Non-PnP Driver's Unload Routine

Earlier drivers and high-level file system drivers, which do not handle PnP device-removal requests, must release resources, delete device objects, and detach from the device stack in their Unload routines.

If it has not done so already, the first thing a legacy device driver should do in its Unload routine is to disable interrupts from the device. Otherwise, its ISR might be called to handle a device interrupt while the Unload routine is releasing resources in the device extension that the ISR needs to handle the interrupt. Even if its ISR runs successfully in these circumstances, the DpcForIsr or CustomDpc routine that the ISR queues, and possibly other driver routines that run at IRQL >= DISPATCH_LEVEL, will execute before the Unload routine regains control, thereby increasing the likelihood that the Unload routine has deleted a resource that another driver routine references. See Managing Hardware Priorities for more information.

After disabling interrupts, file system and legacy drivers must release resources and objects. For details, see the following two sections:

Releasing Driver-Allocated Resources

Releasing Device and Controller Objects