How to Convert Windows Drivers to Linux

By Stephen Lilley

i www.sxc.hu

Drivers are an integral part of your computer. They are a type of software that allows your operating system to understand your hardware. If you're using the Linux operating system, you'll quickly find that not a lot of devices that were meant for Windows have Linux device drivers. You can, however, quickly convert a Windows driver to Linux by installing a program called NDISwrapper on your computer.

Step 1

Click "System," then click "Administration."

Step 2

Click "Synaptic Package Manager." This will open a utility that is built into Linux that is designed to allow you to download and add software to your machine. This is similar to the way "Add/Remove Programs" works in Windows.

Step 3

Type "ndiswrapper-utils" into the "Search" box. A listing of the same name will appear. Check the box next to it. Next, type "ndisgtk" into the "Search" box. A listing of the same name will appear. Check the box next to it.

Step 4

Click "Apply." Both components of the NDISwrapper utility will now install themselves onto your Linux computer. Now, when you try to install a Windows driver on your computer, it will automatically be converted to a Linux-compatible equivalent.

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