How to Install Drivers on Windows Using Snappy Driver Installer

As you know, not a single “hardware” and some virtual devices installed on computers or laptops with Windows on board will work without software specially installed for these purposes, called a driver, which is a kind of adapter or bridge between the hardware, the operating system and applications installed in its environment. And Windows databases very often may not contain the necessary software for a particular device. And this is not about the fact that in automatic mode, not a single modification can update drivers, unless their updates are contained in update packages.

To automate all processes, many special kits and programs have now been created. One of the most recent and increasingly popular is the SDI application. Next, we propose to consider some questions regarding how to use Snappy Driver Installer in order to use all the capabilities of the application.

Snappy Driver Installer: what is this program?

As the name suggests, this software product is precisely a universal package that allows you to install drivers for absolutely all devices present on your computer automatically. However, do not forget that this program can also constantly monitor the release of updated control software and install it either independently or at the user’s request. It is believed that the closest analogues of this application are such well-known applets as DriverPack Solution, SlimDrivers, Driver Booster and the like. But the advantage of the package described is that with its help, if necessary, a set of drivers can be easily transferred to another computer or laptop.

SDI - Installing and Updating Windows Drivers [REVIEW]

I categorically affirm, with 100% confidence, that the completely free Snappy Driver Installer program is the best, reliable, stable, secure, fast, convenient and error-free tool for batch automatic installation and updating of Windows drivers.

In this article I will substantiate this statement and describe it to you in detail.

Let me briefly remind you what a driver is. These are tiny programs that help the Windows operating system interact optimally with all computer components.

If you do not have a sound card driver installed on your computer, there will be no sound, and there is no USB driver, not a single flash drive will be recognized by the system.

If you install the wrong driver, the equipment will work “clumsily”, with failures and “glitches” (if at all), and slower than it can.

This is the main problem of all Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) competitors - they select drivers poorly and inaccurately, which is why they often do more harm than good.

Right now, try to turn on the TV using not a “remote control”, but an ordinary school dial... did you turn it on? Now do you understand the meaning and importance of drivers?

History of Snappy Driver Installer

Oh, this is a whole “Santa Barbara”, I tell you - it deserves a separate chapter in this article.

Once upon a time there lived Artur Kuzyakov. One day he had a truly brilliant idea to create the best program for searching, installing or automatically updating drivers with one click (seriously, a monument should be erected to him for this).

He succeeded - the DriverPack Solution (DPS) program turned out to be very popular and world famous; at that time it had no competitors at all.

Millions of computer users no longer need to scour half the Internet looking for drivers after installing Windows.

As time passed, the driver package grew in size and DPS began to work slowly, make mistakes in selecting drivers - its algorithm became outdated.

A coding genius under the online nickname BadPointer was brought into the development team, who saved the situation for some time. But everything comes to an end - his patience ran out and he decided to completely rewrite the program code.

History is silent about what Arthur and BadPointer didn’t share, but the latter left the team (this often happens) and created Snappy Driver Installer from scratch, taking into account and correcting all the errors with DSP defects.

As a result, ordinary computer users received a much better software product that worked faster and more accurately. Here you have competition in its purest form - the engine of progress.

I recommend

How is SDI different from DPS?

The most important difference is the startup speed, determination of the computer configuration and absolutely accurate selection of drivers by taking into account a much larger number of characteristics of drivers and devices, ranking drivers by degree of compatibility (the algorithm for this process has been completely rewritten in SDI). Also…

DPS - depends on the Internet Explorer built into the system and leaves entries in the registry. The drivers are installed simply in the same way as installing through the device manager. Offers installation and updating of “popular” programs (attentive users (where are they?) can uncheck the boxes).

SDI - has no external dependencies and works even in Windows PE. Leaves no traces on the system. It also installs drivers through the device manager, but automatically clicks “continue” when installing unsigned drivers. Doesn't sneak in any unnecessary, additional programs for installation.

Download the required version of the application

First, a few words about choosing the application modification the user needs. It goes without saying that it is best to download the latest version of Snappy Driver Installer directly from the developer’s official resource.

