Driver Package Installer (DPInst) version 2.1 is a component of Driver Install Frameworks (DIFx) version 2.1 that simplifies and customizes the installation of driver packages for devices that are not yet installed in a computer (commonly known as a software-first installation). DPInst also automatically updates the drivers for any installed devices that are supported by the newly installed driver packages.

You should use DPInst version 2.1 for new installation applications instead of DPInst version 2.0, which did not fully support Windows Vista and later versions of Windows.

DPInst supports installing signed Plug and Play (PnP) function drivers and signed class filter drivers beginning with Microsoft Windows 2000. DPInst can also be configured in legacy mode to install unsigned PnP function drivers and unsigned class filter drivers. In legacy mode, DPInst will also install driver packages that have missing files.

By using DPInst, you can:

• Enhance the user experience of a driver package by eliminating most of the manual steps that would otherwise be required to install driver packages. When a user runs DPInst, a wizard notifies the user of the installation progress and provides an optional end-user license agreement (EULA) page that gives the user the option to cancel installation. For more information about the wizard pages, see DPInst User Experience and Installing and Uninstalling Driver Packages.
• Avoid writing a custom installation program to install driver packages and update the installed drivers for supported devices. You do not have to change your driver packages to use DPInst. You only need to create an installation package that includes DPInst and one or more driver packages. For more information about creating this type of installation package, see Creating a DPInst Installation Package.

DPInst enables:

• Localization. There are two versions of DPInst: an English-only version and a multi-language version that supports many of the commonly used languages that the Windows operating system supports. For more information about the localization support, see DPInst Multi-Language Support.
• Driver installation customization. You can localize and customize the text, icons, and bitmaps that are displayed on wizard pages. You can include an optional EULA and can control whether wizard pages are displayed. For more information about customizing installation, see Customizing Driver Installation.
• Automatic driver package removal. For each driver package that is installed by DPInst, DPInst adds an entry to Add or Remove Programs (in Control Panel) that users can use to remove the driver package from their computers. If a user removes a driver package, the package is removed from the driver store, the corresponding INF file is removed from the system INF file directory, and all of the devices that were previously supported by the package are updated with the next best available driver.
• Installation error logs. DPInst records high-level messages in the DPInst log file (%windir%\DPINST.LOG). The log file is a plain-text file that contains information and error messages and identifies the driver package that was being installed when an error occurred. For more information about the DPInst log file, see Testing and Debugging a DPInst Installation Package.

For more information about known problems with DPInst, see Known DPInst Bugs and Limitations.

The DPInst tool is located in the \redist\DIFx directory of the WDK.