Where to locate hardware drivers with Windows Home Server

March 30, 2010 by 3 Comments

Tranquil PC have been in touch to tell us about a really useful article they have posted that should help you when restoring a computer using Windows Home Server.

When you need to Restore your Home PC from the Home Server, you will use the Home PC Recovery CD.  This CD has all the files and drivers you need, but from time to time, you may get a message that there are no Ethernet or network drivers available or installed.  If you get this message, you need to get the drivers for your Home PC LAN device, put them on a spare USB key and then ask the Restore Wizard to Install the drivers.  To locate the drivers please follow the information below.

Every time Windows Home Server backs up a home computer, it saves the drivers for the computer in the backup file. If you need to access the drivers for any of your home computers (for example, during a computer restore), you can open a backup for that computer and copy the drivers to a USB flash drive.

To copy drivers from a computer backup

  1. Connect to the Windows Home Server Console.
  2. On the Computers & Backup tab, click the computer that you need drivers for.
  3. Click View Backups.
  4. Select the most recent backup, and then click Open.
  5. Select a volume to open (any volume will work), and then click Open. A window opens showing the files and folders in the backup.
  6. Plug in your USB flash drive.
  7. Copy the Windows Home Server Drivers for Restore folder from the open window to your USB flash drive.
  8. Remove the flash drive, and then insert it into the computer that is being restored.

Now you can use the USB flash drive to install drivers for your computer’s hardware when restoring a computer. The drivers you are most likely to need during a computer restore are the network driver and the storage-device driver.

If you have still any difficulty with your LAN driver, as occasionally occurs – you may wish to download the Tranquil DriverPack (LAN) – please download the zip file, unzip it and save all of the files to a spare USB stick us as above.

The Tranquil DriverPack is available from :

ftp://92.63.136.57/LAN_Drivers/ (and locate your specific device), or

ftp://92.63.136.57/LAN_Drivers/LANPACK.zip (download the (68.5MB) LANPACK.zip to get all the available LAN drivers)

For more information, including a list of drivers the pack contains, click here: http://tranquilpc-support.co.uk/

Thanks to David at Tranquil for the heads up!

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Hardware, Windows Home Server
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About Andrew Edney

This post was written by who has written 5935 posts for Connected Digital World. I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also write for The Huffington Post. And I am honoured to be a Microsoft MVP for Windows Home Server since January 2008.
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  • http://fasthair.blogspot.com/2009/03/youve-been-served.html fasthair

    HI Andrew,

    I want to caution people about getting the drivers out of the backup folder stored on the WHS. If you are running a 64 bit OS of any kind these drivers WILL NOT work. For best restore results use Vista 32 bit drivers for your NIC and or hard drive controller(s).

    To be honest I think the best way for people to do a restore is to use Darshna

  • Andrew Edney

    thanks for the info fasthair

    Andrew

  • Pingback: Creating a Home PC Restore CD for Windows Home Server on a Friday night – Video Edition | Using Windows Home Server

  • byronomo

    Thanks Andrew and Tranquil. This tutorial and the LANPack were invaluable for me to get back up and running.