Drivers after a fresh install of Windows 11

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

Hi I am posting this in this section as I didn't get a reply in another thread.

I have done a clean install of Windows 11. I had some questions and if some experienced users on here could help, that would be really appreciated:

When I got to the desktop I got a pop-up asking did I want to install Armoury Crate. I said yes. But got some error so I guessed that was due to Windows Updates not being installed yet. Anyway, after the updates, I got Armoury Crate installed. Is this just for the motherboard? Mine is the ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi.

In Armoury Crate in Tools/Drivers I downloaded and installed:

AMD Chipset Driver
AMD Graphics Driver
Intel Bluetooth Driver
Intel I225 LAN Driver
Intel Wi-Fi Driver
Realtek Audio Driver

Should this be all I need or would I have to install additional ones from the drivers page for my motherboard?

I also installed the drivers for my GPU, minus the option for GeForce Experience as I read a good few comments online saying it is mainly bloatware.

Then I installed iCUE, which seems fine too.

Samsung Magician is just an optional app is it? Or is it recommended to have this?

Is the general practice to do a Macrium Reflect backup of the current OS once these are all installed before going and installing all of my main programs?

Thanks so much

Ghot · Feb 13, 2023

RedLad said:
Is the general practice to do a Macrium Reflect backup of the current OS once these are all installed before going and installing all of my main programs?

Yeah. Make a fresh backup now.

Then, install your programs, keeping in mind that the more "large" programs that you don't install on the Windows drive, the better. The smaller the amount of data on your Windows drive, the faster the backups and restores will be.

For example, this is all I have on the Windows drive. (The items with RED dots are not on the Windows drive).
ALL my games, even those not shown in Programs & Features, are installed on a storage drive.
My Windows drive (C:\) has only 31GB on it. It only tales me 2:18 to make a backup, and 1:30 to restore.

A little planning ahead now, will bring great returns... later on.

OAT · Feb 13, 2023

@RedLad said:

Anyway, after the updates, I got Armoury Crate installed. Is this just for the motherboard?

Armoury crate is massive bloatware.
It is supposed to allow to manage -RGB keyboard & others -lights during game play.
You certainly can do without.

Ghot · Feb 13, 2023

OAT said:
@RedLad said:
Anyway, after the updates, I got Armoury Crate installed. Is this just for the motherboard?

I absolutely NEVER install Armoury Crate. But yeah... it comes with the motherboard.

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

Ghot said:
Yeah. Make a fresh backup now.

Then, install your programs, keeping in mind that the more "large" programs that you don't install on the Windows drive, the better. The smaller the amount of data on your Windows drive, the faster the backups and restores will be.

For example, this is all I have on the Windows drive. (The items with RED dots are not on the Windows drive).
ALL my games, even those not shown in Programs & Features, are installed on a storage drive.
My Windows drive (C:\) has only 31GB on it. It only tales me 2:18 to make a backup, and 1:30 to restore.
View attachment 52633 View attachment 52635

A little planning ahead now, will bring great returns... later on.

Thanks for the reply. I usually always just install my programs to the C: drive. At work, we'd do the same. That certainly is quick for a backup yeah

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

OAT said:
@RedLad said:

Armoury crate is massive bloatware.
It is supposed to allow to manage -RGB keyboard & others -lights during game play.
You certainly can do without.

Doh, I wasn't aware. Should I uninstall? Or is it a pain to do that? I might just see how it pans out.

As I mentioned in the post, it does have a tools section for drivers which was able to download the drivers, with whatever ones I ticked in the list it gave. That was pretty handy I thought.

Keep in mind, I do not play games on the PC. It is for 3D/Rendering/VFX/Photography work

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

In relation to thw Macrium Image backup. It would be best to leave the two sata HDD drives unplugged before running this, yes?

OAT · Feb 13, 2023

RedLad said:
In relation to thw Macrium Image backup. It would be best to leave the two sata HDD drives unplugged before running this, yes?

You select what image you want to back up in the Macrium interface.
No need to unplug anything.

glasskuter · Feb 13, 2023

RedLad said:
Should this be all I need or would I have to install additional ones from the drivers page for my motherboard?

You can find if any drivers are missing by going to Device Manager.
Expand each of the device groups in Dev Mgr. If anything is missing a driver, that particular device will be flagged with a yellow exclamation point.

RedLad said:
Then I installed iCUE, which seems fine too.

If you start having crashes, uninstalling Icue would be the place to start. It's been known to cause issues for some people, as has Armory Crate.

RedLad said:
Samsung Magician is just an optional app is it?

You do not need it. Windows will keep your disk optimized.

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

glasskuter said:
You can find if any drivers are missing by going to Device Manager.
Expand each of the device groups in Dev Mgr. If anything is missing a driver, that particular device will be flagged with a yellow exclamation point.

