Install Needed Hardware Drivers for Windows 7

In this lab you will install any needed drivers to make hardware in the computer work with Windows 7 Operating System.

Materials Needed:

  • Internet Access
  • USB Flash Drive

Step 1

Boot the computer. Navigate to “Control Panel” window by clicking > Start > Control Panel > System > Device Manager.

Step 2

Look for any yellow exclamation marks like the ones in the image above. Notice you may see a question mark with the yellow exclamation mark.

Step 3

Make a note of the items that have the exclamation/question mark. You will need this information in order to find the driver via the Internet. Most likely after a new computer build you will see a yellow exclamation mark under:

  • Network adapters
  • Audio Devices
  • Video Controller
  • Other devices

*NOTE: You may not see any exclamations if a recent copy of Windows 7 with the latest updates were used during installation of the operating system. In this case, you may proceed to doing Windows Updates.

Step 4

Locate your motherboard make and model information.

Step 5

Go to a computer that has Internet access. You will then go to the motherboard manufacture’s website to look up drivers for your motherboard.

You will need to search the manufacture and then click on the website. Once you are to the website, look for Support. This is where you will find drivers. You must know the motherboard model number. (see the image above for an example)

Step 6

The download page for the drivers will look different for each motherboard vendor. Navigate through the website until you find driver downloads There will be different drivers to download once you have found the location of the drivers. You may be asked to select the operation system for the driver. Select Windows 7 32 bit or 64 bit depending on what version of Windows 7 you installed. You may also be asked what location you want to download from. In this case it would be America. (Notice the List of Drivers in the image below)

Step 7

Click download for each individual driver. The drivers should download to your “Downloads” Folder.

Step 8

Once you have completed all downloads, insert your usb flash drive into the computer. Copy your drivers onto the flash drive.

Step 9

Take the usb flash drive to the computer that needs drivers and insert it. Go to computer and open the flash drive. One at a time, click on the driver file name and open it. A wizard will open to install the driver. Follow the directions on the screen.

Step 10

You may be asked to restart your computer after each driver installs. Do so. Then start the driver install process for the next driver in the list.

Step 11

Upon completing installation for all the drivers, go back to Device Manager and look to see if all the yellow exclamation marks are gone. If they are gone, you have successfully installed all needed drivers at this time. Ask your instructor of help if you still have yellow exclamation marks, or a red x through a device name.