I’m reinstalling Windows 11 on an ASUS ROG Strix G16 after using Linux. I downloaded network drivers from the laptop maker’s support page and copied them to a USB drive, but Windows setup doesn’t detect them. The downloads are .exe files. How should I proceed?
Windows setup won't see the drivers on my USB. What should I try?
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G5__Wexlin
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The installer usually needs the extracted driver files, not the download installer itself. Check the laptop maker’s support page for a separate ZIP download. If it only offers an EXE, try opening it on another Windows computer and extracting its contents with the vendor’s extraction option or a file-archiving tool. Look for files ending in .inf, along with related .sys and .cat files, then point setup to the folder containing the INF.
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One possible snag: you may not need a network driver just to install Windows. If setup is asking for internet access, see whether it offers an option to continue without a connection. Once Windows is installed, you can transfer the correct network driver package and install it there. If the setup screen is asking for a storage driver instead, that is a different driver and the network package won’t help.
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Check that you downloaded the package for the exact G16 model and the right Windows version. A model family can have different wireless hardware, so the wrong package may not contain a usable driver. Also, simply changing the USB format won’t turn an EXE into a driver folder. After extracting it, keep the files together in a clearly named folder and browse to that folder from setup.
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G5__Wexlin:
So the EXE itself won’t work in the driver browse window? I only copied those files onto the USB.
1!Brevix:
Usually not. Setup’s load-driver picker looks for INF-based driver files, so extracting the EXE first is the next thing to try.