Driver Magician is a Windows utility for backing up installed device drivers and restoring them after a Windows reinstallation. It extracts the driver files already on the computer and saves them to a location you choose. The registered edition also provides driver updates, unknown-device identification, driver removal and executable backup packages.
Backing up installed drivers
Driver Magician can search for every installed driver or restrict the list to non-Microsoft drivers. The latter view separates drivers added for the computer’s hardware from those supplied with Windows. The list distinguishes Microsoft drivers in black and non-Microsoft drivers in red, so the backup selection can concentrate on the files Windows does not already supply.
Backups can be stored in compressed files, self-extracting archives or auto-setup packages. The auto-setup option produces an executable that can restore the saved drivers without a separate installation of Driver Magician. Beyond drivers, the program can also back up and restore the My Documents and Desktop folders.
Driver restoration
Restoration uses the instructions inside each driver’s INF file to determine where its files belong. Driver Magician can therefore reconstruct a driver from its backup without the manufacturer’s original setup executable. Its restoration options also allow alert messages to be suppressed, while auto-setup packages support silent operation and an automatic restart after completion.
A saved driver still needs to support the Windows installation receiving it.
Driver updates
The update window lists available drivers and lets you choose which packages to download and where to save them. Installing those downloaded packages is a separate operation. Live Update refreshes the driver-update and hardware-identifier databases used by the program.
Driver Magician identifies update candidates by comparing the installed driver’s release date with the date stored for the same device in its database. A package containing several device drivers can produce a repeated suggestion when its components carry different dates. The Hide control suppresses an unwanted suggestion until another version is available.
Unknown devices
The device detector lists PCI, AGP, PCI-X and PCIe hardware with its device class. Selecting an entry displays chip and vendor information, giving an unidentified component a more specific description than the Unknown Device label in Windows.
Driver Magician also includes unidentified hardware in its update results under the Unknown class. Selecting that entry displays driver details and a download link.
Driver removal
The removal window lets you select drivers and uninstall them, including graphics drivers and drivers left behind by hardware that is no longer present. Removing a system device driver can make Windows unstable or cause it to crash.
