Create .INF Driver Packs for Intel® NUCs

Documentation

Install & Setup

000021509

01/24/2024

This document guides you on creating an .INF driver pack for Intel NUC products, with all the latest drivers available from Download Center. 

INF driver packs simplify your operating system setup with tools, such as Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)* or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)*. This guide only shows you how to extract .INF files using PowerShell for use with OS setup tools. It doesn’t describe how to use those tools.

 

Before You Begin
Before you begin the driver pack creation process:

Set up an Intel NUC as the REFERENCE system
  1. Integrate the Intel NUC with the memory and drive components you’ll be deploying in your enterprise environment.
  2. Install Windows 10/11 (64-bit) WITHOUT the Intel NUC connected to the Internet during the entire process.
  3. On a separate computer, download all the current drivers for your Intel NUC model. 
  4. Unzip any drivers that need to be unzipped and install all the drivers onto the reference Intel NUC.
Set up an identical Intel NUC as the TEST system
  1. Integrate another Intel NUC of the same model with the memory and drive components you’ll be deploying in your enterprise environment.
  2. Install Windows 10/11 (64-bit) WITHOUT the Intel NUC connected to the Internet during the entire process.
  3. Don’t install any drivers – you’ll use this Intel NUC to test the driver pack you create.

Create the Driver Pack

The PowerShell command Export-WindowsDriver exports all third-party drivers from the Windows image to a destination folder. Follow these steps on the REFERENCE Intel NUC to create an .INF driver pack and save it to a USB portable drive.

  1. Connect a USB portable drive to a USB port. Take note of the driver letter assigned, such as D:\.
  2. Press the Windows key and type "PowerShell."
  3. Right-click the Windows PowerShell app and select Run as administrator.
  4. Run the following command: Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination D:\Drivers 

It takes a few minutes for the Export-WindowsDriver process to complete the copy process of all third-party drivers to the USB device. Once finished, take the USB drive to the TEST system.

Test the Driver Pack

  1. Copy the .INF folder structure from the USB device to the TEST system.
  2. Press the Windows key and type "Command Prompt."
  3. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
  4. Navigate to the folder on the USB device containing the .INF driver folders.
  5. Run the following command: pnputil /add-driver *.inf /subdirs /install
  6. After installing all drivers with this method:
    1. Restart Windows.
    2. Check Device Manager – check that there are no errors (red or yellow bangs) on any devices.

The driver pack is now ready for use with operating system setup tools.