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Version Numbers for Audio Drivers

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Windows operating systems support three types of audio driver models: the VxD, WDM, and NT4 (Microsoft Windows NT 4.0) driver models. The version number that you assign to your audio adapter driver depends on the driver model that you use, the Windows release that you target, and perhaps the Microsoft DirectX release as well. The following four tables list driver version numbers by driver model.

Driver Model: VxD Drivers for Windows 95

DirectX Release Driver Version Numbers

Windows 95 without DirectX support

4.00.00.0096 to 4.02.00.0094

DX1

4.02.00.0096 to 4.02.00.9999

DX2

4.03.00.1097 to 4.03.00.9999

DX3

4.04.00.1097 to 4.04.00.9999

DX5

4.05.00.1000 to 4.05.00.9999

DX6

4.06.00.1000 to 4.06.00.9999

Driver Model: VxD Drivers for Windows 98

DirectX Release Driver Version Numbers

DX5

4.05.01.2500 to 4.05.99.9999

DX6

4.06.00.1000 to 4.06.00.9999

Driver Model: WDM Drivers for Windows Me/98, and Windows 2000 and Later

Windows Release Driver Version Numbers

Windows 98

4.10.00.2500 to 4.10.00.9999

Windows 2000

5.00.00.3500 to 5.00.00.9999

Windows Me

4.90.00.3500 to 4.90.00.9999

Windows XP

5.10.00.3500 to 5.10.00.9999

Windows Vista

6.00.00.3500 to 6.00.00.9999

Windows 7

7.00.00.3500 to 7.00.00.9999

Windows 8

8.00.00.3500 to 8.00.00.9999

Driver Model: NT4 Drivers (Windows NT 4.0 Only)

Windows Release Driver Version Numbers

Windows NT 4.0

4.00.00.1400 to 4.00.00.9999

For device drivers that do not support DirectX, the version number should be greater than or equal to 4.00.00.0096 and less than or equal to 4.02.00.0094. Device drivers that support DirectX version 1.0 should have a version number in the range 4.02.00.0096 to 4.02.00.9999. Device drivers that support later versions of DirectX should have version numbers in the range appropriate for the distributed version of DirectX, as shown in the preceding tables.

All WDM drivers should have version numbers that are greater than or equal to 4.10.00.2500, which is the low end of the Windows 98 version-number range.

Note that WDM drivers that are written for earlier versions of Windows run correctly on later versions as well. For example, a WDM driver that is written to run in Windows 2000 also runs in Microsoft Windows XP and later.

DirectX Version 1.0 drivers work in systems with DirectX 2.0 installed. However, DirectX 2.0 drivers do not work correctly unless DirectX 2.0 is installed. The same is true for DirectX 3.0 and later releases.

A cross-platform driver should set its version number to the highest version number for the platforms on which the driver runs. For example, a vendor should use a driver-version number of 5.00.00.Xxxx for a driver that supports Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me.

This section includes:

Internal and External Version Numbers

INF Driver-Version Entry

DirectX File Version Numbers