A clean install is the moment a missing network or storage driver hurts most. Ten minutes of preparation saves an evening. This guide uses only tools that are already in Windows.
Windows 11 ships with a large set of built-in drivers, and Windows Update can fetch many more. But a fresh install often comes up without the driver for the network adapter, a RAID/VMD storage controller, a touchpad or a special laptop key. Without the network driver you cannot download the rest.
The drivers worth saving are the third-party ones: the packages your PC maker or chip maker added on top of Windows. Built-in drivers are already part of the new install.
Start with the ones that block everything else:
Open Terminal or Command Prompt as administrator and create a folder on another drive or a USB stick, for example D:\Drivers. Then use either command:
pnputil /export-driver * D:\Drivers — available from Windows 10 version 1607.
dism /online /export-driver /destination:D:\Drivers — works on Windows 8 and newer.
PowerShell: Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\Drivers.
Each driver lands in its own folder with its .inf, .cat and binaries. These commands export third-party packages only, which is what you want.
Rain Driver's Driver Passport runs the export for you, records hardware IDs and versions, and writes a SHA-256 checksum for every file so you can tell later whether a file was damaged or changed. The Rescue Bundle adds a small restore script that installs network drivers first. The steps above give you the same core backup without any extra software.
Copy the folder back to the PC, open an administrator Command Prompt and run:
pnputil /add-driver D:\Drivers\*.inf /subdirs /install
Windows still ranks the drivers itself, so a newer matching driver it already has can win over your saved one. That is normal. Install network drivers first, then run Windows Update, then check Device Manager for anything still marked with a yellow warning.
Rain Driver does the export, checksum and restore steps for you — but every step above works without it.
Last updated: 2026-10-01
No. It saves drivers only. Keep a normal file backup as well.
Not by force. Windows compares driver versions and how well each matches the hardware, then picks for itself.
A restore point is not a backup and does not survive a clean reinstall. Export the drivers to a separate drive.
What it means and the safe order to fix it.
Driver, firmware or hardware? A safe way to tell.
Get online again when the adapter has no driver.
Free, no account, no subscription. Windows 10 and 11.