Fig 1.0 Begin your search for the hardware's Driver Installation file by going to the hardware manufacturer's website
| DOWNLOAD A DRIVER INSTALLATION FILE |
In the previous section I explained that a CD Driver Installation file is normally a .zip (compressed) file or an .exe
(executable/launchable) file that usually contains between 2 and 25 Driver files. And that an .exe driver installation
file might even install the hardware for you, if it contains a Setup.exe file.
In this section I am going to show you how to download a Driver Installation file from the Internet. The example is good for
those occasions whereby you do not have a Driver Installation CD for your hardware, or you do but its Driver files are now
old and/or incompatible with your new hardware. In my scenario I have a driver installation cd for my Canon IP1500 PIXMA
printer but it is old and meant for Windows XP only. Now that I have installed Windows Vista I need to get the latest driver
files for my printer in order for it to work correctly with Windows Vista.
The first place to look for your hardware's Driver Installation file is on the hardware manufacturer's website. In my case
on the Canon website. Normally you start your search for the driver installation file by going to the company's .COM website
first (i.e www.canon.com) to see if they have a localized version of their website (i.e www.canon.fr for a French version).
This is so that your search and the website's wording can be in your own language, which makes navigation of the website
easier. However. I already know there is a UK version of the Canon website so I began by going to www.canon.co.uk first.
When you are on the index (main) webpage of the hardware manufacturer's website the first thing to look for is a text link
called SUPPORT, DRIVER DOWNLOADS, DRIVERS & SUPPORT or something of that nature. When you have found it, click on it. You
should then be directed to a Support and/or Drivers webpage.
In Fig 1.0 above Canon have a text link called SUPPORT. As I hover over the text link the status bar, at the bottom of the
Internet Explorer window, states that the text link is going to direct me to a webpage called index.asp that is inside a
sub-folder called Support. This is just the index (main) webpage for the contents inside that sub-folder. Meaning. The text
link is not a direct link to the driver installation file itself, which in turns means there is something more to be done
before the driver installation file can be downloaded.
After clicking on the SUPPORT text link in Fig 1.0 above I am directed to the index.asp (main support) webapge. This can be
verified by looking at the Address Bar edit box of Internet Explorer. It has the pathname of http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/index.asp.
If you also look on the left-side of the webpage it has changed from being the Welcome panel (Fig 1.0) to the Support panel.
The Welcome panel, if you noticed, gives you the chance to change the website version you are using by selecting your country
from the Country drop-down menu (towards the bottom of the Welcome panel). The country option is no longer available when
you click on the Support text link.
Hovering over the text link called SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD (Fig 1.1 above) gives me a clue as to where I will be directed to next,
but to get the full pathname I would have to maximize the internet explorer window to reveal http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Software_Download/index.asp.
Therefore, clicking on the SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD text link is going to direct me to the index (main download) webpage that is
inside the sub-folder called Software_Download. Software_Download is actually a sub-sub-folder because it is inside the
Support sub-folder.
After clicking on the SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD text link in Fig 1.1 above I have arrived at the actual Software Download webpage.
This means I did not really have to go through the above process in order to arrive at this software download webpage. I
could of just typed the pathname http://www.canon.co.uk/Support/Software_Download/index.asp into internet explorer's Address
Bar edit box instead. Or better still, just typed its sub-domain http://software.canon-europe.com/. A sub-domain is a shorthand
way of writing a long pathname. So typing either one into internet explorer's Address Bar edit box will take you to the same,
Software Download, webpage. This is why it is important to look at internet explorer's Status Bar and Address Bar edit box,
so that you later know the direct way (direct link) to get to a certain webpage.
The software download webpage gives a choice of hardware products, which is good. Other websites might ask you to type the
hardware's Model Number into an edit box instead. The beauty of this webpage is that it offers that service as well with its
Advanced Search option. It even allows you to choose which language you want the driver installation file's instructions to
be in, from those available in the drop-down menu. In this example I am going to select my printer's Model Number from the
PRINTERS (PRODUCT) drop-down menu (below).
