Install Windows* Drivers

Intel® Ethernet Adapters and Devices User Guide

ID	Date	Version	Classification
705831	11/27/2024		Public

A newer version of this document is available. Customers should click here to go to the newest version.

There are multiple ways to install device drivers on Microsoft Windows:

Install via the Complete Driver Pack. This option will install Windows* drivers and Intel® PROSet but is a very large download.
Install Only Windows Drivers. This option will not install Intel PROSet but is a much smaller download.
Install Base Drivers via the Command Line
You can also Save and Restore an Adapter’s Configuration Settings via the command line.

This page describes the above installation methods for Windows drivers. See Installing Intel® PROSet for instructions on how to install Intel PROSet.

Note:

To successfully install or uninstall the drivers or software, you must have administrative privileges on the computer completing installation.
Installing the drivers will update the drivers for all supported Intel Ethernet adapters in your system.
The Roll Back Driver feature of Windows Server (available on the Adapter Properties dialog’s Driver tab) will not work correctly if an adapter team or Intel PROSet is present on the system. Before you use the Roll Back Driver feature, remove any teams. Then remove Intel PROSet using Programs and Features from the Control Panel of Windows. See Installing Intel® PROSet for details regarding Intel PROSet.
Using Microsoft Windows Update to upgrade or downgrade your Ethernet network drivers is not supported. Please download the latest driver package from the support website.

Before Installing Drivers

Before installing or updating the drivers, insert your adapter(s) in the computer and plug in the network cable. When Windows discovers the new adapter, it attempts to find an acceptable Windows driver already installed with the operating system.

If found, the driver is installed without any user intervention. If Windows cannot find the driver, the Found New Hardware Wizard window is displayed.

Regardless of whether Windows finds the driver, it is recommended that you follow the procedures below to install the driver. Drivers for all Intel adapters supported by this software release are installed.

Install via the Complete Driver Pack

To download and install via the complete driver pack:

Download the latest software package from the support website and transfer it to the system. See Install via the Complete Driver Pack for the URL for the complete driver pack.
Extract the downloaded software package to your hard drive.
If the Found New Hardware Wizard screen is displayed, click Cancel.
Navigate in your extracted files to \APPS\SETUP\SETUPBD and then the Windows subfolder corresponding to your version of Windows (32-bit or 64-bit).
Inside the Winx64 or Win32 folder, double-click on SetupBD.exe.
Complete the steps in the installation wizard.
If you want to install Intel PROSet, navigate to \APPS\PROSETDX and then the Windows subfolder corresponding to your version of Windows (32-bit or 64-bit).
- See Ethernet Cmdlets for Intel® Ethernet and Intel® PROSet for more information about this tool.
Inside the Winx64 or Win32 folder, double-click on DxSetup.exe.
Complete the steps in the installation wizard.

Install Only Windows Drivers

To download and install only Windows drivers:

Go to the Intel Download Center and find the relevant download for your version of Windows. See Intel Download Center for the link.
Download and extract the Wired_driver_XX.X_*.zip file for your version of Windows, where XX.X is the release number. This file will install the base driver(s) for your system.
- If you are running a 32-bit operating system, download Wired_driver_XX.X_32.zip.
- If you are running a 64-bit operating system, download Wired_driver_XX.X_x64.zip.
In the extracted driver files, double-click on the .exe file to launch the installation.
In the dialog box that opens, click on OK to install the drivers.
The device driver(s) will install. Click Close when prompted.

Note:

This method does not install Intel PROSet. See Installing Intel® PROSet for additional instructions.

Install Base Drivers via the Command Line

SetupBD.exe is a file that allows you to install the Windows base drivers from the command line. SetupBD is only available when you download and Install via the Complete Driver Pack.

To install Windows base drivers using SetupBD:

Download the complete driver pack. See Install via the Complete Driver Pack for details.
Extract the downloaded files to your desired location.
In the downloaded files, navigate to APPS\SETUP\SETUPBD and the appropriate subfolder for your version of Windows (32-bit or 64-bit).
From the command line, call SetupBD using the following syntax:
```
SetupBD [parameters]
```
See below for supported command line parameters and examples.

