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Hello and welcome to my problem

I have successfully used a bootable USB to nuke my laptop using DBAN, and have now reinstalled Windows 10 (had a pesky virus, and this seemed the only option that would finally free me)

The virus has - due to recklessness - transfered it's way to my stationary PC. So my question is, due to the fact that my pc is not made complete in a factory, and therefore each part was manually put in and installed, is it then neccessary for me to backup all of the drivers and the like for various things (CPU, GPU etc.) - and if so, what is the easiest way to do this?

I haven't build the computer myself, and I only managed to DBAN my laptop after several hours of Googling.

My specs are as follows specs

Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
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Frederik Popp
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  • IME, your best bet is to gather the drivers from the various manufacturers BEFORE you start the reinstall, vs. trying to back them up and restore them. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Apr 11 '17 at 20:07
  • The best way to do this (on a machine that isn't infected, of course) is to backup the `%SystemDrive%\Windows\System32\DriverStore` folder. This will allow you to easily install any device drivers (within Device Manager) that may be missing after an OS clean install. – Run5k Apr 11 '17 at 20:14
  • If you have a good backup of that folder, after reloading the operating system you can utilize the same method that I described within a similar question: [Fresh install of computer but missing many drivers](https://superuser.com/questions/1161735/fresh-install-of-computer-but-missing-many-drivers/1163050#1163050) – Run5k Apr 11 '17 at 20:27
  • Thanks for the help guys, my plan was also to gather the drivers before the cleanup The thing is, the machine is one-of-a-kind, meaning that I can't really do a backup of the **driverstore** folder where it isn't infected – Frederik Popp Apr 11 '17 at 21:15
  • If that's the case, you can potentially backup the `DriverStore` folder and then scan it with at least a pair of good applications (like your antivirus application as well as Malwarebytes) to give you some peace of mind that the contents are relatively safe. – Run5k Apr 11 '17 at 21:18
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007, although there is always a bit of subjectivity in these assessments, I don't really believe that this is a duplicate of your referenced question. That post was authored almost *eight years* ago and was specifically referring to Windows 2000. Back then there wasn't a `DriverStore` found within Windows, so you actually *needed* third-party software. Since the release of Vista, the `DriverStore` repository has made this much easier with this native OS capability readily available. – Run5k Apr 12 '17 at 00:24
  • Alright, thanks @Run5k - Will try what you suggested, and let you know how things get on – Frederik Popp Apr 12 '17 at 06:16
  • @Run5k There's no reason that a new answer couldn't be added to that existing question, in most cases there's no reason to have the same question 5+ times, once for each version of Windows. The "accepted answer" can even be changed by the OP if they feel it's now "more correct". – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Apr 12 '17 at 12:42
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 That is certainly a good point, with one rather big caveat: one of the mods put that question `On Hold` yesterday, so a more "modern" answer can't be added. The other question flagged as a possible duplicate is probably closer to what the OP is trying to do. Regardless, I do appreciate your feedback! – Run5k Apr 12 '17 at 12:46
  • @run5K, I was temped to mark that othe ruqesiton as a duplicate of the original. I edited the original a little, and vote dot reopen it. To me, that was wrongly closed as a 'product request'. IMO We want canonical questions and answers, not a bunch of repeats with different answers scattered around: "[The fundamental goal of closing duplicate questions is to help people find the right answer by getting all of those answers in one place](https://superuser.com/help/duplicates)" – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Apr 12 '17 at 12:55
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007, I definitely agree with that philosophy regarding duplicate questions... I was merely looking at it from a different perspective. When the "original" question was first authored several years ago, refers to a version of Windows that has been superseded by *five* iterations since then, and was written prior to the existence of the `DriverStore` repository, it seems as though it was canonical for a much different environment. – Run5k Apr 12 '17 at 13:13
  • "How do I backup and restore my Windows drivers?" is as valid a question for Windows 10 as it is would be for Windows 95.. The answers may be different from some version vs. others, but each answer should stand on it's own, regardless of the version of Windows it targets. And all answers should be easily found when users are trying to figure out "how do I back up drivers in Windows?" But hey, to each their own, and that's why it (usually) takes more than just my vote. ;) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Apr 12 '17 at 13:43
  • @techie007 Just want to point out that I afsked this question even though I knew that the one flagged as possible duplicate existed - I did this, because in my head they are different cases. One is regarding a factory-built pc, and this one isn't. I am happy to be proven wrong, but I thought that the answer to the problem would be different for each situation – Frederik Popp Apr 12 '17 at 21:09

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