In-depth discussion of the device driver of Windows7

Today, the system is a small in-depth analysis of the device driver problem of Windows7, I hope to help you have a deeper understanding of the device driver problem of Windows7.

Whether or not you can provide good hardware support is a serious test for Windows 7, and it is also an important indicator for users to choose Windows 7. The so-called hardware support, in the end is the device driver problem. What are the new features of Windows 7 in terms of hardware drivers? How to troubleshoot drivers in Windows 7? I think this is a user-related problem. I will combine my Windows 7 experience and my own understanding on Windows 7. A more in-depth analysis of the device driver problem, I hope to help everyone.

1, Windows 7 device driver file interpretation

Windows 7 includes a wide range of nearby driver libraries. In the basic installation of the operating system, these drivers are stored in the driver store, which is located in the %SystemRoot%System32DriverStoreFileRepository directory. In addition, a subfolder corresponding to the localized driver information is also saved in the DriverStore folder. For each language configured on the system, there is a corresponding subfolder here. For example, the author installed the English version of Windows 7, and the localized English driver information is located in the en-us subfolder.

In the driver store, each device driver is certified and fully compatible with Windows 7 systems, with Microsoft's digital signature, which ensures that the driver is in the operating system. Absolutely available. When installing a new compatible Plug and Play device, Windows 7 checks for available compatible device drivers in the driver store. If found, the operating system will automatically install the device.

Each device driver has an associated installation information file with an .inf extension that contains detailed configuration information about the device being installed. In addition, there are all source files to be used by each driver identified by the information file, which have a .sys extension. The driver is also associated with a component manifest file, which is written in an extensible markup language that contains detailed information about the driver's digital signature, and may also include a plug-and-play that configures itself to automatically use the device. information.

The source file .sys for each driver installed on Windows 7 is saved in the %SystemRoot%System32Dirvers directory. When a new device driver is installed, the driver is written to a subfolder of %SystemRoot%System32Dirvers and configuration information is saved in the registry. The driver's .inf file can be used to control setup and setup information to be written to the registry. If the required driver is not saved in the driver store, or the .inf file is not used, or there is no other system file, in this case, the driver's .inf file and other related files are installed on the device. It will be written to a subfolder under %SystemRoot%System32DriverStoreFileRepository.

2, Windows 7 device driver signature information should be valued

For Windows 7, it is a serious challenge to provide good support for peripheral devices. Without exception, in order to ensure the stability of the system and the good operation of the device, Microsoft recommends that the user choose to include the digital signature as the device driver version. This is very important for users, because Windows7 is a new system platform after all, and all aspects need to be further tested or tested, which is generally ignored by many users. Device drivers with Microsoft digital signatures don't crash or become unstable, and Microsoft digital signatures ensure that device drivers have not been tampered with, which eliminates driver-level Trojans.

Conversely, if a user forces a driver that does not have a digital signature, it is likely to cause Windows 7 to become unresponsive or crash, which is even more serious than the problem caused by installing a normal program on the operating system. I have had such an experience. In addition, there are many cases in the forum that cause Windows 7 to crash due to the driver. Therefore, it is recommended for Windows 7 users to use signed drivers as much as possible. Of course, in some cases, we may find that the specific device is a driver that does not contain a signature. At this point, it is recommended that you search the device manufacturer for the website to see if a signed driver is available. Because sometimes there may be a driver with a signature, but it is not included in the driver CD of the device or the installation disk of Windows 7.

If no signed drivers are available, you can only use unsigned drivers. In Windows 7, if you install an unsigned driver, be careful and closely monitor your system. If the system is found to be unresponsive or crashes, this may be caused by an unsigned driver, in which case you need to roll back the driver or uninstall the driver in question. At the same time, it should be noted that any type of device, even a graphics card, network card or sound card, may cause problems with the operating system if there is a problem with the corresponding driver. Sometimes, in order to prevent unsigned drivers from causing more serious problems, by default, Windows 7 issues a warning when we try to install an unsigned driver. Of course, we can also configure to cancel the warning or completely disable the installation of unsigned drivers.

3, Windows 7 driver file troubleshooting

When the hardware driver installation error, not only can not drive the device, and it may cause system instability or even crash. The built-in hardware diagnostics of Windows 7 can detect various types of hardware device failures, so that the driver files can be debugged accordingly. Normally, if the system detects a problem, we will see a bubble notification for a problem report and a solution prompt. Click the bubble notification to open the problem report and solution console. Alternatively, we can click on the “System and Maintenance” link in the Windows 7 Control Panel and click on “Question Reports and Solutions” to open the console. In the Problem Reports and Solutions window, click the “View issues to check” link to view an existing issue, or click the “Check Solution” link to search for possible resolutions of known issues from the Microsoft website. Program.

In addition, we can also directly debug the device driver by following the steps below: Open the device manager, select the “Device Manager” node, right-click the device to be debugged, and select “&ldquo ;Properties", click on “Check Solution" on the "General" tab, and click the “View Details” option for more information on the issue. Of course, we can also send the question to Microsoft to find a solution, just click “send information” It should be noted that if the driver installed is not correct, then there will be no “Check Solution” option, but only the “Reinstall Device Driver” option. In addition, when the device is installed incorrectly or has a problem, Device Manager displays a warning icon indicating a problem with the device. If you double-click on the device, the relevant error code will also be displayed in the "General" tab of the device's Properties dialog box. We can view the relevant reference documentation from Microsoft's website for troubleshooting. For example, error code 16, indicating that Windows does not recognize all the resources used by the device. The workaround is to check if the device has a signed driver available. If it is, and it is already installed, you may need to manage the resources of the device, and set it under the “Resources” tab of the Device Properties dialog box.