Install Windows Drivers from a Folder Using PowerShell
Written on September 20, 2017

When building any computer, virtual or physical, it requires drivers. This script will allow you to place a folder of .inf (and associated) files onto a computer and then install all relevant drivers. This script is tested as working on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2016 Core.

Get-ChildItem "C:\mydrivers\" -Recurse -Filter "*.inf" | 
ForEach-Object { PNPUtil.exe /add-driver $_.FullName /install }

How does it work?

The script is very simple:

  1. Get-ChildItem retrieves any files with a .inf extension in the C:\mydrivers\ directory and its subfolders
  2. ForEach-Object loops over these and performs the commands in the script block { } against them
  3. PNPUtil.exe is a CLI utility for management of the Windows driver store. The /add-driver argument adds the specified driver to the driver store. /install installs the driver, resolving any missing driver issues for any attached hardware the driver suits

Comments/questions

There's no commenting functionality here. If you'd like to comment, please either mention me (@[email protected]) on Mastodon or email me. I don't have any logging or analytics running on this website, so if you found something useful or interesting it would mean a lot to hear from you.