How to Download Drivers onto Laptop with No Internet Access?

skipy89 on 23/07/2016 - 12:09
Last edited 23/07/2016 - 12:12

Hi

I have an old dell Studio 1537 that i want to give to a friend. I did a factory reset on the laptop and now it won't connect to the internet. After doing some brief research I have to download the drivers again for the laptop. However without internet access and the original discs it came with i am having some difficulties downloading the drivers.

I do have another laptop where i can download the drivers and transfer them through a USB onto the Studio 1537.

i did try to look through my Device Manager and network adapters however couldn't see anything disabled.

Thanks in Advanced.

Computing

Comments

  • avgbowlofpho on 23/07/2016 - 12:15
    -2

    I don't think you can.

    • StewBalls on 23/07/2016 - 16:56
      +1

      Not without a drivers licence…

  • Kill Joy on 23/07/2016 - 12:36
    +3

    Tether your phone with a USB cable maybe? I tried googling the model and couldnt not find specific ethernet brand/model unfortunately. Windows 8+ is good at auto detecting and installing those things.

  • Talsek on 23/07/2016 - 12:42
    +1

    http://www.driverscape.com/manufacturers/dell/laptops-deskto…

    I'm not sure where you got lost,just google for drivers(or use link above) and then download them onto the USB. Proceed to run on the Studio and you're done.

    Just because you dont have drivers installed doesn't necessarily mean it would be shown as disabled in device manager,in my experience it's more common for the specific device to be there under a generic name.

    The OP title is kinda misleading,you did actually specify you had a separate computer to download drivers with.

    • Kill Joy on 23/07/2016 - 16:00
      +3

      Are those sites reputable though? I've only ever gotten drivers from OEM sites - its getting hard to know what to trust these days.

      • Talsek on 23/07/2016 - 21:37
        +1

        There are also drivers on Dell's website,but i couldnt/didnt bother find out if i could directly link.

        I've used driverscape in the past and it's worked out ok.

  • teardrops21 on 23/07/2016 - 13:56
    +3

    The best way is to use an Ethernet cable and connect it to your router. You may have to download a generic Ethernet card driver and transfer via USB to laptop to make it work. Once you get Ethernet connection working then just run an update and all relevant drivers will be updated.

    I slightly quicker is to download and install the correct wireless driver. But that can be more difficult to get the correct driver.

  • retiredfeline on 23/07/2016 - 14:07
    +9

    You've answered your own question in the second paragraph.

  • AlienC on 23/07/2016 - 18:58

    Option One: Look up said drivers under device manager. Download said drivers. Transfer said drivers. Install said drivers. Restart and run.
    Option Two: Look up laptop model on laptop or under properties of my computer etc. Find required software or program or update required for said laptop model to function and connect to the internet. Download said software program update etc. Transfer. Install. Restart and run.
    Option Three: Connect cable or phone to laptop via bluetooth. Pray. Connect to the internet and give to said friend with a happy smile on your face.

  • veej on 24/07/2016 - 10:38

    Go to the Dell website
    http://www.dell.com/support/home/au/en/audhs1/?c=au&l=en&s=d…

    Put in the service tag of the laptop. If the sticker is worn off turn the laptop on and press F2 a couple of times because it is also saved in the BIOS and you can grab it from there.

    Go to the "Drivers & downloads" tab and make sure you have the correct operating system dropdown for the version of Windows before downloading anything.

    You are missing multiple drivers most likely although if you sort out the internet it will be easier to use the laptop you want to fix to get the rest.
    The Broadcom driver is for the ethernet if you want to use a cable instead of the wireless card to connect to the internet (to find the other missing drivers)

    If you are unsure on how to check what wireless card you have download both the Intel 5300 and the Dell WLAN 1397 and try one then the other if it doesn't work. You could look up the hardware ID if you wanted but since you don't have internet access on the Studio it makes it more complicated.

    Some of them don't appear to be missing because a generic driver is installed but at a bare minimum you are missing the graphics driver, wireless driver,various chipset drivers and the audio driver.
    You will also need to install Quickset.

    • srhardy on 24/07/2016 - 13:42
      +1

      In case the question is, how do i connect it to the internet

      1) you dont have to, you can download from any pc and save them to a usb and then plug it into the laptop and install
      or
      2) if you dont have wifi (most common) but you have standard network working you can just plug it into the home modem, download and install

      I keep a USB/Network dongle that is detectable from XP-10 and I use that when NOTHING works on a laptop

      3) sometimes you find something weird like bluetooth works, I connect that to my mobile and DL anything i need, or at least the basics

  • Geekomatic on 24/07/2016 - 21:31

    Hi Skipy,

    The drivers here are for Vista:

    http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/pr…

    There aren't any for Win 7, which usually means they're provided by the OS. If the 1537 was originally Vista, use the above link.

    I personally don't like running .exe's if I don't have to. If you can also download 7-Zip & install that first, then you can extract the .exe. That gives a folder where all you need to do is click "update driver" in device manager & point it to the folder. The hardware just finds the inf & installs with that- much lighter & quicker.

    If, however, you don't see any network adapters in device manager, it may take the installation of the entire .exe for it to be detected & installed.

    HTH

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