If you start having crashes, uninstalling Icue would be the place to start. It's been known to cause issues for some people, as has Armory Crate.

You do not need it. Windows will keep your disk optimized.

Thanks. I had iCue installed before I did the fresh install and it behaved OK from what I saw anyway.

RedLad · Feb 13, 2023

For Armoury Crate, is it recommended to uninstall or just leave it?

For my graphics card driver I clicked the express option instead of the custom option. Is there any negative to this? If I wanted to undo this could I uninstall easily enough or should I wipe the PC. (Again!)

glasskuter · Feb 13, 2023

RedLad said:
For Armoury Crate, is it recommended to uninstall or just leave it?

For my graphics card driver I clicked the express option instead of the custom option. Is there any negative to this? If I wanted to undo this could I uninstall easily enough or should I wipe the PC. (Again!)

For some, Armory Crate has caused problems but most Asus mobo owners use it. It should be fine. If it causes issues you can always remove it.
Yes, most agree that graphics drivers should always be cleanly installed. With Nvidia that option to remove the old driver before installing the new one is under the custom option. You do not have to clean install the OS again but can use DDU to completely uninstall your graphics. Then install your driver package again. Make sure you read the DDU instructions carefully. Run it in safe mode.

Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) download version 18.0.7.5

Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) - Remove AMD/NVIDIA/INTEL Graphics Drivers Cleanly - DDU is a driver removal utility that helps you completely uninstall AMD/NVIDIA graphics card drivers and packages from your system, leaving no leftovers behind, including registry keys, folders, files...

www.guru3d.com

neves · Feb 13, 2023

RedLad said:
Hi I am posting this in this section as I didn't get a reply in another thread.

I have done a clean install of Windows 11. I had some questions and if some experienced users on here could help, that would be really appreciated:

When I got to the desktop I got a pop-up asking did I want to install Armoury Crate. I said yes. But got some error so I guessed that was due to Windows Updates not being installed yet. Anyway, after the updates, I got Armoury Crate installed. Is this just for the motherboard? Mine is the ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WiFi.

In Armoury Crate in Tools/Drivers I downloaded and installed:

AMD Chipset Driver
AMD Graphics Driver
Intel Bluetooth Driver
Intel I225 LAN Driver
Intel Wi-Fi Driver
Realtek Audio Driver

Should this be all I need or would I have to install additional ones from the drivers page for my motherboard?

I also installed the drivers for my GPU, minus the option for GeForce Experience as I read a good few comments online saying it is mainly bloatware.

Then I installed iCUE, which seems fine too.

Samsung Magician is just an optional app is it? Or is it recommended to have this?

Is the general practice to do a Macrium Reflect backup of the current OS once these are all installed before going and installing all of my main programs?

Thanks so much

Clean Install of Windows 11 followed by Armory Crate - is definitely a bad approach...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/vljp1m

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/xwuojv

On the bright side - it does cover the basic driver requirements. If you're aiming for a clean system - you could use NVCleanstall for nVidia Drivers: NVCleanstall v1.15.1 Download

Samsung Magician can help with some tasks (used once in a blue moon) - but this too is optional for most part - even comes with adds & telemetry. I'd recommend to Disable it from starting with Windows and running in the background.

RedLad · Feb 14, 2023

neves said:
Clean Install of Windows 11 followed by Armory Crate - is definitely a bad approach...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/vljp1m

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/xwuojv

On the bright side - it does cover the basic driver requirements. If you're aiming for a clean system - you could use NVCleanstall for nVidia Drivers: NVCleanstall v1.15.1 Download

Samsung Magician can help with some tasks (used once in a blue moon) - but this too is optional for most part - even comes with adds & telemetry. I'd recommend to Disable it from starting with Windows and running in the background.

Thanks for this. That is shocking how bad this program seems to be. You'd imagine ASUS would decide to either remove it, or completely revamp it after all of that negativity about it online. Terrible!

Ghot · Feb 14, 2023

@RedLad

You should have gotten a driver disc with the motherboard?
That's what you want to use to install the drivers.
Windows 11 comes with a great set of generic drivers, that should take care of just about everything.
Check Device Manager to see if you're missing any, ofc.

You have a relatively new motherboard, the only driver you may have to update would be the chipset driver, which you can get here...

Latest AMD Ryzen Chipset Driver for Windows 11

WHQL version: 6.02.07.2300 Release Date: March 13, 2024 File size: 63 MB AMD Chipsets Driver Download AMD Ryzen Chipset Driver Release Notes Highlights Supports: AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO Processor AMD Ryzen™ 8000 Series Desktop Processors AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series Desktop Processors AMD...

www.elevenforum.com

Generally, I install Windows like this...

