The document discusses device drivers, explaining that drivers act as a translation between devices and operating systems by converting commands, and that drivers are important for allowing hardware updates, troubleshooting issues, and improving performance. It also covers signing drivers to ensure quality and compatibility, updating drivers, and steps to properly install, manage, and troubleshoot drivers.

1. Installing Drivers

2. Working of Driver
• A device can only function on the basis of its specialized
commands
• Only device driver has knowledge of these commands
• Device driver converts the commands from the
computer to the specialized commands of the device
• Device driver acts as a translation medium between the
device and the operating system of the computer
System Device Driver Device

3. Uses of Drivers
• Updates - Enables updates for a hardware device to
be independent of the operating system
• Troubleshooting - Used in case of a problem with a
hardware device
• Better Performance - Provides for better usage of
the system

4. Viewing Device Drivers and show it practically
of CDROM drive and LAN card
• Users can test the status of a
device driver
• It is also possible to check
whether a driver is installed
for a particular hardware
device
• Driver tab displays the
information related to the
driver installed
Driver Tab

5. Driver Signing
• The Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Lab
( WHQL ) test program certifies device drivers that
meet a certain standard
• A digital signature is embedded in the device
drivers that pass the WHQL test and these drivers
are called signed drivers
• Updated drivers have to go through testing process
again to get a new digital signature
• There are three options for driver signing Ignore,
Warn and Block

6. Driver Signing
• Automatic installation of a new unsigned device
driver can lead to following problems:
– Installation of inferior drivers – can corrupt
system memory and cause errors in functioning of
system
– Overwriting of system files – leads to
compatibility problems. Devices that use these
files will stop functioning and working of entire
system deteriorate
– Viruses
– Installation of incompatible drivers

7. Complying with HCL
• Microsoft maintains a list of devices that have
passed compatibility test of Microsoft Windows
and are of high quality. This list is known as
Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)
• You can comply with HCL by ensuring that
Microsoft has certified all the devices connected
to your computer
• It is possible to recognize and deal with unsigned
driver files and system files with the help of the
File Signature Verification tool

8. Show sigverif command practically
• Installing the driver using add hardware wizard
• Viewing signed driver from msinfo32

9. How to Become Perfect
• Read and understand the instructional
manual or text file that is supplied with the
driver
• Incorrect installation or updating of drivers
can corrupt the operating system
• Keep in touch with driver manufacturer for
latest updates.
• Search the manufacturer’s web site for
available updated versions of the driver.

10. How to Become Perfect
• It is also useful to check for updated versions of
drivers on websites such as www.driverzone.com,
www.driversguide.com and www.drivershq.com
• Be very cautious in following the instructions when
you are uninstalling a driver

11. Troubleshooting
• Any incorrect operation with respect to hardware
drivers can cause great harm to the system.
• Various problems that may occur are:
– Computer does not Work Properly after Installation of
New Driver
– Computer does not Update a Driver in Memory
– Cannot Download Driver Updates from the Windows
Update Site