Device and driver installation

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This article is for developers creating device drivers for Windows. If you're a user looking to install or update a device driver on your machine, see Update drivers manually in Windows.

This section explains how devices and drivers are installed in Windows.

If you're unfamiliar with the device and driver installation process, start by reviewing Roadmap for Device and Driver Installation. For an overview of this process and its components, start with Step 1: The New Device is Identified.

This section also contains these concepts:

• Overview of the Driver Package Selection Process
• How Windows Ranks Driver Packages
• Driver Packages
• Overview of INF Files
• Driver Signing
• Overview of Device Metadata Packages
• SetupAPI
• Device identification
• Device classes
• Device properties
• Device Installations and System Restarts
• Registry Trees and Keys
• Best practices
• Troubleshooting Device and Driver Installations