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2012 Configuration Manager
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Organizations usually provide standardized Windows OS support on a single platform. With that in
mind, the 32-bit(x86) and 64-bit(x64) support files are combined into a single CAB file for convenience.
CAB editing tools
IT administrators need to extract the CABs, and only add drivers that are needed for the configurations
they support. The following sections list recommended CAB management tools. Windows Explorer
supports native viewing of CAB contents, or use WinZip to examine the contents of the CAB.
Optionally, Microsoft provides a couple of tools using the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools to
examine the cabinet files. Extraction tools (CabArc and Extract) are available from Microsoft at the
following location
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=49AE8576-9BB9-4126-9761-
BA8011FABF38&displaylang=en.
 CAB Management Tool from Microsoft
Using CabArc to extract the driver contents and maintain directory structure:
CabArc.exe -p x <cab file path> *.* <output path>
(For example, C:\Cabarc.exe –p x C:\E4300-Vista-A00.cab *.* C:\drivers\)
 Extract Utility from Microsoft
Once you are in the directory where you want to extract, enter the following command:
extract /Y /E E4300-Vista-A00.cab
Driver cab package information
Once the CAB is extracted, the readme.txt and Manifest.xml included in the CAB provides additional
content details. The manifest file includes specifics such as:
 Driver versions
 Release date
 Support devices in that particular release
Grouping content in this manner provides you the ability to remove any architecture-specific folder
that is not required for a particular model in their environment. The listing granularity provides the
flexibility to replace any archive device drivers in the future if needed. Figure 1 provides an overview
of the architecture-specific folder structure.