These aren't workarounds, these are the tools you need to perform the job. You said you had Acronis on CD, therefore you have the WinPE disc. :o)
You want to build a server, therfore you need the drivers. If you are on the Internet then you have a system to get the drivers.
You are right, until you figure it out it is time consuming. Then again how time consuming is it to rebuild a server and re-create it's workload. That is the balance you need to consider.
If it is faster to re-install from scratch, then do it. It is always better to have a fresh install.
Good luck !