Whether or not you do a full system backup, it’s a good idea to backup your windows drivers.  It provides an easy way to protect you when testing new drivers and recovering if a driver is mistakenly deleted or corrupted. You can also improve performance by removing outdated or conflicting drivers confident you can restore them if it turns out they were needed.  It is suggested that before backing up it's a good idea to use Windows Device Manager to check that all your drivers are working properly.

There are a number of free solutions; my favorite is Driver Max [1].  It has a nice clear GUI, lets you backup, restore, generate reports that include if there is a newer version available and even gives you the option of storing your backup in a zip file.   Recently updated to support Vista, they are working on updates that will allow you to quickly find updates for your drivers.  Note it does require free registration to get full access to all of its features.

If you need to support an older version of windows DoubleDriver [2] is a great choice it allows you to view, backup and restore you Windows drivers. It also allows you to print out a driver list. It is no longer supported by the developer but works fine on my XP SP2 PC.  Note: The author's site appears to be down but you can download DoubleDriver from this download site [2].

There are other alternatives, such as Driver Guide Toolkit [3], but these require paid registration to access all the features. They are worth checking out, and even the free versions offer better GUI's and some features not found in the other versions.

[1] Drivermax
Website: http://www.drivermax.com/index.htm
Author: Innovative Solutions
Date: Last Updated February 7th, 2008
Version: 3.4
Download File Size: 2.56 MB
License: Freeware w/registration
Operating systems supported: Windows Vista, Windows XP (all service packs) and Windows 2003 Server
64 Bit Capable: unknown
Portable version available: Yes (base application will run on external media)
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No

[2] Double Driver
Website: http://majorgeeks.com/Double_Driver_d4802.html
Author: Budy Setiawan Kusumah
Date: Last Updated September 10th 2005
Version: 1.0
Download file size: 1.4 MB
Licence: Freeware
Operating systems supported: Windows 98/2K/XP
64 Bit Capable: unknown
Portable version available: unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No
 
[3] Driver Guide Toolkit
Website: http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/
Author: Driver Guide
Date: Last Updated: September 27th, 2007
Version: 2.0
Download file size: 6.51 MB
License: Freeware (restricted function)
Operating systems supported: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Vista.
64 Bit Capable: unknown
Portable version available: unknown
Other languages supported: No
Additional software required: No