Windows 11 missing drivers

[ladybug]

Hi! I installed Windows on a new laptop and I see a lot of missing drivers. For the wifi, for the GPU, for a lot of things. Can I make Windows fix that or should I reinstall it? This is for Windows 11

[Coolmaster]

Laptops should come from the factory with all the needed drivers, if everything works as expected the drivers may be hidden from the user. If everything isn't working properly, you can usually find drivers on the manufacturer's website.

[SansVarnic]

8 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

Hi! I installed Windows on a new laptop and I see a lot of missing drivers. For the wifi, for the GPU, for a lot of things. Can I make Windows fix that or should I reinstall it? This is for Windows 11

Initial re-install wont automatically install those drivers if windows doesn't have native/built-in drivers of its own. Let the OS do an auto-update to download/install the necessary drivers for the hardware installed. You should be fine after that. (Fyi, sometimes it takes one or two updates to get all your drivers as windows will need to reboot after certain ones are installed for proper function). After the drivers are installed be sure to do one reboot to make sure everything is finished, and your cache is cleared.

If you still have issues with missing drivers afterwards, you can download the necessary drivers from individual component manufacturers. 

 

[ladybug]

18 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

Initial re-install wont automatically install those drivers if windows doesn't have native/built-in drivers of its own. Let the OS do an auto-update to download/install the necessary drivers for the hardware installed. You should be fine after that. (Fyi, sometimes it takes one or two updates to get all your drivers as windows will need to reboot after certain ones are installed for proper function). After the drivers are installed be sure to do one reboot to make sure everything is finished, and your cache is cleared.

If you still have issues with missing drivers afterwards, you can download the necessary drivers from individual component manufacturers. 

 

The problem is, I don't have internet because there is no network driver and I can't run Windows Update.  And yes, Windows has a driver for that because on my previous laptop the wifi adapter was the same and Windows 11 was working,  so there should have a driver for it. So what do I do?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

30 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

The problem is, I don't have internet because there is no network driver and I can't run Windows Update.  And yes, Windows has a driver for that because on my previous laptop the wifi adapter was the same and Windows 11 was working,  so there should have a driver for it. So what do I do?

You basically have no other choice than to download at the very least, the network driver on another computer (or possibly phone if you're on Android), copy the installer to a USB and install from the USB. 

[ladybug]

4 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

You basically have no other choice than to download at the very least, the network driver on another computer (or possibly phone if you're on Android), copy the installer to a USB and install from the USB. 

Ok I will try

[Coolmaster]

42 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

The problem is, I don't have internet because there is no network driver and I can't run Windows Update.  And yes, Windows has a driver for that because on my previous laptop the wifi adapter was the same and Windows 11 was working,  so Window should have a driver for it almost for sure. So what do I do?

You could also use ethernet, or get an adapter if your laptop doesn't have one. They usually don't need drivers.

[SansVarnic]

45 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

The problem is, I don't have internet because there is no network driver and I can't run Windows Update.  And yes, Windows has a driver for that because on my previous laptop the wifi adapter was the same and Windows 11 was working,  so there should have a driver for it. So what do I do?

Yes there should be default drivers available to connect to the internet via your network card. But because you had them before is not a reason you should have them now if you have re-installed the OS. It is possible the newly installed OS doesn't recognize the network card you have so the default native ones windows uses wont work.

As @BlueChinchillaEatingDorito suggested you may need to search up the proper driver and download from another pc, use a usb drive and install from there. Its a pain but this happens on occasion.

 

2 minutes ago, Coolmaster said:

You could also use ethernet, or get an adapter if your laptop doesn't have one. They usually don't need drivers.

That seems to be the problem, the network card they have doesnt appear to be working with windows default drivers.

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

Initial re-install wont automatically install those drivers if windows doesn't have native/built-in drivers of its own. Let the OS do an auto-update to download/install the necessary drivers for the hardware installed. You should be fine after that. (Fyi, sometimes it takes one or two updates to get all your drivers as windows will need to reboot after certain ones are installed for proper function). After the drivers are installed be sure to do one reboot to make sure everything is finished, and your cache is cleared.

If you still have issues with missing drivers afterwards, you can download the necessary drivers from individual component manufacturers. 

 

I actually find Windows misses a few drivers (some Intel chipset drivers), plus the Windows Update ones are not always the best ones either, on the odd occasion they have even been outright broken.

 

As for networking, it would also depend what release of Windows was installed, its one reason I always use the latest ISO from Microsofts website.

[SansVarnic]

16 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I actually find Windows misses a few drivers (some Intel chipset drivers), plus the Windows Update ones are not always the best ones either, on the odd occasion they have even been outright broken.

 

As for networking, it would also depend what release of Windows was installed, its one reason I always use the latest ISO from Microsofts website.

True, this is not uncommon though, more common for laptops since they use a lot of integrated things with their mobo designs. Kind of irritating really but it's not necessarily a Microsoft oversight in this case. HP laptops have this issue, I took my two elder daughter's' laptops and wiped them when I bought them for their school stuff to get rid of the bloatware and of course the two big issues were the intel controller and the network card drivers that wouldn't work, and I wasn't surprised as after all, they were cheaper end HP laptops ($230usd) and I expected it.

 

@stefanmz btw what laptop is that you are using? I should have asked.

[ladybug]

1 hour ago, SansVarnic said:

True, this is not uncommon though, more common for laptops since they use a lot of integrated things with their mobo designs. Kind of irritating really but it's not necessarily a Microsoft oversight in this case. HP laptops have this issue, I took my two elder daughter's' laptops and wiped them when I bought them for their school stuff to get rid of the bloatware and of course the two big issues were the intel controller and the network card drivers that wouldn't work, and I wasn't surprised as after all, they were cheaper end HP laptops ($230usd) and I expected it.

 

@stefanmz btw what laptop is that you are using? I should have asked.

Msi Modern 15 A5M with Ryzen 7 5700 and Rx Vega Graphics. Also I found there is a driver cd on my computer installed by default and the drivers were there

[SansVarnic]

11 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

Also I found there is a driver cd on my computer installed by default and the drivers were there

Awesome!

[ladybug]

7 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

Awesome!

Yup

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

21 hours ago, stefanmz said:

Msi Modern 15 A5M with Ryzen 7 5700 and Rx Vega Graphics. Also I found there is a driver cd on my computer installed by default and the drivers were there

Thank god for OEMs putting their drivers in a separate recovery partition. 

[ladybug]

8 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Thank god for OEMs putting their drivers in a separate recovery 

Yup definitely