But here you should pay attention to the fact that two modifications are available for downloading. One is the most complete set of drivers and weighs about 13.7 GB, and the second is a lightweight online version of Lite, the installer of which is 4 MB in size. If there is not enough free space on your hard drive or virtual partition, it is recommended to use it. But to ensure full functionality of the installed application in terms of searching and installing official drivers or updating them, you must have a constant connection to the Internet with a sufficiently high connection speed. With all this, the Russian version of Snappy Driver Installer is immediately available to the user on the website for download. Therefore, in the future, the user will not need to perform any special actions to select the interface language.

Snappy Driver Installer benefits

Let's look at what makes Snappy Driver Installer so good. It does not yet have all the disadvantages listed below. You can update drivers manually or automatically. The opinion that drivers are updated automatically by the operating system itself is erroneous. Manual updating requires good hardware knowledge

parts, so not an option for regular users. Programs for automatic updating can be divided into simple and complex. The latter may not even be considered - the devil will break his leg.

Simple, for the most part, drivers are updated, but there are several drawbacks that nullify all these driver updates. The machine often does not remove previous versions of drivers, but this must be done.

Drivers are taken from a variety of sources. Program keys keep disappearing, making them impossible to use. All this leads to driver conflicts and, instead of optimizing the system, frustrates it even more.

How to install Snappy Driver Installer on Windows systems?

As for installing the application in a Windows environment, everything is simple and no user should have any problems. It is enough to run the downloaded installer itself as an administrator (if the built-in superadmin entry is not disabled), and then simply follow the instructions of the “Wizard”, after unpacking the downloaded archive with any convenient archiver program. But this only applies to the full version.

If you use a lightweight modification, you only need to unpack the archive and run the application, taking into account the bit depth of the installed OS (preferably also as an administrator).

How to Install Drivers on Windows Using Snappy Driver Installer

Programs such as driver installation managers greatly benefit from this manual process performed by the user. Being a single universal mechanism for performing this process, they are convenient for those who often encounter installing Windows in different versions and on different computer devices.

But even in conditions of infrequent installation/reinstallation of Windows, such programs are convenient in that they can quickly help with various peripherals that are periodically connected to the computer. In contrast to the winning sides, such program managers are rarely found in the form of a suitable product with the possibility of free use.

Among these rare good products is Snappy Driver Installer.

Snappy Driver Installer Clients

Snappy Driver Installer is an Internet project that contains a huge online database of drivers for all kinds of computer hardware. And it offers their implementation in the Windows environment through client programs. The project has two of them:

• SDI Lite – a project client that works in conjunction with an online database of driver installers; • SDI Full – standalone client with a downloadable local database.

The first client, SDI Lite, is convenient because it is a small portable program weighing several MB. But, accordingly, it only works when connected to the Internet.

If during the installation process Windows itself does not organize drivers for network devices to access the Internet so that you can connect to the online database, SDI Lite will be of little use - only diagnosing missing and outdated drivers.

You can, of course, store installers of drivers responsible for the operation of network devices somewhere on a non-system drive and install them manually if Windows does not install it automatically. And then, using SDI Lite, resort to comprehensive implementation and updating of drivers. But this is not a solution for cases of frequent reinstallation of Windows on different devices.

For such cases, there is a second type of project client - a full version with a local SDI Full driver database. But as of the date of writing this article, it weighs 17 GB. And with each new update, such a complete version will only grow, because the number of new computer hardware in the world is growing faster than the old one becomes unclaimed.

However, the creators of the project also came up with a compromise between these two options - the ability to equip SDI Lite with a local base of drivers for network devices only, ensuring further operation of the client online.

You can download Snappy Driver Installer clients on the project website: https://sdi-tool.org/download

How does it all work?

Working with an online client

When we first launch the SDI Lite online client, a window pops up asking us to specify one of several possible options for working with the program:

• The first is loading drivers for all possible components. This is almost the same option as downloading the full version of the SDI Full client. Only in this case, not all driver versions will be loaded, but only those specified in the options on the left panel of the program window. With default settings, these are only the new and most suitable ones; • The second is downloading driver packages for all possible network components;

• The third is loading certain indexes. This is simply scanning a computer to identify the hardware of a computer without drivers or with outdated ones.

We actually select the last item “Load only indexes”.

