Recommended option for installing drivers for standalone mode?

Community Support
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1

With my 13 Pro pre-order slowly getting closer, I’m thinking more about my plans for my current 11th gen mainboard. I’m planning on setting it up as a media-center mini-PC using the cooler master case, and putting Windows 11 on it. I’m aware of the official driver packs, but I assume that includes a bunch of drivers that are not required for standalone operation (eg, drivers for the fingerprint reader, webcam, etc.). I’m curious what options other people using standalone mode have opted for when setting up the system drivers. From what I see, there are mainly three options:

  1. Just use the driver pack, and don’t worry about the extra drivers that are installed. (Presumably the extra drivers don’t do anything unless the hardware is present)
  2. Extract the drivers from the installer using 7-Zip, and install just the relevant drivers for standalone mode.
  3. Skip the driver bundle from Framework, and use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant to install the drivers instead (since the important drivers - GPU, Chipset, and WiFi - are all Intel).

I figure there’s no wrong answer, but I’m wondering if anybody has any thoughts on which option would be preferable.

2

Having done this same thing with an 11th gen board; #1 is the easiest thing here. The OS has thousands of drivers that are “installed” but do nothing. A few extra or updates from the driver pack are not going to impact anything except a small amount of storage in an already bloated OS.

3

If you really want to save storage space, go with Option 2. Then I would check for updates from Intel or whomever.