How to add netcard driver to install media?

Burgurne · Apr 17, 2024

Hi.
New PC with ASUS Prime Z790-A. Clean install did not work, as there are no drivers for onboard netcard (Ethernet or WiFi). How do I add these drivers to USB-key (created with Microsoft creation tool), so I can do a clean install?

glasskuter · Apr 17, 2024

It's fairly complicated solution but this

Add and Remove Driver packages to an Offline Windows Image

learn.microsoft.com

Or use 'load driver' during install (step 11 of tutorial)

What indication do you get that make you think you have to install your network drivers?
I've done a clean install many times and have .never had to install these drivers during the install. Network drivers install after windows boots, either by windows itself OR manually by the user.
The only drivers I have ever had to insert during an install were storage controller drivers occasionally before the disk would be recognized.That was on systems configured as RAID and done using the load driver option.
Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

garlin · Apr 17, 2024

Another solution (which is simpler) is to use an autounattend.xml file to install any required drivers from the same USB drive as the ISO.

1. Download the ASUS Prime Z790-A network drivers.

2. Unzip the driver files, and copy the extracted folders to F:\Drivers (or whatever drive letter is your USB drive).

3. Copy this text, and save as F:\autounattend.xml

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
        <settings pass="windowsPE">
                <component name="Microsoft-Windows-PnpCustomizationsWinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
                        <DriverPaths>
                                <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="1" wcm:action="add">
                                        <Credentials></Credentials>
                                        <Path>C:\Drivers</Path>
                                </PathAndCredentials>
                        </DriverPaths>
                        <DriverPaths>
                                <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="2" wcm:action="add">
                                        <Credentials></Credentials>
                                        <Path>D:\Drivers</Path>
                                </PathAndCredentials>
                        </DriverPaths>
                        <DriverPaths>
                                <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="3" wcm:action="add">
                                        <Credentials></Credentials>
                                        <Path>E:\Drivers</Path>
                                </PathAndCredentials>
                        </DriverPaths>
                        <DriverPaths>
                                <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="4" wcm:action="add">
                                        <Credentials></Credentials>
                                        <Path>F:\Drivers</Path>
                                </PathAndCredentials>
                        </DriverPaths>
                        <DriverPaths>
                                <PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="5" wcm:action="add">
                                        <Credentials></Credentials>
                                        <Path>G:\Drivers</Path>
                                </PathAndCredentials>
                        </DriverPaths>
                </component>
                <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
                        <UserData>
                                <ProductKey>
                                        <Key></Key>
                                </ProductKey>
                        </UserData>
                </component>
        </settings>
</unattend>

WinPE will now search for a \Drivers folder on drives C thru G. The reason we need to search multiple drives, is your USB's drive letter isn't always the same (depending on how many other drives you have). Setup will copy these drivers to the new install.

Megahertz · Apr 18, 2024

The Ethernet and WiFi drivers aren't essential to install Win 11 as the Intel RST drivers.
You can add the drivers during the first phase of the installation using "Add driver". The drivers must be *.sys, *.ini, *.cat etc and not an executable file.
or
On a running computer, make a Driver folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive and copy the Ethernet and WiFi drivers to it.
Once you had installed win 11, browse to the Driver folder on the Win 11 USB installation drive and install the drivers.

Burgurne · Apr 18, 2024

But I could not install Windows 11. Early in the process (after first reboot), it stoped and showed a screen "let's get you online" and showed the icon from WiFi. The button NEXT was greayed out. I had to use this method from Microsoft:

Check and reinstall the Wi-Fi network adapter drivers (for advanced users). If you don’t see any Wi-Fi networks listed when you’re setting up your PC and see an error message, you might need to reinstall Wi-Fi network adapter drivers. Here’s how:
1. On a different PC, download the necessary Wi-Fi network adapter drivers from the manufacturer’s website.
2. Unzip and copy the drivers to a USB flash drive. The .inf file must be in the root of the flash drive and not in any subfolders.
  Note: This assumes your drivers came in the form of a compressed (zipped) folder, or .ZIP file. If your drivers came in the form of an executable (or .EXE) file (or if that's all you see once you open the .ZIP), you may just need to open that file to install the drivers. Contact your hardware manufacturer if you have further questions.
3. On the PC you’re setting up, plug the USB flash drive into a USB port on your PC.
4. Press Shift + F10 to open a Command Prompt window from setup.
5. Type diskpart and press Enter. If prompted, select Yes to allow it.
6. In the new DiskPart window, type list volume and press Enter.
  
  Note the letter of the USB drive, which will be listed in the column under Ltr.
7. Press Shift + F10 to open a Command Prompt window from setup.
8. In the command prompt, type pnputil /add-driver <USBDriveLetter>:\*.inf, and then press Enter. The full command should look like this: pnputil /add-driver D:\*.inf
  
  Note: Replace <USBDriveLetter>:\ with the drive letter for your USB flash drive, such as D:\.
9. You might need to scan for devices afterwards. To do this, at the command prompt, type pnputil /scan-devices, and then press Enter.

It is from this site: Get connected when setting up your Windows 11 PC - Microsoft Support

After doing this, I never again saw the screen to "let's get you online", and I'm pretty sure I have never seen it before. It looks like Windows PE looks for updates before making the rest of the initial Windows install, and before Windows 11 is taking control.

"

If you don’t see any Wi-Fi networks listed when you’re setting up your PC and see an error message, you might need to reinstall Wi-Fi network adapter drivers"

And as there was no driver for onboard LAN, the process stop

Megahertz · Apr 18, 2024

Windows 11 installation wizard push you to use a MS account and then you need a internet connection. If you want to bypass and install as a local account there is a MS solution.
When you get to the point to use a MS account, press Shift+F10 simultaneously to open a command line prompt and type:
oobe\bypassnro
It will reboot and back to installation wizard. Then you can use a local account.

What is "oobe\bypassnro"

When installing Windows 11, if you want to get around having to connect to the internet and login with a MS account, you can enter the command prompt and run: oobe\bypassnro I always thought oobe was the command and \bypassnro was an option switch, and I found it completely odd there was no...

www.elevenforum.com

andrew129260 · Apr 18, 2024

You could skip all this and just run the bypass command.

When the first dialog box appears during setup, hit Shift + F10 and type OOBE\BYPASSNRO into the command prompt shell that appears. This will disable the internet connection requirement, and force a reboot of the machine to restart the setup process.