Windows Update Catalog - Handy for printer drivers

The information below if from this link. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323166 

To download updates from the Windows Update Catalog, follow these steps:

Step 1: Access the Windows Update Catalog

To access the Windows Update Catalog, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx

To view a list of frequently asked questions about Windows Update Catalog, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Faq.aspx

Step 2: Search for updates from the Windows Update Catalog

To search for updates from the Windows Update Catalog, follow these steps:

1. In the Search text box, type your search terms. For example, you might type Windows Vista Security.
2. Click Search, or press ENTER.
3. Browse the list that is displayed to select the updates that you want to download.
4. Click Add for each selection to add it to the download basket.
5. To search for additional updates to download, repeat steps 2a through 2d.

Step 3: Download updates

To download updates from the Windows Update Catalog, follow these steps:

1. Click view basket under the Search box to view the download basket.
2. Verify your list of updates, and then click Download.
   
   Note If you are prompted, click Accept to accept the license agreement.
3. Select the location where you want to save the updates. You can either type the full path of the folder, or you can clickBrowse to locate the folder.
4. Click Continue to start the download.
5. When the download is complete, click Close to close the Download Window.
6. Close the Windows Update Catalog Window.
7. Find the location that you specified in step 3c.
   Note If you have downloaded device drivers for installation, go to "Installing Drivers."
8. Double-click each update, and then follow the instructions to install the update. If the updates are intended for another computer, copy the updates to that computer, and then double-click the updates to install them.

If all the items that you added to the download basket are installed successfully, you are finished.

If you want to learn about additional update services, please see the "Software Update Services for IT Professionals" section.

Installing drivers

1. Open a command prompt from the Start menu.
2. To extract the driver files, type the following command at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   expand  -F:* 
3. To stage the driver for plug and play installation or for the Add Printer Wizard, use PnPutil as described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
   937793 The staging and the installation of driver packages by using the PnP Utility (Pnputil.exe) in Windows Vista
   Note To install a cross-architecture print driver, you must already have installed the local architecture driver, and you will still need the cross-architecture copy of Ntprint.inf from another system. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   952065 You cannot install third-party printer drivers for cross-architecture support in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008

Preparing USB Drive to Install Windows from a bootable USB Drive

These steps will take you through preparing a USB ram drive (thumb drive, pen drive, or how ever you care to refer to it) so that you may use it to boot your Windows image without the need of a hard drive (or bootable CD/DVD). These steps assume you already have an ISO image.  You can use SlySoft's Virtual Clone Drive to mount your ISO.  Click here to download

BE CAREFUL TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT DISK.  MISTAKES CAN LOOSE DATA!!!

1) Run diskpart from command prompt running as administrator (right click the command prompt icon and choose "Run As Administrator")

2) Type the command: list disk to see the available disks and note the one that represents your USB thumb drive

3) Select the disk: select disk # where # is the disk you determined in the above step

4) Now that the proper disk is selected, prepare it with the clean command by typing clean

5) Now create a partition on the clean drive by typing: create partition primary

6) Select the new partition by typing: select partition 1

7) Set the partition as active by typing: active

8) Format the partition as FAT32 by typing: format fs=fat32

9) Assign the new partition by typing: assign

10) Type exit to quit diskpart

Now you are ready to copy the files. 

Typically this file will contain three folders and a file: directories: boot, EFI, and source. file: bootmgr. Simply copy these files to the prepared USB thumb drive root and you are ready to go!

With the USB drive inserted, you will either need to go into the computer's BIOS settings at boot up and arrange the boot order to place the USB drive above the system hard drive. Alternatively most systems have a "Boot Menu" keystroke such as F12 which will let you choose the device to which you want to boot.