Įxtract to a specified directory (directory must exist):Ĭ:\Windows\System32\pnputil.exe /export-driver. Pnputil is located in the following directory %windir%\system32\pnputil.exe and follows the syntax:Ĭ:\Windows\System32\pnputil.exe /export-driver.
Our tool of choice today still works on Windows 10 (1803) and is great for extracting drivers from a device. There is a utility built into Windows that was the go-to for printer driver deployments on Windows XP/7 called pnputil The issue is however that these will only extract third party drivers, not quite what we are looking for. More information on this commandlet can be found here: Instead they opt to hardware certify with Microsoft and have the driver added to Windows Update.Ī quick google will reveal PowerShell commands such as Many webcams manufacturers no longer provide driver packs to manually download and deploy.
One way is to search the Microsoft Update Catalog:īut what happens if you can’t get the driver from MS Update? As an example lets presume a webcam driver is causing issues but the fix is located in a newer version of the driver. What do you do when a peripheral device requires a driver update? This poses an interesting question when it comes to Microsoft driver updates. More information on this key can be found in this article: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching\SearchOrderConfig This is usually achieved using a GPO or the registry key:
Many enterprise environments disable Windows Update and use their own method for deploying software updates (e.g. Downloading and deploying drivers in an environment where Windows Update is disabled using pnputil.exe Issue