Issues installing drivers in Windows 7? Use Compatibility Mode!

If you are having any issues installing certain drivers in Windows 7 (Creative, I’m looking at you here, jerks), there are two methods you can try…

Install using Compatibility Mode

To install a driver using Compatibility Mode, right click on the Setup Application Stub (usually titled Setup.exe or whatever program you are opening to install the driver) and click on Properties, and then click on the Compatibility tab, enable Compatibility Mode and select “Windows Vista RTM” from the drop down list, then click on OK and try again.

Install using Device Manager

If the above doesn’t work, use a utility such as WinRAR to extract the files contained within the self-compressed EXE package to a folder, and then use the Device Manager (Start > right click on Computer > click on Manage, and select Device Manager on the left hand side) to install the drivers. In Device Manager, simply right click on the device that you need to install a driver for and click on “Update driver software” and follow through the wizard, ensuring that you point it to the location of the files you extracted.

Posted by: Chris123NT

Published on: November 7th, 2008 at 12:28 AM

Posted in Windows 7

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53 Responses to 'Issues installing drivers in Windows 7? Use Compatibility Mode!'

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  1. November 7, 2008 at 12:52 am

    Nam:

    All main drivers work out of box except my card reader and Realtek RTL8168/8111 Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.0).

    Thanks for the compatibility mode tips, all devices work now.

  2. November 7, 2008 at 1:45 am

    Lodewyk:

    All mine works, except the Intel Turbo Memory and Intel Matrix Storage. They won’t install, even when using compatibility mode.

    Will try again….

  3. November 7, 2008 at 3:08 am

    asf:

    Where did the “It’s about damn time the Taskbar got a facelift” post go?

  4. November 7, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    graphicman:

    wats with graphic-drivers?

    can someone play games like farcry,crysis on windows 7? :D

  5. November 8, 2008 at 1:40 am

    Chris123NT:

    I’ve been playing games without issue. Just got done playing a little FarCry 2

  6. November 8, 2008 at 7:21 am

    graphicman:

    wow thx ;)

    ehm

    i have an ati 1950 pro and ati has a prev. driver but only for the hd 2000 and above.

    i think that they won´t work on my card ^^ but maybe vista-driver?

    any idea?

  7. November 8, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    graphicman:

    ahh everything works perfect !

    best windows ever!

    but pb. kicks me…

    OMG

    hacker 4 eva..

  8. November 10, 2008 at 10:34 am

    daulex:

    Has anyone installed Photoshop cs4 on yet?
    I really wanna see it work :) Will try it tonight :P

  9. November 13, 2008 at 6:04 am

    alex_ivaylov:

    I installed on it everything I wanted. But I can’t get aero to work, and the Experience Index assessment fails to complete. It seems that my video card (Via chrome9 HC) is incompatible, although it works perfect with vista.

  10. December 10, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    nate_Ha:

    ATI released “Official Windows 7 Preview ATI Radeon drivers” on their support site.

  11. January 27, 2009 at 6:35 pm

    K burkenheim:

    I get this message: Install updated drivers for the following devices. Open Control Panel and search for “update device drivers”.
    Storage controllers: ITE IT8212 ATA RAID Controller
    following the instructions gets the result “you are using the latest driver”
    I have searched the internet with no newer drvers.
    Catch 22????

  12. January 29, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    CMUFF:

    Both are no-goes for driver install, using every method I know; Compatibility, Administrator and from device manager. What is curious is that the awll3028 has whql certified drivers for Vista 64 but they aren’t being recognized by 7 as being certified.

  13. February 1, 2009 at 1:08 am

    atlantis800:

    Searched all over for drivers for Hp Laser Jet 1600 for Windows 7. Your solution worked great! Never thought about running in compatibility mode. Thanks!

  14. February 6, 2009 at 7:56 pm

    Stephanie:

    Thank you so much. I just successfully installed HP Deskjet F4235 using Compatibility Mode. Worked excellently. I was afraid I was going to have to revert back to Vista (yikes). Thanks a lot.

  15. February 10, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    jaf:

    no drivers found in windows 7 for dvd drives both samsung, will not work cant even install any version of windows now or any program

  16. February 17, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    zac:

    hey i have installed windows 7 64 bit on my toshiba x205 and mostly everything works great. the speeds are amazing the interface is friendly and practically no errors like in vista. although i am having alot of trouble with drivers. i have tryed the above solutions as to run them in compatability mode and as administrator etc. but i have trouble installing all intel processor drivers. the toshiba camera assistant software wont install it comes up with 1588 and then closses the installer. my bluetooth stack wont install – says i need to turn it on? its internal. and my finger print reader i think it was protector suite. wont install. i have looked all over the web and tryed alot of things and im at a loss anybody having the same issues or have any solutions thanks.

