HMD Global is making Nokia branded phones for a few years now. However, there is still no official webpage at Nokia.com from where you can download device drivers. On most Nokia phones, the Nokia USB drivers come bundled. A CD ROM will show on the computer when you connect the phone. The Nokia Phone USB Driver installer rests in that read-only disk. However, there are situations when the phone is not working properly (for example: Stuck on Download Mode) and you need the drivers to connect the phone to a PC and try to fix it.
Other than that, the flashing tool (OST LA) used by Nokia Mobile Care also comes with USB Drivers installer (obviously). In this post, I am including the different ways by which you can acquire the drivers and install them on your Windows PC. The driver package includes ADB as well as the Fastboot drivers. Windows Device Manager will show HMD Global as the device manufacturer when you check the properties of the ADB or Fastboot device.
From Programming menu, select “Recovery” and flash your firmware from there. You now have Amber firmware on Lumia 920 and 820 which is the latest software for the windows phone right now. Run Nokia Software Updater from the directory where you installed it. Connect your Nokia Lumia phone to your PC. Make sure it has at-least 50% of battery left. The program will then download official Amber update files from the Nokia Servers and prepare them for installation to the phone. (Approx size for Lumia 820 and 920 is 1.2.
Compatible phones: The Nokia USB driver supports all Nokia phones released under HMD Global.
Including Nokia 1, Nokia 1 Plus, Nokia 2, Nokia 2.1, Nokia 2.2, Nokia 2.3, Nokia 3, Nokia 3.1, Nokia 3.1 Plus, Nokia 3.1 Plus C, Nokia 4.2, Nokia 5, Nokia 5.1, Nokia 5.1 Plus, Nokia Nokia 6, Nokia 6.1, Nokia X6 (Nokia 6.1 plus), Nokia 6.2, Nokia 7, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 7.2, Nokia 8, Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 8.1, Nokia 9 PureView, Nokia X71, Nokia C1.
Option 1: Download USB Driver disk (As shipped by Nokia)
Lumia Firmware Flash
If your phone is not working properly, then this is the simplest option to install only the Nokia USB Drivers without any bloat. I have copied and zipped the Drivers Disk as provided by Nokia on my Nokia 8.1. You can download it from the link below. Thereafter unzip it using 7zip or any other archive manager and run the setup to install the USB Drivers.
The installer will install Nokia Drivers in less than 10 seconds. Note that you might need to go to Windows Device manager to still manually choose the driver for the first time. It will happen automatically in the future.
Option 2: Use the CD ROM on your phone (if your phone is working fine)
Lumia 920 Firmware Flash
If your Nokia phone is working properly, then you do not need to download anything. Simply connect your powered-on phone to your computer. Instantly or within a few seconds, your PC will show a CD-ROM drive. Open it and run the setup to begin the installation of Nokia phone USB Drivers.
Option 3: Install the Nokia Care flash tool – OST LA
As I previously mentioned, the OST LA (short for Online Service Tool) also comes with the Nokia driver installer. OST LA will install 2 additional drivers in addition to the Nokia USB Driver. The package includes:
- Phone Nokia USB Driver
- Phone F USB Driver
- Phone M USB Driver
The M and F driver packages are for advanced recovery options. For example, if the phone is in the MediaTek Preloader mode or Qualcomm 9008 mode. Basically, the M and F packages include the emergency flash drivers from MediaTek and Qualcomm. You will not need these in most circumstances, so, you can uninstall these after the Nokia USB Driver has finished installing.
Flash Lumia 920 Firmware Manual
Option 4: Download Nokia USB Driver installer extracted from OST LA
You can avoid the dependencies and bloat included with OST LA by downloading this dedicated Driver installer. It was extracted from the OST LA tool by Github user and made available as a standalone install along with a modified version of OST – NOST. It will install the 3 packages as mentioned under OST LA. You can use this option if the other installers failed to install the drivers. For example, some computers do not continue the OST LA setup with errors like Access Denied or Remove device at VID.
I believe that one of the above methods has helped you in installing the Nokia USB Drivers on your Windows PC. Do let me know (via comments below) about which method worked for you. I will consider prioritizing it as Option 1 in this guide for easier access. If I was choosing an option for downloading, I will go with Option 1 and if that doesn’t work, Option 4 looks like the next best option.
Nokia is showing a lot of laziness in release substantial updates, but folks at windowsmania have released Amber GDR2 firmware. In fact, we also have the instructions on flashing these stock ROMs. However, keep in mind this is like installing fresh ROM on your Nokia Lumia 920 / 820, which means it will wipe all of your data.
So, you should make a backup of anything and everything you have on your windows phone before you hit the flash button. Find the download instructions at these links. For 920 [link]; for 820 [link]. You can flash the ROM, irrespective of color of your Lumia.
Nokia Lumia Firmware Flash
Update – We now know how to flash it. Download the files from aforementioned links and follow these instructions. For smooth installation of the ROM, make sure you have a decent laptop or ultrabook with SSD for fast processing because a lot of data is transferred at once. If you get a slow ultrabook, then you might face some problems. A solid state drive, also known as SSD brings numerous advantages over a laptop with traditional hard disk. For instance, the entire system feels much snappier. Also, since there are no moving parts inside a solid state drive, there are fewer things that will fail. So when storing something on an ultrabook with SSD, there are lesser chances of things failing.
1. Download and install latest version of Nokia Care suit.
2. Download the driver from here – http://d-h.st/Mc3
3. Put the downloaded files in this folder – C:Program DataNokiaPackagesProductsrm-821. Create any folder, if it is not there.
4. Go to File > Open Product and select RM-821
Nokia Lumia 920 Update
5. Select Product Support Tool as shown above.
6. From Programming menu, select “Recovery” and flash your firmware from there. That is it. You now have Amber firmware on Lumia 920 and 820 which is the latest software for the windows phone right now.