After selecting my printer's Model Number from the PRINTERS (PRODUCT) drop-down menu I am then directed to the Software Options webpage (below) which allows me to select my Operating System and the Language used in the driver installation file.
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Windows Vista should be the Operating System you select, but if you are downloading the driver installaion file for a computer
running the Windows XP operating system then you should select Windows XP of course. The Language I selected was English.
If you need the driver installation's instructions to be in French for example you should select French. In some driver
installation files they have a hardware Error Message file in the selected language as well, so that the operating system
(i.e Windows Vista) can report a hardware error to you in the selected language. Therefore, select the best language for
those using your computer and not just the language you know. When you have selected your operating system and language
click on the SUBMIT button to continue (Fig 1.5 above).
One thing to note well here is that when you first arrive on the Software Options webpage it automatically displays a text
link to the default driver installation file, and other default software, that Canon thinks will suit your hardware (Figures
1.4 and 1.5 above). However. Clicking on these text links before you have selected your Operating System and Language might
get you into trouble later. For example. Installing incorrect driver files can damage your Operating System and your
Hardware. So ALWAYS select your Operating System and Language before clicking on the SUBMIT button to continue.
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After clicking on the SUBMIT button (Fig 1.5 above) I am directed to the Download Links webpage (Fig 1.6 above) which lists
the driver installation file needed for my printer and other printer software specific to my printer. The other software is
normally the software you find on your original Software Installation CD - The cd that came with the hardware. In my case
I have the option of downloading the Easy-LayoutPrint (1.03) and Easy-PhotoPrint (3.61) software. Here though I am going to
download the driver installation file only by clicking on its text link (Fig 1.6 above). This will direct me to the actual
Download webpage where I can then click on the driver installation file's download link called b7100MUX.exe (Fig 1.7 above) in
order to download the actual driver installation file.
If you look at Fig 1.5 above you will notice that download 2 is for the operating system called Linux. The software is
called Canon Print Filter. Whereas in Fig 1.6 above download 2 has change to Easy LayoutPrint for the operating system
I selected - Windows Vista. Therefore emphasizing the points made above about selecting your operating system before you
clicking on any default software links.
Having clicked on the driver installation file's download link called b7100MUX.exe (Fig 1.7 above) I am then presented with a Software License Agreement, that needs reading carefully. Although license agreements in general tend to contain useless information, they usually explain Copyright issues and/or Usage issues that clarify who can and cannot use the software. So if, for example, you are told that a certain piece of software is Free and/or Free-To-Use you may want to clarify this by reading the license agreement. Some websites do not allow you to continue, by fading out (ghosting) the DOWNLOAD button, until you have read (scrolled down) the license agreement. In this example I read through the license agreement very carefully, put a tick next to I ACCEPT and then clicked on the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE button to continue.
Clicking on the DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE button (Fig 1.8 above) activates internet explorer's Information Bar (Fig 1.9 above). The information bar is explained in the Information Bar section). In this example the information bar has blocked the downloading of the driver installation file until I click on the information bar and then select DOWNLOAD FILE from its drop-down menu (Fig 1.10 above). After clicking on DOWNLOAD FILE a Security Warning message requester appeared asking me if I wanted to RUN (execute/launch) the driver installation file or SAVE it onto my computer. I chose to SAVE it.
The normal behaviour of the Save file requester, when downloading something from the Internet, is to set its pathname to your
Downloads folder. This keeps everything nice and tidy as you will always know where to find your downloaded files. If you want
to save to a Flash Drive or Floppy Disk for example just navigate the Save file requester to it (see the
Path Names section for an examle). The Save file requester can be expanded into
Folder view by clicking on the BROWSE FOLDERS button.
