copy on a thumb drive for safekeeping and portability.

I can see the Driver Name in Windows Update History but I can't click on it there to do anything.

What specific steps do I take to find it where I can copy it? Please know, I am a new user of WIn11 by about 5 days.

Thank you,

Jay

Edit:

I went to the command prompt window and did a driverquery command and saw a long list of drivers where it shows their "Display Name" but none were the Driver Name as displayed in Windows Update.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Greg Carmack 24,770 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-12-15T08:26:49+00:00

    Yes, it scans anything you attach including hardware. It might even need more than a driver, it might push enabling software like a Net Framework that makes it work right. For example every time we change our display driver it scans for another monitor driver, also queued under Optional. So it's important to check there a few times per year.

    Let me know if I can help further. I'll stay subscribed to this thread in case you need anything else, until the system locks it in a few months.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T07:53:11+00:00

    The problem with the driver sites is they are mostly hocking their driver app, while posing as having the driver you seek.

    Windows Update always finds those drivers in Windows 10, too, you just have to check for Optional in addition to Check for updates in Update settings.

    The driver is also available from Windows Update for online download here:

    https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.asp...

    That's the same exact driver it downloaded from updates.

    If WIndows Update didn't scan the PC for needed drivers, most of the hardware and software wouldn't work, so I'm not sure what you think is sketchy about that.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T08:22:36+00:00

    Oh, for crying out loud! I never knew there was a Microsoft Update Catalog. Thanks for that.

    > If WIndows Update didn't scan the PC for needed drivers, most of the hardware and software wouldn't work, so I'm not sure what you think is sketchy about that.

    Oh, you mean my creepy comment? It's because, all of these years, I had understood drivers to arrive onto computers in only three ways:

    1. pushed to be in Windows Updates by whatever legit mechanism pushes updates there, irrespective of user activity.
    2. Loaded by the user via CD or thumb drive, or by actively clicking on a software download.
    3. User clicks on Device Manager to seek driver updates.

    But never by merely attaching a printer and trying to Print something. That was a new one to me. Even Win10 did not go looking into that Microsoft Update Catalog and I already had checked to see that its Windows Update did not have it in waiting.

    You can't talk me out of it. I am impressed! :)

    Thank you!

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T07:46:34+00:00

    Hi Greg,

    I was hoping to spare anyone my story but I now think a little background story will help you zero in on where I am going, please. This diminutive 2004 Epson Stylus Photo R200 inkjet printer was manufacture discontinued years ago. Until last month it has remained a perky workhorse that I would hold up against the modern ones. Last month, it inexplicably stopped working with my Win10 computer and I could not find the CD with the driver to reinstall it on my Win10 computer. The computer would see the printer but it would not print. Plenty of suspicious sites say they have the driver but other sites say those sites have Trojan Horses and the like, Who to trust? I feared downloading a driver that might not even be the right one, the way these anonymous sites are, and/or get a virus.

    Hoping it could only be a fluke in my Win10 computer, I plugged my printer into my brand new Win11 computer. Same symptoms. I need that driver. I unplugged the printer and set it aside.

    A day or two later, I happened to be looking at Windows Update on my new Win11 computer and it said it had a driver waiting to be updated. It blew me away that it was identified there as Epson Stylus Photo R200 driver! I downloaded it, attached my printer, and it is happy and works. I am so impressed by this Win 11 computer that it "knew" to go out and search for that driver long after I had unplugged the printer and had been reluctantly considering junking it, hating the thought. My Win10 computer didn't go looking for one!

    While I am very impressed, I think it is kinda Big Brother creepy that Win11 went searching for that driver only because I briefly connected it to the computer once before. But I'm not complaining! I am very happy to have my little printer working with my new WIn11 computer which means it can continue to work into the foreseeable future. A 2004 printer that is compatible with my 2022 computer in this age of planned obsolescence. Whoda thunk.

    Somehow, Win11 was able to search, find, and, I believe, validate the right driver, taking the fear out of it that I would have had to download from anonymous sites.

    So, I don't want to do anything to mess with the fact that this printer and my Win11 computer are happy together. I don't want to uninstall it, reinstall it, or delete or remove any driver. None of those commands, please. All I want to do is copy that driver, a known good driver vetted by Win11processes, from my Win11 computer to a thumb drive.

    I just need someone's help to locate that driver in a place on my Win11 computer that will allow me to copy it. Luckily I printed a Test Page from the W11 computer where it says this on the printout:

    Driver Name: Epson Stylus Photo R200 (M)

    Driver Type: Type 3 - User Mode

    Driver Version: 6.1.6385.0

    So, you see, I have no actual filename but I figure my Win11 computer knows the filename when it knew to show me the Driver Name.

    Is there a way to identify and locate that specific driver on my Win11 computer using the information I have?

    Thank you.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T06:16:35+00:00

    Hello, I'm Greg, here to help you with this.

    Here's how to locate a specific driver n Device Manager and then browse to it's location in the huge driver folders in System 32 folder:

    https://www.drivethelife.com/windows-10/complet.... Instead of deleting it just copy it out.

    For printers a better method is to locate the last working download for the printer make/model on it's manufacturer's Support Downloads web page.

    Windows still needs the full feature software to properly run all the features of a printer/scanner, just a driver and/or the new apps are not mature enough to be fully reliable.

    Follow these steps to Clean Install the printer:

    1. Power up the printer, if wired unplug it's USB cable from PC.
    2. Go to Settings>Apps>Apps and Features to find and Uninstall any printer software.
    3. Use one of these methods to remove all of the old printer drivers:

    https://pureinfotech.com/remove-printer-driver-...

    If you receive an error that printer driver is in use, try these steps: https://techjourney.net/failure-unable-to-delet...

    1. Now type Control Panel in Start Search, open CP, choose Icon View. In Control Panel open Devices and Printers, right click printer to delete Printer and any scanner or fax of the same name. Restart PC.
    2. Go to the printer model’s Support Downloads webpage to download and install the latest full software package. Now is also the time to check for any newer printer firmware to install which matters a lot.
    3. Extract Printer software, right click Setup file to Run as Administrator. Follow the setup screens closely as you install the software. For USB it should prompt when to plug in the printer.

    If you have further problems reply back with results of each step.

    Once it's installed and you've run a test print, then scanned it to see that it opens on the desktop, open the Printer software and go into its Settings to set the scan-to file location you prefer, also the email app you want opened for Scan to Email, if applicable.

    Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

    ______________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

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