Installing a Driver without Prompting the User for a Distribution Medium
The Found New Hardware Wizard installs a preloaded driver or a Windows Update driver for a device without prompting the user for a distribution medium if both of the following are true:
The wizard downloaded matching Windows Update drivers or located matching preloaded drivers.
None of the matching drivers that the wizard found have a corresponding INF file that has the InteractiveInstall directive set for the device. For information about this directive, see INF ControlFlags Section.
If any of the INF files for the matching drivers has an InteractiveInstall directive set for the device, the wizard prompts the user for a distribution medium, as described in Installing a Driver after Prompting the User for a Distribution Medium.
The Found New Hardware Wizard installs a driver for a device without prompting a user for a distribution medium, as follows:
If the user has enabled Windows Update to download matching drivers, the wizard accesses Windows Update to download matching drivers without displaying a wizard page. The wizard also searches for preloaded drivers.
If the user has not enabled Windows Update to download matching drivers and the wizard did not locate matching preloaded drivers, the wizard prompts the user for permission to access Windows Update to download matching drivers. However, if the wizard located matching preloaded drivers, the wizard does not attempt to download Windows Update drivers.
In general, the result of this step is one or more equally-ranked drivers that have the best rank from among those Windows Update and preloaded drivers that match the device. For information about how Windows ranks drivers, see How Windows Ranks Drivers (Windows Vista and Later).
The wizard continues with step (2).
If the wizard located only one matching driver that has the best rank, the wizard installs that driver. If the wizard located more than one matching driver that has the best rank, the wizard prompts the user to select a driver form among the matching drivers the wizard found, and then the wizard installs the driver that the user selects.