Is it possible to download minimal drivers on Windows, without the extra software packages?

Posted by Anton Gogolev on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Anton Gogolev
Published on 2010-02-02T09:02:07Z Indexed on 2010/03/17 8:01 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 444

Filed under:

drivers

|

minimal

The situation in all its glory:

30 megs for ATIs' "Display Driver Only".
Almost 100 megs for NVidias' GeForce/Ion bloatware.
300 megs for an HP printer driver with immense amount of crap
30 megs for a Realtek integrated sound card driver.
50 megs for a mouse driver
...and dozens and dozens of other similar examples

Additinally, UI/UX on vendors' sites is really terrible: I have to carefully pick and choose the exact model of my whatever, although this packages do contain drivers for pretty much every possible hardware model out there.

My question is: How and where can I download true minimal drivers without all these ATI "Installation Managers", Realtek GUIs, ASUS tools, etc.?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about drivers

How do I remove a root kit from Windows XP?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I was looking for root kits following these instructions http://computersight.com/software/how-to-manually-remove-rootkit/ and saw this in my boot log: Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\awhk9fmc.SYS I tried to search for that filename in Google but there was absolutely nothing found. I… >>> More
What is the difference between nvidia-graphics-drivers and nvidia-graphics-drivers-updates

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I see that there are two packages nvidia-current and nvidia-current-updates. The apparently stem from nvidia-graphics-drivers and nvidia-graphics-drivers-updates respectively: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-graphics-drivers-updates I… >>> More
Compat Wireless Drivers Centrino N-2230

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
So I am using linux and am having trouble installing the Compat Wireless drivers Hardware: Intel Centrino N-2230 OS: Linux Mint 64bit (kernel 13.08-generic) I followed this link http://www.mathyvanhoef.com/2012/09/compat-wireless-injection-patch-for.html Output: apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname… >>> More
Link between low level drivers and tty drivers

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I was writing a console driver for linux and I came across the tty interface that I need to set up for this driver. I got confused as to how tty drivers are bound with low-level drivers. Many times the root file system already contains a lot of tty devices. I am wondering how low-level devices can… >>> More
Kernel Error during upgrade or update commands

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I am getting these errors during sudo apt-get update and upgrade... I tried all possible options no success. I recently upgraded to 13.04 and had problems with Broadcom WiFi. Fixed tat issues using the clean script... but looks like it did not install the Kernel properly.. Here is the o/p of the few… >>> More

Related posts about minimal

Building Mobile Apps With Minimal Investment

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Remember when every business needed a web site, but few knew why? Those days are back, only this time it's all about mobile apps. Here are some tips to get you started, particularly if resources are scarce. >>> More
Ubuntu Minimal in the new Intel NUC Haswell

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have one the of the new Haswell NUCs that just came out - D34010WYK. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23089&lang=eng&OSVersion=OS%20Independent&DownloadType=Documentation), I tried to load ubuntu minimal 13.10 x64 from the mini.iso and it cannot… >>> More
Generalize, or Fix The Problem?

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
Which of these two programmers is "better", from a managerial standpoint? The first programmer is Albert. You tell Al to make a system that will pass you the salt at the dinner table. He does it in less than a day. It works fine. The second programmer is Ben. Ben is told to make a program to pass… >>> More
Synaptic won't launch from menu in panel in fresh Lubuntu minimal desktop 12.04 install

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I performed a fresh install of Lubuntu 12.04 with minimal desktop, as described here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/MinimalInstall. To clarify, I did a command-line install from the Lubuntu alternative install disc, then I did an "apt-get install --no-install-recommends… >>> More
How to configure a MInimal Ubuntu installation?

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I recently re installed Ubuntu using the mini.iso, but much to my dismay the mini.iso is not configured the same way as the Ubuntu desktop ISO some "problems" I'm facing such as: An Installation using the regular Ubuntu CD recognizes my active network connections in Network Manager, Installing with… >>> More