— Installing Drivers — (Using SDI driver Installer) After Windows 10 is installed, the system can usually recognize and support most common hardware components automatically (such as sound cards, network adapters, Bluetooth, etc.). However, for critical components like graphics cards and motherboard chipsets, the system may lack the appropriate drivers or only provide basic drivers, which can result in failure to work or limited performance. In such cases, it is recommended to install the dedicated drivers provided by the hardware manufacturers. There are two ways to install the drivers:  Driver pre-installation: Drivers are installed automatically during the installation of Windows. This method is suitable for users who prefer a hands-off experience. See the article “Switch Driver Installation Mode” for details.  Manual driver installation: Drivers are installed manually in the desktop environment after Windows installation is completed. This method is suitable for users who prefer more control over driver installation. Traditional manual driver installation can be tedious and error-prone due to possible mismatches, making it less suitable for beginners or situations where quick deployment is required. To simplify the process, we recommend using the Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) tool, which is already included in the Windows installation USB drive. SDI is a free and open-source driver installation tool that supports both offline and online modes. It can automatically detect and match drivers for most common hardware devices. Its driver database is sourced from official channels, ensuring that it is clean, safe, and free of ads or bundled software — making it ideal for everyday users. The system installation USB drive used in this guide includes the SDI tool along with a large set of commonly used drivers from major manufacturers. In most cases, you can complete driver installation without an internet connection. Driver Library and Index Files (For Reference Only) SDI (Snappy Driver Installer) uses two types of files to perform driver matching and installation:  Driver Library (DriverPacks) This is the directory used to store compressed driver packages, located at \Drivers\SDI Full\drivers\. Each driver package, which ends with .7z extension, corresponds to a

specific hardware series, and contains all the drivers for that series along with matching information for the devices.  Index Files (Indexes) These are located at \Drivers\SDI Full\indexes\SDI\. Each index file corresponds to a specific driver package and records whether the package is present in the local driver library, what drivers it includes, and how those drivers match with hardware devices. Index files fall into two categories:  Files with the prefix DP_ These indicate that the corresponding driver package is already available in the local driver library and can be used by SDI for installation. These index files are automatically generated based on existing driver packages.  Files with the prefix _P_ These indicate that the corresponding driver package has not yet been downloaded and must be retrieved online by SDI. Overview of the Driver Installation Process After launching the SDI tool, it will first scan the current hardware to collect device information. Then, it scans and reads the index files to determine:  Whether the current device is included in the index (i.e., matched successfully)  Which driver corresponds to the device  Which driver package contains the driver  Whether the corresponding driver package exists in the local driver library SDI prioritizes scanning the DP_ index files for the current device record. If the device is not found, it then scans the _P_ index files.  If the current device information is found in the index files, it means the device has been covered by the index, indicating a successful match. In this case, there are two possible scenarios: ○ The device is listed in a DP_ index file: This means the corresponding driver package already exists locally and the driver can be installed offline. ○ The device is only listed in a _P_ index file: This means the corresponding driver package has not been downloaded yet. SDI will prompt the user to connect to the internet to retrieve it.

Both of these scenarios indicate a successful match — in other words, a compatible driver can be located via the index files.  If the current device is not found in any index file, it means the device is not yet covered by existing indexes (i.e., no matching index file available). In this case, you will need to update the index files online to expand the match possibilities. This scenario is considered a failed match. Summary of the Role of Index Files: Index files are a prerequisite for driver installation. Their role is to guide either the installation of drivers or the download of driver packages.  For existing driver packages, DP_ index files guide the direct installation process;  For packages not yet downloaded, _P_ index files guide the download process. Once the download is complete, a corresponding DP_ index file is automatically generated. Downloading Index Files (first-time use) When SDI is launched for the first time, the driver library and index folder may be empty. In this case, a welcome screen will appear, prompting you to download index files.

You can choose to download index files from this screen by clicking Download Indexes Only. SDI will then download all available index files (of the _P_ type). Alternatively, you can close the welcome screen and download index files from the main interface.

Click the purple area: Updates are available... (Click here to start the download) to enter the update interface.

Check Indexes and click OK to download all index files here. Note: The installation USB used in this tutorial already includes commonly used driver packages and index files. Therefore, the Welcome screen will not appear when SDI is run for the first time. Unless necessary, it is generally not required to update the index files. Installing Drivers Here we use the display driver as an example to demonstrate the installation process. ■ Check Display Status (Before Installation) Before the display driver is installed, you may notice poor color saturation and slightly stretched graphics on the desktop.