  17. February 20, 2009 at 6:31 am

    danni dharmadee:

    I’ve installed on my NEC, works as perfect as vista… and awesomely runs faster than vista. But i haven’t find indonesian language plugin for win 7.

    Cool stuff…

  18. March 4, 2009 at 3:45 am

    Sixty9thcupid:

    I am currently using Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit. I am very eager to check Windows 7 on my Compaq Presario F738AU (AMD 64 Athlon X2) Notebook pc.

    Can I install the same drivers which I have been using for Vista? or I do require all new ones? If so can you please let me know what are the drivers required.

    Please solve my confusion.

    Regards,
    Ezra Sudheer.

  19. March 9, 2009 at 9:04 am

    stoddern:

    I have recently installed windows 7 64 and I must say I love it, my entire system runs faster and cooler, I have only found 1 program I couldn’t install and that was with daemon tools and I believe it was a 64bit compatibility issue, so that leaves me with only 1 other problem and thats with my webcam I have a creative webcam pro and the drivers I have won’t work even trying both the compatibility things above, and I can’t find any drivers anywhere not even a 3rd party one, does anyone have any ideas that might help other then spending $40 on a new webcam?

  20. March 9, 2009 at 9:09 am

    stoddern:

    to answer your question sixty9thcupid as long as you have a wired internet connection that isn’t dial up physicly setup and connected to the pc during windows 7 setup it will automaticlly find, retrieve and install all the current drivers it can and will continue to look for new versions for your drivers during normal use, they have issued drivers for most graphics cards and other basic hardware but if your like those of use that have some older or odd peripheral devices it might be hard to find drivers if at all.

  21. March 16, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    Sixty9thcupid:

    Hey Stoddern, thanks for the support.
    The thing is I got solved my problem. After installing Windows7 I just tried to install the same vista 32 drivers on my laptop it failed. Then I changed the compitability to Vista from XP. I wonder it worked greatley……….

    Hope this thread will help some others who are worried like me.

    Regards,
    Ezra Sudheer.

  22. March 26, 2009 at 11:23 am

    Anuj:

    Hello,i am using Microsoft Windows Xp Proffesional.
    My motherboard is 7 years old.My mother board is D845GVAD and My graphics display controller is 82845G.Can i use windows 7 on my pc and can i install my graphics driver(xp) setup on windows 7?

    Thank you for taking your interest for replying me.

  23. April 3, 2009 at 10:29 am

    John:

    Hey Nam, did you get your Realtek NIC working? I have the ASUS 3A78 EMH HDMI and I can get the drivers installed but the NIC won’t start. Actually says the service won’t start.

  24. April 27, 2009 at 4:41 am

    Mandhir Bhatia:

    I Have Got windows 7 on ma pc and graphics card as Intel 865ghvhz.
    NOt able to run any driver for diplay for this please help

  25. May 13, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    badbob:

    the only driver problem i have had with W7 is my rca usb modem will not install.

    The ethernet works fine but the usb does not work and I cannot find a working driver anywhere. It worked on vista no problem. but not on w7. I use usually used the usb to hook to my pc while diverting the ethernet to my xbox .

    It is no big deal and i do not really think it is Microsofts fault. More so RCA’S fault. They really have bad customer service and virtually no help on their website.

    Other then that i am fully enjoying the performance boost and speed of W7. It really outperforms vista and xp by a mile. =]

  26. May 14, 2009 at 8:20 am

    itay:

    hi!
    have i problem…
    in the device manager theres a ‘pci to micro channel bridge’ thingy not installed .. know anything about it? i’v just installed win 7 but i thing i saw that prob the last day i used the xp .

  27. May 14, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    MANUEL:

    If you are experiencing problems make sure you refresh your monitor resolutions by 75 hertz, Windows 7 by default makes them 85 hertz to go well with touch screen monitors.

  28. May 16, 2009 at 1:33 am

    Hapaianu:

    Hy ! I can-t install the benq 5560 series scanner..i`ve tried the both ways..and it won-t install.. do you have any ideea? thank you

  29. June 1, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Lovvy:

    wow, it worked.. thanks

  30. June 8, 2009 at 3:15 am

    bruno ( hi all the way from rio de janeiro - Brazil ):

    Hey guys, the idea of using the compatibility mode is not new. However, it is a really good thing to recall about it because lots of people tend to forget this useful feature. Anyway, my question is: should I try installing things without the compatibility mode enabled before, just to see if they will work? Then if they don’t, I can move on with the compatibility mode, which I am actually very familiar with, as I had to use it a lot on the Vista OS, eheheh.

