If you need to root your Android smartphone or tablet, you will most likely need to use fastboot and adb tools(except Samsung devices which use ODIN). Normally, fastboot and adb tools are included as part of Android SDK, which is a complete development tool for Android developers. But for rooting, you do not need to download the whole Android SDK, which can take up a lot of space on your hard disk and you just need fastboot and adb tools, which are less than 5MB.
Step 1 — Download and extract the Android USB Driver to your PC. Step 2 — Click Start (Windows) - Control Panel - Device Manager (Select Device Manager). Step 3 — On the Device Manager window find and click on computer name to select Add legacy hardware. Step 4 — Select Next. Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a versatile command-line tool that lets you communicate with a device. The adb command facilitates a variety of device actions, such as installing and debugging apps, and it provides access to a Unix shell that you can use to run a variety of commands on a device.
The Fastboot.zip included here just provides exactly that, fastboot and adb tools you need and there are 3 different versions of it, Windows, Mac, and Linux so you can use it for all 3 different platforms in one download. These are taken straight from Android SDK so it will save you time. If you are using Chromebook, you can also get the adb tools thru the Chrome Web Store here.
Also, drivers are NOT required on Mac or Linux systems as they are included in the OS but if you are using Windows, you will need to use Android USB drivers, which are compatible with all Android devices and works on all Windows XP, 7, 8, and 11.
Android Adb Driver Windows
Download here:
Download fastboot.zip – Link
Download Android USB driver for Windows – Link
Adb Interface Driver Windows 7
To use fastboot.zip, simply unzip and you will find fastboot.exe and adb.exe for Windows.
For Mac or Linux, you will have to change the file permissions first by typing:
cd Downloadscd fastbootchmod 755 *
Which will allow you to execute it. For Mac, you will have to start with:
./fastboot-mac
and./adb-mac
For Linux, you will have to start commands with:
sudo ./fastboot-linux
andsudo ./adb-linux
Note: the “sudo” is required if you are running your Linux system as a user. You can also simply type, “sudo -i” to enter root mode then you don’t have to type sudo in front.