Expand the Display resolution dropdown. You will see that only four resolution options are available, as shown in the image above: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1400×1050 (default) Clearly, 1400×1050 does not match the standard 16:9 aspect ratio of most displays, which results in stretched or clipped screen content. ■ Running the SDI Installer Open the folder at \Drivers\SDI Full\

○ If you are confident that the required driver packages already exist in the local driver library, you can click Cancel to deny network access. ○ Otherwise, click Allow Access so that SDI can download drivers when connected to the internet. It is recommended to click “Allow Access” to ensure SDI can obtain the complete index files and any needed driver packages if necessary. Next, the driver installation process can be divided into two cases:  Indexed drivers — SDI has identified installable drivers through the index files;  Non-indexed drivers — The current index files do not contain records for these devices, so an online index update is required. ■ Installing Indexed Drivers

Some hardware devices have been successfully matched in the current index files. The interface appears as follows: ○ Check Not installed (located on the left side under the “Found in DriverPacks” column) ○ The driver description shows: “Driver available (driver not installed yet)” ○ The entry background is light blue At this point, the following situations may occur: 1. Offline Installation If the driver entry does not include the label “(Internet)”, it means the driver package exists locally and can be installed directly.

Wait until the installation is complete and the driver entry area displays “Successfully Installed”. 2. Online Installation If the driver entry includes the label “(Internet)”, it means the driver package is not present locally and must be downloaded online before installation.

Select the driver item and click Install. SDI will first download the driver package, then automatically perform the installation.

Wait until installation completes and “Successfully Installed” appears. 3. Manual Download (Without Immediate Installation) If you only want to download the driver packages in advance and install later, click the purple area: Updates are available... (Click here to start the download) to enter the update interface.

Select the required driver packages, or click This PC Only (which automatically selects matching driver packages), then click OK to download. After downloading, the driver packages will be saved in the local driver library folder and can be installed offline later. ■ Installing Non-Indexed Drivers Some hardware devices may not yet be covered by the current index files. The interface appears as follows: ○ Check Not installed (located on the left under the “Absent in DriverPacks” column) ○ The driver description shows: “Device requires a driver but it wasn't found in DriverPacks” ○ The entry background is red

Please follow these steps: 1. Connect to the internet. 2. Click the purple area: Updates are available... (Click here to start the download) to enter the update interface.

This will update all _P_ type index files: the program downloads and replaces all existing _P_ index files (while retaining the original DP_ index files). After the update completes: ○ SDI will rematch devices based on the new _P_ index files, and drivers are usually successfully matched. ○ The description will change to: “Driver available (driver not installed yet) (Internet)” ○ The entry background color will change to light blue.

At this point, the status is the same as in the previously described “Online Installation” and “Manual Download” cases: the driver has been successfully matched but the corresponding driver package has not yet been downloaded. You can follow the corresponding steps to complete the driver installation. ■ Changes After Successful Installation (taking display driver as an example) When installation completes, the screen may momentarily flash black — this indicates the driver has taken effect. The entry will then show “Successfully installed”.

This message indicates that the driver has been successfully installed. Verify the Installation by Checking Display Resolution After the display driver is installed, screen colors will noticeably improve and the aspect ratio will return to normal.

Follow the same steps as described in “Check Display Status (before installation)” to reopen the Display settings window and expand the Display resolution dropdown.

You will now see more resolution options available (e.g., increased from 4 to 15), and the default resolution is now 1920×1080 (the native resolution of the monitor), confirming that the driver has been installed successfully. You can adjust the resolution based on your preference. We recommend either: ○ 1366×768 – larger text, easier to read; or ○ Native resolution – smaller text but sharper image quality. Check Driver Status via Device Manager You can also check the driver installation status in Device Manager. Right-click the Start menu in the bottom-left corner of the desktop.

In the Device Manager window: ○ Look under “Display adapters” for the name of your graphics driver. It should display something like “Intel(R) HD Graphics” with no yellow warning icon. ○ Check if there are any undriven devices listed under “Other devices”— these are usually marked with a yellow exclamation mark. If no warning icons are present for any device, it means all drivers have been successfully installed. Tip: Using Device Manager to check the driver status of various hardware components is a more general and reliable method. Summary

SDI (Snappy Driver Installer) is currently one of the simplest, most stable, and most comprehensive driver solutions available. It is especially suitable for individual users to quickly deploy system drivers after installing Windows. We recommend using SDI’s automatic installation feature, which helps avoid common problems like version mismatches and incorrect driver installations that often result from manually searching and downloading drivers. The system installation USB drive provided with this guide already includes an SDI driver library covering most common hardware devices, allowing for direct offline installation. For any missing drivers, simply connect to the internet to update the index files and download the required drivers to complete the installation.