In this example I am downloading to the Downloads >> Canon_IP1500 >> Drivers folder. A folder I created beforehand - Something
I highly recommended. A good reason for creating folder beforehand is that sometimes a driver installation file is called
Setup.exe. To download, into the same Downloads folder, another file called Setup.exe means you are always going to be asked
"Setup.exe already exists in this folder. Do you want to overwrite (replace) it with this new download?". Therefore, a better
solution is to create each driver installation file's folder beforehand. That way you know what the setup.exe file is because
you know which folder it came from.
Once your, preferred, Downloads folder has been set click on the SAVE button (Fig 1.12 above) to continue. A progress window
will then appear with a green percentage (progress) guage running through it. Also on the progress window is a Tick/Check Box
option called CLOSE THIS DIALOG BOX WHEN DOWNLOAD COMPLETES. Putting a tick next to this option means the progress window
will automatically close once the driver installation file has been downloaded (Fig 1.13 below). If you prefer to leave the
progress window open, after the driver installation file has been downloaded, leave the option un-ticked (Fig 1.14). Doing
so will allow you to use the OPEN FOLDER button to open your, preferred, Downloads folder. I would not recommend this though
as you will still have to click on the progress window's CLOSE button to close the window, whereas having the progress window
close automatically you can then manually open your, preferred, Downloads folder (Fig 1.15).
Fig 1.13 This window will close automatically.... |
Fig 1.14 ....if CLOSE THIS DIALOG BOX WHEN DOWNLOAD COMPLETES is ticked. |
The above might of seemed long winded just to download a Driver Installation file (i.e 13 steps to follow) but that is the
reality. The first two steps were needed just to find the Downloads webpage. The four steps in Figures 1.3 to 1.5 were
needed so that the correct driver installation file could be found. And the other seven steps were needed to complete the
actual file downloading process, which included a license agreement step and some security issue steps.
At the end of the day, if you want your hardware working you will have to look for its Driver Installation file. The above
was easy because I was using hardware from a well-known company, but if I was using hardware from an unknown company that
did not have a website for example it would not be that easy. I would have to search the Internet in the hope that I could
find a website that has my hardware's driver installation file on it and allow me to download it for free. Sometimes it is
near impossible to find certain driver installation files - You could be searching for days or weeks before giving up!! So
my top tip is ALWAYS buy from a well-known manufacturer, even if you pay a little more for the hardware, and make sure they
have a website that supports the hardware you buy. Another tip is to download the Windows XP and Windows Vista driver
installation files, just in case you need to install the hardware on a computer with one or both of these operating systems.
| EXTRACT THE DRIVER INSTALLATION FILE |
Now that the Driver Installation file has been downloaded into my preferred Downloads folder (Yoingco >> Downloads >> Canon_IP1500 >> Drivers)
the next thing to do is to Extract the actual Driver Files from it, which may include a Setup.exe file. You would not know
this until you see what is extracted.
In this example I start by opening my preferred Downloads folder (Fig 1.5 above) and then double click on the downloaded
Driver Installaton file called b7100MUx.exe (Fig 1.5). A Security Warning message requester then appeared asking me if I
wanted to RUN (execute/launch) the driver installation file.
Clicking on RUN then executed/launched the driver installation file, which turned out to be a Self-Extracting file. This means it was created by a program called WinZip that Canon used to compress (shrink) the many driver files into one driver installation file. WinZip then added the ability for the driver installation file to become self-extracting. Meaning. When you double click on the driver installation file the WinZip Wizard (program) helps you to decompress (expand/extract) the compressed driver files, contained inside the driver installation file, to a folder of your choice. So after clicking on RUN, above, the first window of the WinZip Wizard appears.
Normally with a WinZip self-extracting file you just click on UNZIP to extract (decompress/expand) the driver files into the already named/chosen folder of the WinZip Wizard. In this case into the Canon folder, which will be created inside the current folder (the folder where the driver installation file is). However. In this example I will click on the BROWSE button (Fig 2.1 above) so that I can select my preferred Downloads folder (Yoingco >> Downloads >> Canon_IP1500 >> Drivers) as the folder to extract (decompress/expand) the driver files into.
