Device and Driver Installation

Article
06/01/2017

To ensure the best possible user experience, installation of both a hardware device and its software driver should run as seamlessly as possible with minimal user intervention. We provide tools and guidelines to help you create installation packages that meet this goal.

In this section

Topic	Description
Driver Installation for 32-bit and 64-bit Platforms	If your hardware device will be installed on both 32-bit platforms and 64-bit platforms, you must provide a native driver package for each platform. You can, however, use a single 32-bit installer to install either driver package. This paper provides information about how to use a 32-bit installation program to install either 32-bit or 64-bit drivers for the Windows family of operating systems.
Code-Signing Best Practices	This paper provides information about code signing for the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems.
Digital Signatures for Kernel Modules on Windows	This paper describes how to manage the signing process for kernel-mode software for Windows Vista.
Kernel-Mode Code Signing Walkthrough	Kernel-mode software must be digitally signed to be loaded on x64-based versions of Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows family of operating systems. In addition, content protection policies for next-generation premium content might require signed kernel-mode software for certain configurations of x86-based systems. This paper provides a beginning-to-end walkthrough of how to digitally sign both test and release versions of kernel-mode software.
Using Authenticode to Digitally Sign Driver Packages	Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and later versions support using Microsoft Authenticode digital signatures to authenticate driver packages that are not eligible for the Windows Logo Program. This download white paper describes how to use Authenticode to digitally sign a driver package so that Windows can validate it.
Installing Drivers and Utilities without Rebooting	The Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating system includes significant enhancements to ensure greater reliability and availability. Among these enhancements is a greatly reduced need to reboot the system to complete administrative tasks such as installation of new hardware, device drivers, and application software.
FAQ: Information about Driver Install Frameworks Tools	This article provides answers to frequently asked questions about Driver Install Frameworks (DIFx) tools, which simplify installation of driver packages and eliminate most end-user manual steps for installing a driver.
Driver Install Frameworks Overview	The goal of Driver Install Frameworks is to provide for the consistent, reliable, and simple installation of drivers in order to create a great experience for users of Microsoft Windows.
Driver Signing Requirements for Windows	Digital signatures allow administrators and end users who are installing Windows-based software to know whether a legitimate publisher has provided the software package.
Driver Signing for Windows Server 2003	Microsoft uses digital signatures for device drivers to let users know that drivers are compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows Me. A driver's digital signature indicates that the driver was tested with Windows for compatibility and has not been altered since testing.
INF Requirements for PCI Devices	This article describes the criteria for submitting a standard/base driver package to the Windows Logo Program for testing and provides information about driver package requirements, hardware requirements, and requirements for drivers intended for release on Windows Update.
INF Changes for PnP Device Redirection	This topic describes required changes to the device driver INF file to enable a device for redirection over the Terminal Server Plug and Play device redirection framework.