Where do I find all drivers?

[star_limit]

Last week, I purchased an HP 15-da0012dx notebook. I plan on making a clean installation of my OS, Windows 10 Home 64-bit v1803. However, I presume I am going to need to manually install my notebook's drivers. Where can I get a complete set of correct drivers?

So far, I have found two sets of drivers: 1) under C:\SWSetup and 2) my product's page (https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-15-da0000-laptop-pc/20395828/model/21837188). However, I have the following issues/questions:

1. The drivers under C:\SWSetup are a subset of those on my product's page. However, not all the versions in C:\SWSetup match the ones I have installed. Furthermore, I believe I have found at least one driver that is installed (and listed on my product's page) but is not in C:\SWSetup. Thus, the drivers under C:\SWSetup do not make a complete set.
2. Does my product's page list all the drivers I need or desire?
3. My product's page lists a number of drivers I don't find in Device Manager. How can I know whether or not these were pre-installed and thus necessary or desired?
4. Many of the most recent versions of drivers on my product's page are indicated to be for Intel's Whiskey Lake microarchitecture. However, I believe my notebook's CPU (Intel i3-8130U) is Kaby Lake. Is all the software on my product's page not specific to my notebook? For a given driver, do I want the most recent version; the most recent version for Kaby Lake, if indicated; the version installed on my notebook; or the version under C:\SWSetup?
5. There is some non-driver software on my product's page, including firmware and the BIOS. Should I install (or flash) this software, and if not, which versions should I consider backing up? Where can I find the versions of my installed firmware and BIOS?

I'll be happy to offer specifics about the drivers I have installed or under C:\SWSetup if asked.

[banhien]

@star_limit

Firstly, as you can see, the drivers page is for the whole da0000 series or  HP 15-da00xxaa (where xx=00 to 99 and aa = aa to zz) series. Your machine is an HP 15-da0012dx which is only one model/product of the series.

1. Drivers for your machine is only a subset of the drivers page.
2. Yes, but you have to find out which ones are the right ones,
3. You don't need (and your machine does not have) all of them.
4. The C:\SWSetup folder normally contains factory installed drivers PLUS the one from your updates. There are many drivers on the support page are not applicable for your machine at all.
5. Yes, you need new firmware and BIOS from drivers page BUT please carefully read release note.

Actually some common drivers such as Chipset, Audio, Input devices and BIOS should be the same for all machines of the series.

Now, the problem is how do you know which ones you need. You have to check hardware-id from properties to find out.

Regards.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

When I do a clean reload of Windows 10 onto a new HP laptop I always back up the C:\swsetup folder and keep it on a thumb drive just for a safety net. But after you have installed Windows and made sure your network connection is working (Windows 10 does not fail to install a working network driver very often) the first thing to install is HP Support Assistant. Run it and let it pick up any missing drivers. It is not 100% effective but well over 90%. After that, look at device manager for any completely missing drivers. Look at the hardware you have and then go to the HP Home driver page for your laptop and look for recent releases and make sure they are installed. 

[star_limit]

Thank you both for your replies.

@Huffer

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@Huffer wrote:

When I do a clean reload of Windows 10 onto a new HP laptop I always back up the C:\swsetup folder and keep it on a thumb drive just for a safety net.

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I created a recovery drive that does a factory restore, which includes restoring C:\SWSetup.

 wrote:

(Windows 10 does not fail to install a working network driver very often)

I was pleasantly surprised Windows 10 had a vanilla network adapter driver that worked.

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@Huffer wrote:

the first thing to install is HP Support Assistant. Run it and let it pick up any missing drivers. It is not 100% effective but well over 90%. After that, look at device manager for any completely missing drivers. Look at the hardware you have and then go to the HP Home driver page for your laptop and look for recent releases and make sure they are installed. 

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TL;DR: I found that Windows Update picked up several drivers, and HP Support Assistant picked up the rest (and a BIOS update).

I carefully cross-referenced drivers installed from Windows Update and HP Support Assistant with those listed on my product's page. To answer (4) in the OP, drivers indicated for Kaby Lake were always selected. Some drivers and software listed on my product's page were not installed, but to the best of my understanding, these were not pre-installed on my notebook (installed in my factory state) nor seem needed or desired. There were some drivers installed by Windows Update that were not on my product's page: two Intel "System" drivers, an Intel SCSI driver, a sound driver, and a Synaptics driver. However, I am not concerned by their installation.