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Driver Repositories for Windows 95 Users?
musselm asks: "I've begun working with a PC-refurbishing operation which provides Win95 machines to folks in need. The most time-consuming part is tracking down drivers for disparate modems and other devices. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I have a dream of a few CDs with every possible driver for every possible device, but of course that's silly. Thanks for the help."
I've found http://www.windrivers.com to be a valuable resource for drivers that are still available. It's a subscription service, I believe it runs about $30 a year.
seriouslyexcited.net
Good gads, whatever you do stay away from the combo modem sound card that Packard Bell had in their computers. What a nightmare!
I used to goto windrivers.com(when they were free) maybe they would be willing to help you out since this seems to be charitable work but who knows.
www.driverguide.com is always a good place to look. Get used to yanking the card, looking for the ID on any chips, and then searching for that chip's drivers. Also check out www.google.com and groups.google.com for other excellent places to search.
When you download the drivers, have a network share (or directory) with this file structure: /drivers/type[video,sound,modem,network]/manufactu rer/model/OS. Then, if you keep seeing the same type of card (not uncommon when you realize the machines you are refurbishing tend to come from a specific local manufacturer[s] who use the same hardware in each of their machines) you don't have to redownload it. And you can always burn /drivers/ onto a few CD's if your driver collection gets large enough to be useful.