Next, we wait for the program to diagnose the computer hardware and display drivers that can be installed or updated. We tick all of them or just some of them. It is also advisable to check the box for creating a Windows rollback point, having previously activated the system protection function. Finally, click the “Install” button.

The drivers will be downloaded from the online database of the Snappy Driver Installer project and installed. Once this process is complete, reboot the computer.

How to use Snappy Driver Installer: first launch of the application

When you first start, the main and additional (welcome) application windows will immediately appear, in which you will be offered several actions to choose from:

downloading the complete driver package;
downloading only network drivers and software for wireless devices;
loading only indexes, which involves scanning the system for the need to install missing drivers or their updates.

So, how to use Snappy Driver Installer? We assume that we do not need the entire package, and we will limit ourselves to only minimal actions, for which we use the corresponding button at the very bottom. After this, the download process starts, which can be monitored by the state of the blue ruler in the main application window.

If the default language is not set to Russian, immediately select the one you need.

How to use?

After launching the program, a window will appear on the screen in which various options will be offered for downloading drivers to the device.

To begin fine-tuning the program, you need to close this window.

At the top of the main window there are interface elements that allow you to find out information about the system, create or load a restore point, select all drivers or vice versa, deselect them, and also install all drivers at once.

Attention! To get more detailed information about the capabilities of each tool, you need to hover over the desired interface elements.

On the left side of the main window there are tools that allow you to select the program language, design theme, configure the search for drivers, and specify the download location for software components. Here you can activate or deactivate expert mode. This option allows you to set the required size of interface elements, configure the keys and ports required to load drivers, and also set the selection of programs and assign commands designed to automate the work of Snappy Driver Installer.

After completing the search for drivers, in the appropriate window you need to select the necessary software components and install them.

Finding, installing and updating drivers: standard procedure

Now let's see how to use Snappy Driver Installer when the automatic search for missing drivers or updates is completed. When using standard settings, only missing standard drivers or updates available for installation will be shown.

To view all devices, activate two items in the panel located at the bottom left. If you hover over the device, you can view detailed information, where, among other things, even identifiers will be presented, which will save you from identifying them in the “Device Manager”.

Also pay attention to the point of previously creating a system rollback checkpoint for unforeseen cases. It's better to create it right away.

Only after this can you select the necessary devices (or use the button at the top for this), and then confirm the installation by clicking the corresponding button in the top panel. Then installation will follow, however, every time after installing a specific driver, even if an immediate reboot is suggested, you should not restart (this is recommended by all experts). It is better to wait until all the necessary software is installed in full.

And only after completing all the actions can you perform a restart, using this option in the program itself or a standard Windows tool.

Note to the admin - 16. Snappy Driver Installer - advanced driver pack

Usually, the missing drivers are downloaded and then installed manually, but using a special utility, Snappy Driver, automates the process.

Snappy Driver Installer - developed by BadPointer - is a tool for finding, installing and updating drivers. The principle of operation of the utility is simple: after launching Driverpack SDI scans the OS and automatically determines whether there is a need for new software.

Program features

In addition to installing and updating drivers, the software tool provides the user with the following:

accessibility – the application is free;
absence of advertising blocks and third-party software;
when using the Portable version, does not require installation on a PC;
launch from a flash drive;
constant updating – ensures the availability of fresh software;
security – installation after creating a restore point for rollback;
SDI compatibility with Windows OS (from XP to 10);
many languages, including Russian.

Differences between SDI Online, Lite, Full

You can download the utility on the official website in two versions: SDI Full and SDI Lite. Both can be used in Russian. The first one, also known as the original one (Snappy Driver Installer Origin), weighs up to 19 GB. Suitable for users who need a complete set of drivers with them, so as not to depend on Internet access. This is a portable program.

To download the Snappy Driver Installer Full set, you need to download a torrent client, for example, qbittorrent.

SDI Lite is the optimal solution if you do not have unlimited Internet access. The full set is not included in the tool - the pack weighs about 5 MB. To obtain a list of software, download indexes from the utility. The latter has a modification that weighs 5.5 MB - Driver Pack Online - and provides fully automatic installation online. The list of new software is downloaded after diagnosing the PC.

