Installing preview versions of the Windows Driver Kit (WDK)
This page contains installation instructions for Insider Preview (pre-release) versions of the Windows Driver Kit (WDK). The download links for the latest pre-release version of the WDK and the EWDK are on https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewWDK.
Install Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Insider Preview
1. Install Visual Studio
- The WDK now supports Visual Studio 2022. All editions are supported. The WDK no longer supports Visual Studio 2019.
- Download from Visual Studio 2022.
- Select workload: Development with C++.
- For Arm64 and Arm64EC drivers, you must additionally install the component: Individual components -> Compilers, build tools, and runtimes -> Visual C++ compilers and libraries for Arm64/Arm64EC. Note that the WDK has Spectre mitigation enabled by default but requires Spectre mitigated libraries to be installed with Visual Studio for each architecture you are developing for.
2. Disable strong name validation
The WDK Visual Studio Extensions are currently not strong name signed. Run the following commands from an elevated command prompt to disable strong name validation:
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,31bf3856ad364e35 /v TestPublicKey /t REG_SZ /d 00240000048000009400000006020000002400005253413100040000010001003f8c902c8fe7ac83af7401b14c1bd103973b26dfafb2b77eda478a2539b979b56ce47f36336741b4ec52bbc51fecd51ba23810cec47070f3e29a2261a2d1d08e4b2b4b457beaa91460055f78cc89f21cd028377af0cc5e6c04699b6856a1e49d5fad3ef16d3c3d6010f40df0a7d6cc2ee11744b5cfb42e0f19a52b8a29dc31b0 /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,31bf3856ad364e35 /v TestPublicKey /t REG_SZ /d 00240000048000009400000006020000002400005253413100040000010001003f8c902c8fe7ac83af7401b14c1bd103973b26dfafb2b77eda478a2539b979b56ce47f36336741b4ec52bbc51fecd51ba23810cec47070f3e29a2261a2d1d08e4b2b4b457beaa91460055f78cc89f21cd028377af0cc5e6c04699b6856a1e49d5fad3ef16d3c3d6010f40df0a7d6cc2ee11744b5cfb42e0f19a52b8a29dc31b0 /f
3. Install SDK Insider Preview
4. Install WDK Insider Preview
Note
During installation you will see the Visual Studio installer install the WDK Visual Studio Extensions. See Download the Windows Driver Kit for additional information.
Install Enterprise WDK (EWDK) Insider Preview
As an alternative to the above steps, the EWDK is a standalone self-contained command-line environment for building drivers that includes Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022. See more at Installing the Enterprise WDK.
Get the Enterprise Windows Driver Kit (EWDK) Insider Preview
To get started, disable strong name validation by running the following commands from an elevated command prompt:
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,31bf3856ad364e35 /v TestPublicKey /t REG_SZ /d 00240000048000009400000006020000002400005253413100040000010001003f8c902c8fe7ac83af7401b14c1bd103973b26dfafb2b77eda478a2539b979b56ce47f36336741b4ec52bbc51fecd51ba23810cec47070f3e29a2261a2d1d08e4b2b4b457beaa91460055f78cc89f21cd028377af0cc5e6c04699b6856a1e49d5fad3ef16d3c3d6010f40df0a7d6cc2ee11744b5cfb42e0f19a52b8a29dc31b0 /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,31bf3856ad364e35 /v TestPublicKey /t REG_SZ /d 00240000048000009400000006020000002400005253413100040000010001003f8c902c8fe7ac83af7401b14c1bd103973b26dfafb2b77eda478a2539b979b56ce47f36336741b4ec52bbc51fecd51ba23810cec47070f3e29a2261a2d1d08e4b2b4b457beaa91460055f78cc89f21cd028377af0cc5e6c04699b6856a1e49d5fad3ef16d3c3d6010f40df0a7d6cc2ee11744b5cfb42e0f19a52b8a29dc31b0 /f
Then mount the ISO that you downloaded from the Insider Preview page and select LaunchBuildEnv to use the EWDK.