    Someone mentioned about installing Dreamweaver cs4 on the 7 Os, but I saw no replies.. does anybody have it working properly on this new Os?

    I still haven’t installed it. I am actually still thinking over, and analyzing the pros and cons, but so far it seems like people have enjoyed win 7 a lot.

    good luck folks

  31. June 8, 2009 at 3:17 am

    Rio de janeiro city:

    Hey guys, the idea of using the compatibility mode is not new. However, it is a really good thing to recall about it because lots of people tend to forget this useful feature. Anyway, my question is: should I try installing things without the compatibility mode enabled before, just to see if they will work? Then if they don’t, I can move on with the compatibility mode, which I am actually very familiar with, as I had to use it a lot on the Vista OS, eheheh.

  32. June 9, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Lovvy:

    hi does anyone know how to remove the desktop watermark “Evaluation copy”. I have already cracked the Windows 7, and i tried many scripts/cracks to remove the watermark,but in vain…

    how to remove it??
    thanks

  33. June 11, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    Curtis:

    Hi, Does anyone know where is my problem:
    After I installed win 7 to my Dell Dimension 3000 desktop, everything looks good except there is no addional screen resulotion – only one choice = 600×640 which is too low. The previous OS was WinXP sp2. I tried to download diff display/vga driver but not compatibale. Could you tell me how? thanks

  34. June 12, 2009 at 1:02 am

    Kristan Kenney:

    @Curtis: It is not possible to use the Intel 865 graphics chipset (which is the one utilized in the Dell Dimension 3000 series) with Windows 7. Windows Vista was the last operating system which supported it.

  35. June 13, 2009 at 2:49 am

    Dinesh Rijal:

    Wat is happening with my windows 7.everything works out except graphic installation. No 3D software and games work. though it enables VGA mode , it dont acept graphic drivers of previous. Is ther any new sriver needed for it?

  36. June 25, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    Karla Larsson:

    I have a CD with the driver on it. How do you apply your methods above in this case?

  37. June 26, 2009 at 10:03 pm

    FHERDZ:

    I have problem in installing HP driver in windows 7, please help error message like: OS not supported with the device.

  38. June 28, 2009 at 3:58 am

    Sunny Masumi:

    Dear Tech !

    i have Intel D865GBFL board with Extreme Graphics 2 adapter builtin (supports upto 96MB) it works perfectly on Windows XP.

    the problem is it does not supportes on Windows 7. It simply installs a standard supper graphics addapter it selfs.

    i realy need help fast.

    Regards
    Sunny Masumi
    masumi2k2@gmail.com

  39. June 28, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    Kristan Kenney:

    @Sunny: It is not possible to use the Intel 865 graphics chipset with Windows 7. You will need to purchase a PCI or AGP video card for your computer which is compatible with Windows Vista.

  40. June 30, 2009 at 6:38 pm

    Richard:

    Thank you! Finally got an Intel VGA Driver to install, using your suggestion.

  41. July 2, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    ghandy:

    ok dudes alot of u have graphics driver porblems whille it dont show at teh device maneger u need to instal it from the enternet i found this the only way because this is a new softwer and all they dont hav the driver for it in teh market just yet so on teh site for the driver name or just search it(google,yahoo…) i hope that helpes!

  42. July 13, 2009 at 11:37 am

    Duy:

    WOW, what a nice idea, it works great!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I’ve been trying many ways in vain, my driver still not working until I read your blog. :D
    Thank u alot dude :)

  43. July 18, 2009 at 9:54 am

    Rashed:

    I have toshiba note book portege m400 when I installed windows 7 the sound did not work.

  44. July 21, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    Kenneth:

    i am running a bench laptop which we use to test all sorts of things. When Windows 7 was given tome, i installed on this laptop, a Mecer CL51, and Windows 7 was installed, come along the issue of drivers, and i thought i’d have issues. I didn’t. I installed the Windows XP drivers supplied with the laptop, and all worked – NO ISSUES…

    Installed Windows 7 onto a Mecer N755ii8mlaptop, and again no issues, installed Windows XP Drivers – NO ISSUES…..

    So far those two pcs run windows 7, along with another PC at the office (don’t have specs here) and again installed windows xp drivers – NO ISSUES…

    Was it lucky???

    So far, i have not come accross any drivers that i cannot install, i have installed XP drivers, and have had no issues yet.

    Regards

  45. February 18, 2010 at 4:52 pm

    jason c:

    thaks for the tip. I purchaed a external sound card from geeks.com & they did not post restrictions about not being window 7 compliant. they said to return the item. the item is not worth the price to ship it. so I hope this works

    Thanks

    Jason

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