Finding, installing and updating drivers: standard procedure

Source: https://brit03.ru/os/snappy-driver-installer.html

Transferring drivers to another computer

Speaking about how to use Snappy Driver Installer, it is especially worth noting the transfer of drivers to another computer. This procedure is quite simple to perform, but you need to take into account the fact that the configurations of computers or laptops may vary. However, if you download a complete set of drivers, you must first create an archive on the main PC, then create a Snappy Driver Installer directory on another computer, placing it in the Program Files folder, and unpack the contents of the created archive into it. Please note that all downloaded drivers must be located exclusively in the Drivers subfolder. After this, you can run a light version on your daughter PC, even without an Internet connection, and install the necessary software for the devices of this computer.

How to use Snappy Driver Installer

The algorithm of the tool is similar in all versions. To find and update software using SDI, perform the following steps:

First you need to download the Driver Installer archive. After downloading, launch the file corresponding to the PC bit depth and accept the license agreement.
After scanning the device, the main window appears, where on the left is the control menu, on the right is information about the drivers. The main window operates in expert mode.
Selection and installation occur after clicking on the “Updates available from the Internet” button, which activates the update window. Here you need to select “Select only for this PC” - “Indices of new packs”. To download, click “Apply”, “OK”.
After the download is complete, a list opens - the software kit for installation. Select the necessary drivers by ticking the boxes or click “Select all”.
When the program begins installation, the process is monitored by colors. Green – installed, orange – an OS reboot is required to complete the installation, red – an error has occurred.
After the reboot, to make sure that everything is installed correctly, launch the program again and click “Updates available from the Internet.”

If you are confused about how to use SDI, watch the video below.

Video: Installing and updating drivers using Snappy Driver Installer.

Brief conclusions

By and large, no one forces the user to download the entire set of drivers, especially since most do not need it. The best option is to use a lightweight version with the installation of only missing or updated software. But it is advisable to download the full package only if you need to install or update drivers on a PC or laptop with no Internet connection or too low a speed, which can affect the download (it can take from several hours to a day).

Snappy Driver Installer for installing drivers

Snappy Driver Installer is a free program for searching, installing and updating drivers. Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) is one of the best driver packages (driver packs) with which you can install or update drivers on your computer without an Internet connection.

Drivers are necessary for the optimal operation of PC hardware; drivers ensure the interaction of computer hardware with the operating system and applications.

After installing the system, you need to install drivers for the normal functioning of the computer. If there is no disk with drivers available, then the user is faced with a problem that can be solved in two ways: independently find drivers on the websites of PC equipment manufacturers and then install them on your computer, or use a special application to automatically search and install drivers.

Not all users have sufficient knowledge to search and install drivers, so the best solution would be to use a special program.

Snappy Driver Installer is a powerful driver package, perhaps the best program in its category. The Snappy Driver Installer program has a lot of positive feedback from users.

The developer of Snappy Driver Installer is BadPointer, who was previously part of the team of the well-known DriverPack Solution program. BadPointer was developing code for DPS. As a result of disagreements with the creator and owner of DPS, the developer left this company.

Automatically update Windows drivers with SDI

In the downloaded folder (from the link at the end of the article)...

...find the shortcut and click on it to launch SDI...

...we agree to the license...

...and we see the main working window of the program...

Snappy Driver Installer instantly scanned my computer and gave a verdict - I need to update three drivers. For inexperienced users, I do not recommend changing anything in the left column...

True, you can change the design theme.

By the way, when you hover the cursor over any item, a hint appears...

We select ALL drivers with the checkboxes (I’m a desperate user and don’t make restore points) - feel free to click on the big green “Install” button...

The driver update process has begun...

At the end we get cheerful and long-awaited news...

Reboot the computer and rejoice.

After using Snappy Driver Installer, my computer's performance rating increased significantly.

What is a driver

Let me briefly remind you what a driver is. These are tiny programs that help the Windows operating system interact optimally with all computer components.

If you do not have a sound card driver installed on your computer, there will be no sound, and there is no USB driver, not a single flash drive will be recognized by the system.

If you install the wrong driver, the equipment will work “clumsily”, with failures and “glitches” (if at all), and slower than it can.

This is the main problem of all Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) competitors - they select drivers poorly and inaccurately, which is why they often do more harm than good.

