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Managing Drivers and

Hardware Devices
Windows 7 Administration Training
Instructor: Scott Lowe

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

In This Lesson:
Using the Device Manager tool
Viewing device information with the System Information Tool
Understanding drivers
Driver installation methods
Managing installed drivers
The Driver Verifier utility
Managing hardware installation policies
Staging drivers with pnputil.exe
Adding device drivers to the driver store
Monitoring USB devices

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Scenario
Globomantics has an array of computing needs
There is no single desktop hardware configuration
Marketing: High end graphics adapters
Other users: Mainstream configuration
Make device installation seamless by pre-staging device drivers
lower TCO
Help users get their work done by making sure that their
necessary hardware devices work well and are well maintained

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Using Device Manager


Viewing device and driver
information
View device resources
Displaying hidden devices

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Using the System Information Utility


Using the System Information utility
Much greater level of detail about system devices and
resources
Read-only

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Understanding Drivers
Device drivers enable communication between the operating
system and hardware devices
Driver facts
Drivers are just software
Not all drivers are created equal
Driver issues are a major support hassle
Drivers can create system instability

Driver

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Driver Installation Methods


Windows Update
New device drivers come right from Windows Update
Disable this behavior to improve security and control
what devices are installed
Hardware installation disc
Pre-staging drivers
Globomantics will pre-deploy drivers for high-end graphics
adapters to ease deployment
Result: Better end-user experience
Lower TCO

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Managing Installed Drivers


Device and driver security
Driver software runs with full system rights
Signed vs. unsigned drivers
Identify unsigned drivers with sigverif.exe
Updating drivers
Rolling back drivers

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

The Driver Verifier Utility


Driver verifier
Helps to determine root cause for driver-related issues
including problems related to:
Drivers that experience memory-based issues
Poorly written drivers
Requires a system restart

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Managing Hardware Installation Policies


Via Group Policy
Allow and disallow installation of specific devices based on
device ID
Disable the installation of removable devices
Create custom error messages to be displayed for users that
attempt to install hardware
Provide an administrative back door to allow IT staff to
install any new hardware and drivers

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Adding Device Drivers to the Driver Store


Use the pnputil.exe tool to manage the driver store
Add a driver to the store using the -a parameter
Download the driver package first
Combine with -i to install the driver, too
Show all third party drivers using the -e parameter
Delete a driver from the store with the -d parameter
Combine with the -f parameter to force deletion

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Monitoring USB Devices


USB hub types
Self-powered
Bus-powered
USB bandwidth
Bandwidth-related error messages
USB controller bandwidth exceeded
USB bandwidth
USB 1.0/1.1: 12 Mbps
USB 2.0: 480 Mbps
USB 3.0: 5 Gbps
Gauging bandwidth use is a best effort task
Not all devices report bandwidth back to Windows

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Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

What We Covered

Using the Device Manager tool


Viewing device information with the System Information Tool
Understanding drivers
Driver installation methods
Managing installed drivers
The Driver Verifier utility
Managing hardware installation policies
Staging drivers with pnputil.exe
Adding device drivers to the driver store
Monitoring USB devices

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

My Favorite Supporting Resources


1. Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers
for advanced users
2. What are basic and dynamic disks?
3. Windows and GPT FAQ

Managing Drivers and Hardware Devices


Windows 7 Administration Training

Key Terms You Should Know


DriverSoftware that provides a link from a computer operating
system to a hardware device
Driver storeThe location at which Windows stores device
driver files, typically C:\Windows\System32\Drivers or
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Drivers
Signed driverA digitally signed driver is from a traceable
source
Unsigned driverAn unsigned driver can come from anywhere
and may prove to be a system risk

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