1. Unhook all the other drives, and the internet.
2. Install Windows.
3. Install the motherboard drivers, and the vid card driver.
4. Make sure you have the latest chipset driver.
5. Rehook the other drives and the internet, and do the Windows updates.
6. Make a backup.
7. Then install your programs, trying to keep the data on the Windows drives to a minimum.
8. Do whatever tweaks you want.
9. When all is installed and tweaked... make another backup.

If you break anything in steps 7 and 8, restore from the backup you made in step 6, and try again.

RedLad · Feb 14, 2023

Ghot said:
@RedLad

You should have gotten a driver disc with the motherboard?
That's what you want to use to install the drivers.
Windows 11 comes with a great set of generic drivers, that should take care of just about everything.
Check Device Manager to see if you're missing any, ofc.

I just had a look in the box there. No sign of a disc. Sure aren't the days of using discs almost gone now?

Ghot · Feb 14, 2023

RedLad said:
I just had a look in the box there. No sign of a disc. Sure aren't the days of using discs almost gone now?

They may be done with discs. I got one with my ASUS X570 motherboard.
I should save it. It may be valuable some day. The last of the motherboard driver discs.

Other option if no disc...

Let Windows generic drivers do the work. Check Device manager, get any that are missing from the motherboard website. Install the latest chipset driver, from the link I gave you.

Windows, then drivers, then updates.... then your 1st backup.
Your programs and tweaks... then your 2nd backup.

Here's a bunch of the most requested tweaks...

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials Classic context menus... https://www.elevenforum.com/t/disable-show-more-options-context-menu-in-windows-11.1589/ Change...

www.elevenforum.com

Sniff. The end of an era...

RedLad · Feb 14, 2023

@Ghot I forgot to mention I have no disc drive either. They will soon be a thing of the past man!

I've decided to wipe the PC again. I'll do it after work. Not risking that sh*t Armoury Crate hanging around after what I've read about it. Currently watching a video a guy made about it. It's 51 minutes long!

For the Chipset, Armoury Crate actually did install it, along with these as mentioned above:

AMD Chipset Driver
AMD Graphics Driver
Intel Bluetooth Driver
Intel I225 LAN Driver
Intel Wi-Fi Driver
Realtek Audio Driver

But it doesn't matter now as I'm doing a fresh install again. Thanks for the link, I'll manually get them all.

Ghot · Feb 14, 2023

RedLad said:
@Ghot I forgot to mention I have no disc drive either. They will soon be a thing of the past man!

I've decided to wipe the PC again. I'll do it after work. Not risking that sh*t Armoury Crate hanging around after what I've read about it. Currently watching a video a guy made about it. It's 51 minutes long!

For the Chipset, Armoury Crate actually did install it, along with these as mentioned above:

AMD Chipset Driver
AMD Graphics Driver
Intel Bluetooth Driver
Intel I225 LAN Driver
Intel Wi-Fi Driver
Realtek Audio Driver

But it doesn't matter now as I'm doing a fresh install again. Thanks for the link, I'll manually get them all.

Wise move.
I wanted to suggest it, but I was afraid it would ruin your day.
ALWAYS get a backup made before you risk installing any motherboard utilities, that you think you must have.

Generally, comps run a lot better without them.

Windows probably has all those drivers in it's "wallet" anyway.
The only one you should keep up to date... is the chipset driver.

Because they're changing Windows 11 so much, so fast... you need to stay on top of the chipset driver and the latest BIOS. Other than that... you really should only ever have to update the vid card driver.

And for the BIOS... I would only flash it about every 3rd or 4th BIOS version. You don't need to do "every" one.
The newest BIOS for your mobo is 0805, released Nov. 2022.

CPU-Z is a teeny (8.3MB), little portable program that's good to have. Among other info, it's shows you the BIOS version you're running...

The ZIP is the portable version...

CPU-Z | Softwares | CPUID

CPU-Z for Windows® x86/x64 is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system : Processor name and number, codename, process, package, cache levels. Mainboard and chipset. Memory type, size, timings, and module specifications (SPD). Real time...

www.cpuid.com

RedLad · Feb 14, 2023

Thanks for these links @Ghot I really appreciate it!

I have also watched a video by the guy JayzTwoCents and he mentions that GPU-Z and HW Monitor are handy too. So might check them out. By the way, I will give GeForce Experience a miss too when I reinstall.

Also, I will make sure to disable that Armoury Crate thing in the Bios before the fresh install!

See how you mention "Windows, then drivers, then updates." I thought it was Windows Updates before all of the drivers? Or does it even matter?

Also in post #15 when you say
5. Rehook the other drives and the internet, and do the Windows updates.
6. Make a backup.

Why would you reconnect the other drives before doing the updates and backup?

When I did my reinstall the other night, I kept the two older sata drives disconnected untill all Windows Updates were done.

The Bios flashing etc. you mention - I have no clue about this. But it should be fine as it is for now, right? I know the guy who build it said he had tweaked some bits in there for me to make it more 'optimized.'