Right now, try to turn on the TV using not a “remote control”, but an ordinary school dial... did you turn it on? Now do you understand the meaning and importance of drivers?

Snappy Driver Installer R1200 [Driver packs 20071] [10.07] (2020)

Description:

Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) is a portable program for installing and updating drivers that does not require an Internet connection. It is a reworking of the original SDIO program by Glenn Delahoy. Just like SDIO, it is a leader among programs of this class in terms of driver selection accuracy and operating speed. When ranking drivers, it gives priority to more suitable drivers (regardless of the presence of newer versions) in order to minimize risks for ordinary users. Experts can appreciate the large amount of information provided about drivers and the ability to select an alternative driver. Main features of SDI:

Programming language: C/C++.
The most advanced driver selection algorithm among analogues.
The program weighs about 4 megabytes (both versions) and does not require any third-party programs/libraries.
High performance during indexing, driver search, installation.
Support for working with unpacked drivers.
Creating system snapshots that allow you to emulate someone else's system on another PC.
Warnings about possible attempts of viruses to infect a flash drive with a program.
Possibility to update the program and driver packs via the Internet (torrent technology).

How is this release different from SamDrivers? This distribution is based on the SamDrivers
with the following differences:

There is no third-party software.
There are no other programs to install drivers.
Both versions of the SDI
- 32-bit and 64-bit.
The distribution is made in the form of a folder, not an .iso image, which allows you to select driver packs for download.
The distribution is updated with each release of driver packs, and not once a month.

Driver packs included in the distribution
Show / Hide text

Keys for launching from the command line and other keys for working with the program. The full list of keys can be viewed at the following link: https://sdi-tool.org/settings/

Various useful features of working with the program that you need to know

Clicking on the driver panel selects/unchecks the checkbox.
The “Install” button starts the installation of the selected drivers.
Clicking on the driver panel while holding down the Shift key starts the installation of this driver.
During installation, you can add/exclude drivers to the installation.
It is possible to uninstall the driver before it is finally unpacked.
Clicking on the general progress bar stops the installation.
Holding down the space bar while hovering over the driver panel displays a table with all the alternative drivers for that device. The list is sorted from the most optimal to the least suitable.
Clicking on the double-check icon on the right side of the driver panel reveals a complete list of alternative drivers for the device.
You can also display alternative drivers using filters in expert mode.
Holding Ctrl while hovering the mouse over a driver displays a tooltip comparing the installed driver with the one proposed for installation. Preferred characteristics are highlighted in green. The lower the driver's rating, the better fit it is.
Right-clicking on the driver panel opens a context menu.
Clicking on the “System Information” panel opens “Device Manager”.
Right-clicking on the “System Information” panel opens a context menu in which you can specify in the list the system for which drivers will be found/selected for a given hardware configuration.
The program window can be dragged by any part of it.
If a device is added/removed, the program itself will update the list of drivers.
When you try to write the autorun.inf file to a flash drive, a warning about a possible virus may appear.
By pressing the F8 key, you can change the display mode of drivers in the list. One click displays the name of the driver pack with this driver on the right side of the driver panel. A second click moves the driver pack name up above the driver/driver group. The third click removes the name of the driver pack. (the same actions are available in the Options dialog box)
Holding the Ctrl key while rotating the mouse wheel allows you to increase/decrease interface elements in the program window. Pressing Ctrl+0 returns the default sizes of program interface elements. The alternative combination of holding the Ctrl key and the “+” and “-” keys on the keyboard works in the same way. (the same actions are available in the Options dialog box)

How to properly download an updated distribution If the update occurs in the same folder where the previous version is already located, you need to perform some additional steps in order to avoid possible problems.
Method 1 (simple)

Delete the old torrent from the client, delete all downloaded data.
Download a new torrent and start downloading. Method 2 (correct)
Delete the old torrent from the client, remove all folders and files from the data folder except the drivers
.
Download a new torrent.
Uncheck Start downloading
or stop downloading if it has already started.
In the context menu of the distribution (right click on the line), select the action Recalculate hash/Force check
.
Once the check is complete, you can start the download.
To remove old driverpacks after downloading, you need to run the file del_old_driverpacks.bat
.

sdi_update.torrent