Once you have located your preffered folder, for the extraction (decompression/expansion) of the driver files, click on the OK button (Fig 2.2 above). This will insert your preferred folder's path name into the UNZIP TO FOLDER Edit Box on the WinZip Wizard window, replacing the old path name (of Canon).
Now that the folder used for the extraction (decompression/expansion/unzipping) of the driver files has been BROWSEd for and located, the next thing to do is click on the UNZIP button. Unzip is just more confusing terminology used to mean decompress, extract, expand and so on. Likewise. Zip is terminology for Compress, Shrink and so on.
After clicking on UNZIP (Fig 2.3 above) the WinZip Wizard starts to unzip (extract/decompress) the driver files into my
preferred folder (Fig 2.4 above). When this is done you are notified (Fig 2.5 above). From there, click on the OK button to
close the window and then click on CLOSE of the previous window to close that window too.
In this example 88 driver files were successfully extracted (decompressed/unzipped), from the driver installation file,
into my preferred folder (below). There is a Setup.exe file in the folder, to install my printer, but the self-extracting
driver installation file had no option to RUN (execute/launch) the Setup.exe file once all the driver files had been
successfully extracted. Therefore I will have to double click on the Setup.exe file to RUN it, as opposed to it being
automatically RUN after extraction. Some self-extractors do automatically RUN the Setup.exe file for you.
Hovering over a Setup.exe file can reveal details of its creation and version number. The version number, and revision number, are important because you can instantly tell if you have already installed that particular driver installation (set of driver files) or not. In Fig 1.6 above the version number and revision number are given in the title of each download link, but this is not always true for every download website you go to. Hence why you should hover over the Setup.exe file or better still, click on it for Windows Vista to display details about it. Version Number and Revision Number are explained in the Free Downloads section.
| RUN THE SETUP FILE |
If a self-extractor does not automatically RUN (execute/launch) the Setup.exe after extraction you will have to RUN the
Setup.exe file yourself by double clicking on it (Fig 2.6 above). One of the main jobs of the Setup.exe file is to install
(move/copy) only the needed driver files into the necessary Windows Vista (system) folders. Needed, meaning there could be
other printer's driver files inside your preferred extraction/downloads folder. Sometimes companies group many different
printer driver files together, before creating the driver installation file, so that their website is not clogged up with
too many printer-driver links for example. One printer-driver link might do the whole printer range for example. The downside
of this is that you will be downloading a bigger file because it contains other, unneeded, driver files. That is why setup.exe
only installs the needed driver files for your hardware.
Another job of setup.exe is to register the driver files with Windows Vista, so that Windows Vista knows which driver files
to re-install or un-install if something bad happens. For example. If your computer has a bad crash, for whatever reason(s),
Windows Vista might have to re-install your hardware's driver files. It will not look in your preferred Downloads folder
first though, it will look inside its System folders first. If it cannot find any driver files, due to the bad crash for
example, it then starts looking inside your preferred Downloads folder.
After clicking on the Setup.exe file the installation process for your hardware should be simple. Here is the example for
my printer. Note: I have not plugged the printer into the USB Socket yet. This will be done shortly.
With the installation process finished all I have to do now is plug my printer into a USB Socket and then wait for Windows Vista to detect and install the USB Socket's newly plugged in hardware (my printer).
If no Setup.exe file came as part of your driver files do not worry. This just means you will have to manually install the driver files (as shown in the previous Install Drivers Only section). In the next section I will show you how to install a WebCam using its Installation CD and Custom Settings.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
All HTM files in the yoingco.com folder and its sub-folders are (c) John White, August 3rd 2005 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. FREE Vista Helpline: Contact John