Windows Hardware Certification Program

The Windows Certification Program is designed to help your company deliver compatible and reliable systems, software, and hardware products. End users trust the logo as an assurance of compatibility and reliability. This program is intended to help you develop systems and devices that have been tested to ensure that they meet Microsoft standards for Windows 8.1 as well as the quality level that ensures a great Windows experience for end users.

Windows Hardware Certification Process

The hardware certification process includes all the major phases of a common project, including:

  • Design your hardware based on Windows Requirements.

  • Develop your drivers for you product using the latest Windows Driver Kit (WDK).

  • Certify your hardware and drivers using the Windows HCK and Windows Dev Center – Hardware Dashboard.

  • Maintain your hardware and driver using Windows Dev Center – Hardware Dashboard.

This guide focuses on the certification phase of the project. For more information on the other phases and the program, visit the Windows Hardware Certification website.

Windows Hardware Certification Requirements

The Windows Certification Program Requirements define how to build Windows-compatible devices, systems, and filter drivers across all Windows platforms.

These requirements are the result of our collaboration with our partners and focus on customer scenarios. They are organized by feature and correspond to the tests validated in the Windows Hardware Certification Kit. We have divided the requirements into three sets:

  • System requirements for certifying Windows 8.1 systems.

  • Device requirements for certifying a stand-alone device (integrated or external).

  • Filter driver requirements for certifying and signing Windows Filtering Platform drivers (WPF), file systems filter drivers, antivirus filter drivers, and Early Launch Anti-Malware (ELAM) filter drivers.

To get the current version of the requirements, see Windows Hardware Certification Requirements and Policies on the Windows Dev Center.

 

 

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