First and only time I ran the program to back up my drivers it immediately created a BSOD! The first time I’ve had one of them in years. I had to reboot my computer and am not comfortable using this program any more.

I am using Windows7.

Cheers,
Marrek

This is Giovanni, the KING of FREEBIES from Italy!!

This SW is good and does what it claims.

So THUMBS UP for me!!

However I think that ASHRAF just for once made a mistake in his review today, because you can’t consider DOUBLE DRIVER and/or DRIVERMAX as FREEWARE ALTERNATIVES to this GAOTD (eh, eh, eh..ASHRAF is not the BEST one out there as far as FREEWARE ALTERNATIVES are concerned…LOL!).

In fact with DOUBLE DRIVER you can just BACKUP your drivers but NOT UPDATE them, whereas DRIVER MAX is actually NOT FREE because after a short trial period it put some limitations to the UPDATE DRIVERS feature exactly as SHAREWARE programs usually do.

The only FREEWARE and RELIABLE alternative to DRIVER MAGICIAN I’m aware of is a tool called DEVICE DOCTOR which is able to find all the UPDATES DRIVERS automatically, unlike DOUBLE DRIVER.

http://www.devicedoctor.com/

As you can see from their official website there is also a special PORTABLE version of DEVICE DOCTOR that can be used on multiple PC from removable drives without installation.

How cool is that??

Then, once you have updated your DRIVERS, you can use DOUBLE DRIVER to make a full backup of them and well…you are gone….everything for FREE!!

As simple as that….LOL!!

Cheers from Italy!!

Once the giveaway is over, if you try to update the app at all, it will remove your registration and set the program back to trial.
It has happened to me more than once with the Driver Magician giveaways. Hopefully this time it won’t with this version, but be prepared that, if you go in a couple of weeks to update the database, you may no longer own the program and will have to purchase it or wait until the next giveaway.

Not updating the app renders it obsolete very quickly, so I’d consider the offerings they’ve given in the past “trial” or “demo” since you can’t update it without removing and resetting your registration.

Just an FYI, friends.

If it helps… Windows itself includes/uses some branded driver files, by default installing some that you’ll never need/use — if you run Autoruns [from SysInternals at Microsoft.com], chances are you’ll see at least a couple loading with Windows. Windows also stores copies of many drivers you’ve installed — in XP it’s no big deal as they’re mostly in systen32 \ DRVSTORE & ReinstallBackups, but Vista & 7 can have you pulling your hair out trying to remove all traces of a bad driver… in 7 I’ve had to login as the so-called Super-Admin just to have permission to delete driver files *once* I found them, in itself no small task.

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#27: “… Or is this not a portable software?”

#34: “I install on a USB and performed and backed up to the USB so… looks like this can be a portable application.”

Driver Magic is a VB app, installs & registers a couple of it’s own files in the system folder, & stores it’s license key in the registry. It will run from your USB stick, because as far as Windows is concerned that drive’s as good as any other on your system.

To qualify as a portable app [using the most generous definition] you need to be able to run it on any PC/laptop without installing it 1st, which unfortunately in this case is pretty much out of the question. Sorry. :-(

* * *

#47: “… Hence, hardly do I see any situation in which this software could be really useful, provided that you use reliable system/HD backup software and, in addition, keep installation discs and archive driver installation sofware on separate CDs/HDs …”

If it helps, most drivers are updated at least once as a bug-fix for issues in the very 1st version… that very 1st version is what’s usually on the installation CD/DVD. ;-) In fact, I can’t remember using an install CD for the drivers themselves since every time an on-line check showed a newer version, even if/when I just bought the product & it was new on the market!

As far as archiving drivers you download, you’re correct IMHO 99% of the time — just sometimes a 2nd step is necessary… If a driver comes as a setup.exe file or similar, & if you’re (re)installing Windows, Windows’ hardware driver setup wizard won’t work with a setup file, but needs the separate .inf [like Driver Magic stores]. Therefore personally I like to store both driver setup files & the extracted contents [with the .inf files etc] if/when possible. Sometimes that means downloading the same driver twice — e.g. Realtek has drivers packaged both ways for download. Driver Magic could be an alternative in that situation.

You’re right of course that having a disk/partition image backup trumps reinstalling Windows, but sometimes people need or prefer to reinstall.