Parameters

/h, /?: Displays help file for SetupBD.

/l <path\filename>: Create a log file with the specified path and filename. If you do not specify the path and filename, SetupBD creates a log file (named SetupBD_<timestamp>.log; for example, SetupBD_18-04-2022_14-29-20.log) in the current directory.
/m: Non-interactive install. This still displays the installation GUI, but you cannot interact with it. Use the /s switch to suppress the GUI.
/n: Ignore INF excludes and force scan all .inf files.
/nr: Suppress the system reboot. If you include this switch you will need to manually reboot the system for the changes to take effect. Must be used with the /s switch. This switch is ignored if it is included with the /r switch.
/r: Force a system reboot after the installation completes. Must be used with the /s switch.
/s: Silent installation. Suppresses all installation messages and errors.

Examples

To install and/or update the Windows driver(s) and display the GUI:

SetupBD

To install and/or update the Windows driver(s) silently:

SetupBD /s

To install and/or update the Windows driver(s) silently and create a log file in `c:\temp:

SetupBD /s /l c:\temp\install.log

To install and/or update the Windows driver(s) silently and force a reboot:

SetupBD /s /r

To install and/or update the Windows driver(s) silently and force a reboot (/nr is ignored):

SetupBD /s /r /nr

Save and Restore an Adapter’s Configuration Settings

The Save and Restore Command Line Tool (SaveRestore.ps1) allows you to copy the current adapter and team settings into a standalone file (such as on a USB drive) as a backup measure. In the event of a hard drive failure, you can reinstate most of your former settings.

The system on which you restore network configuration settings must have the same configuration as the one on which the save was performed. A saved configuration file can be used to restore adapter settings after an operating system upgrade. However, all adapter configuration settings may not be restored depending on the features supported by the new operating system or adapter configuration software.

Note:

You must have Administrator privileges to run scripts. If you do not have Administrator privileges, you will not receive an error, the script just will not run.
Only adapter settings are saved (these include Intel ANS teaming and VLANs). The adapter’s driver is not saved.
Restore using the script only once. Restoring multiple times may result in unstable configuration.
Intel PROSet must be installed for the SaveRestore.ps1 script to run. See Installing Intel® PROSet for installation instructions.
For systems running a 64-bit OS, be sure to run the 64-bit version of Windows PowerShell, not the 32-bit (x86) version, when running the SaveRestore.ps1 script.

Command Line Syntax for SaveRestore.ps1

Use the following syntax to call SaveRestore.ps1:

SaveRestore.ps1 -Action save|restore [-ConfigPath] [-BDF]

Parameters

-Action

Required. Valid values are:

save:: Saves adapter and team settings that have been changed from the default settings. When you restore with the resulting file, any settings not contained in the file are assumed to be the default.
restore:: Restores the settings.

-ConfigPath

Optional. Specifies the path and filename of the main configuration save file. If not specified, it is the script path and default filename (saved_config.txt).

-BDF

Optional. Default configuration file names are saved_config.txt and Saved_StaticIP.txt.

If you specify -BDF during a restore, the script attempts to restore the configuration based on the PCI Bus:Device:Function:Segment values of the saved configuration. If you removed, added, or moved an adapter to a different slot, this may result in the script applying the saved settings to a different device.

Note:

If the restore system is not identical to the saved system, the script may not restore any settings when the -BDF option is specified.
Virtual Function devices do not support the -BDF option.

Examples for SaveRestore.ps1

Save Example

To save the adapter settings to a file on a removable media device:

Open a Windows PowerShell Prompt.
Navigate to the directory where SaveRestore.ps1 is located (generally c:\Program Files\Intel\Wired Networking\PROSET).

Type the following:

SaveRestore.ps1 -Action Save -ConfigPath e:\settings.txt

Restore Example

To restore the adapter settings from a file on removable media:

Open a Windows PowerShell Prompt.
Navigate to the directory where SaveRestore.ps1 is located (generally c:\Program Files\Intel\Wired Networking\PROSET).

Type the following:

SaveRestore.ps1 -Action Restore -ConfigPath e:\settings.txt