How to update drivers offline on an air-gapped PC

An air-gapped PC never touches the internet, which is great for security and awkward for driver updates. There's no Windows Update to lean on and no way to pull packages down directly. The fix is a two-machine relay: gather the drivers you need on a connected computer, carry them across on a USB drive, and install them on the offline machine using tools Windows already includes. You'll set up a clean workflow that keeps versions organized, avoids stray download-site utilities, and gets drivers onto the isolated PC without ever plugging it in.

1. 1

   Plan what the offline PC actually needs

   Start on the air-gapped machine so you know exactly what to gather. Right-click the Start button, open Device Manager, and note any devices with warning icons or generic names. For each one, open Properties, go to the Details tab, and choose Hardware Ids so you can record the exact model later. Also note the Windows version and whether it's 64-bit, since drivers must match. Write this list down or save it to the USB drive. Knowing the precise hardware before you go hunting saves you from carrying back the wrong packages and making a second trip.

2. 2

   Export existing drivers from a matching source PC

   If you have a connected PC with the same or very similar hardware, you can copy its working drivers straight out. On that machine, right-click Start and open Terminal (Admin). Run pnputil /export-driver * C:\DriverBackup after creating that folder. This pulls every third-party driver currently in the driver store into neat subfolders, each with its INF and support files intact. It's the cleanest way to grab drivers you already trust, and it avoids downloads entirely. If you only need one device's driver, you can export a single package by naming its published .inf instead of the wildcard.

3. 3

   Download official packages when you need newer versions

   When the offline PC needs drivers the source machine doesn't have, get them from each hardware maker's official support page on the connected computer. Search using the exact model or hardware IDs you recorded earlier, and pick packages that list your Windows version. Save them to a dedicated folder. Prefer standalone driver packages over all-in-one installer suites when offered, since bare INF-based packages install more reliably on an isolated machine. Keep everything from a single vendor in its own subfolder so you don't mix up which files belong together once you're working offline.

4. 4

   Extract and organize onto the USB drive

   Extract any ZIP files now, while you still have the connected PC's tools handy. Some vendor packages are self-extracting EXEs; run them and, if they ask, point them at a folder rather than letting them install. You want the loose INF, SYS, and CAT files, not a compressed archive the offline machine may struggle to open. Copy each unpacked driver folder to the USB drive with a clear name like "NetworkAdapter_v12" so you can tell them apart. A tidy, pre-extracted USB layout means the offline install is just plug in and go.

5. 5

   Create a restore point on the offline PC

   Move the USB drive to the air-gapped machine. Before installing anything, make a safety net: in the Start search box type "Create a restore point," open it, confirm protection is on for the system drive, and click Create with a name like "pre-driver relay." Since this PC can't easily pull down recovery tools from the internet, a local restore point is your main way to undo a bad driver. Take this step seriously here; on an isolated machine, a driver that breaks networking or storage is harder to recover from without that rollback point waiting.

6. 6

   Install the packages with pnputil

   On the offline PC, right-click Start and open Terminal (Admin). For each driver folder on the USB drive, change into it and run pnputil /add-driver *.inf /install. The /install flag tells Windows to attach the driver to any matching device right away, not just file it away. Read the output for each package; it confirms whether the driver was added and installed. If a folder holds several INFs, the wildcard handles them all in one pass. Working folder by folder keeps things clear and lets you spot exactly which package failed if one does.

7. 7

   Understand the driver store you're adding to

   Every package you install lands in Windows' protected driver store, and pnputil is the proper way to put it there. To see what's now present, run pnputil /enum-drivers, which lists each third-party driver with a published name like oem12.inf. This matters because Windows uses the store to reinstall drivers automatically when hardware reappears, so a properly staged package keeps working after you swap devices. If you ever need to remove a bad one, note its published oem name here, then use pnputil /delete-driver with that name rather than hunting for files by hand.

8. 8

   Confirm every device is happy

   Reopen Device Manager and walk through it top to bottom. The warning icons and generic entries you listed at the start should now show real device names with no yellow triangles. Double-click a device you updated, open the Driver tab, and check the version and date match what you carried over. If something still shows unknown, recheck its Hardware Ids against the INF you installed to confirm you grabbed the right package. Once the list is clean, safely eject the USB drive. Keep that USB copy filed away so future reinstalls on this isolated PC are quick.