Whether it can provide good support for hardware is a severe test for Windows 7, and it is also an important indicator for users to choose Windows7. The so-called hardware support, in the end is the device driver problem. What are the new features of Windows 7 in terms of hardware drivers? How to troubleshoot drivers in Windows 7? I think this is a user-related problem. I will combine my Windows 7 experience and my own understanding on Windows 7. A more in-depth analysis of the device driver problem, I hope to help everyone.
device driver file 1, Windows7 interpretation
contains a wide range of coverage around the driver library in Windows7. In the basic installation of the operating system, these drivers are stored in the driver store, which is located in the %SystemRoot%System32DriverStoreFileRepository directory. In addition, a subfolder corresponding to the localized driver information is also saved in the DriverStore folder. For each language configured on the system, there is a corresponding subfolder here. For example, the author installed the English version of Windows 7, and the localized English driver information is located in the en-us subfolder.
in the driver store, each device driver have been certified, and make sure the system is fully compatible with Windows7, by also with Microsoft's digital signature, which ensures the driver in the operating system Absolutely available. When installing a new compatible Plug and Play device, Windows 7 checks for available compatible device drivers in the driver store. If found, the operating system will automatically install the device.
Each driver has a device setup information file associated with the file to a .inf extension, which contains detailed information about the configuration of the equipment is being installed. In addition, there are all source files to be used by each driver identified by the information file, which have a .sys extension. The driver is also associated with a component manifest file, which is written in an extensible markup language that contains detailed information about the driver's digital signature, and may also include a plug-and-play that configures itself to automatically use the device. information. Each driver
Windows7 system installation source .sys file will be saved in the% SystemRoot% System32Dirvers directory. When a new device driver is installed, the driver is written to a subfolder of %SystemRoot%System32Dirvers and configuration information is saved in the registry. The driver's .inf file can be used to control setup and setup information to be written to the registry. If the required driver is not saved in the driver store, or the .inf file is not used, or there is no other system file, in this case, the driver's .inf file and other related files are installed on the device. It will be written to a subfolder under %SystemRoot%System32DriverStoreFileRepository.
2, should pay attention to the Windows7 device driver signature information
For Windows7, the ability to provide good support for peripherals are serious challenges it faces. Without exception, in order to ensure the stability of the system and the good operation of the device, Microsoft recommends that the user choose to include the digital signature as the device driver version. This is very important for users, because Windows7 is a new system platform after all, and all aspects need to be further tested or tested, which is generally ignored by many users. Device drivers with Microsoft digital signatures don't crash or become unstable, and Microsoft digital signatures ensure that device drivers have not been tampered with, which eliminates driver-level Trojans.
Conversely, if the user is not forced to use a digital signature of the driver, it is likely to lead to Windows7 of not responding or crashes, which is even more than the ordinary procedure to install the operating system caused the problem even more serious. I have had such an experience. In addition, there are many cases in the forum that cause Windows 7 to crash due to the driver. Therefore, it is recommended for Windows 7 users to use signed drivers as much as possible. Of course, in some cases, we may find that the specific device is a driver that does not contain a signature. At this point, it is recommended that you search the device manufacturer for the website to see if a signed driver is available. Because sometimes there may be a driver with a signature, but it is not included in the driver CD of the device or the installation disk of Windows 7.
If no driver is available with the signature, you can only use the driver is not signed. In Windows 7, if you install an unsigned driver, be careful and closely monitor your system. If the system is found to be unresponsive or crashes, this may be caused by an unsigned driver, in which case you need to roll back the driver or uninstall the driver in question. At the same time, it should be noted that any type of device, even a graphics card, network card or sound card, may cause problems with the operating system if there is a problem with the corresponding driver. Sometimes, in order to prevent unsigned drivers from causing more serious problems, by default, Windows 7 issues a warning when we try to install an unsigned driver. Of course, we can also configure to cancel the warning or completely disable the installation of unsigned drivers. After
3, Windows7 driver files troubleshooting
driver error when installing the hardware, not only can not drive the device, and there will likely result in system instability or even collapse. The built-in hardware diagnostics of Windows 7 can detect various types of hardware device failures, so that the driver files can be debugged accordingly. Normally, if the system detects a problem, we will see a bubble notification for a problem report and a solution prompt. Click the bubble notification to open the problem report and solution console. Alternatively, we can open the console by clicking the System and Maintenance link in the Windows 7 Control Panel and clicking Problem Reports and Solutions. In the Problem Reports and Solutions window, click the View Issues to Check link to view an existing issue, or click the Check for Solutions link to search for possible solutions to known issues from the Microsoft website.
In addition, we can also drive the device directly, follow these steps to troubleshoot: Open the Device Manager, select the "Device Manager" node, right-click to troubleshooting the device, select "Properties" On the General tab, click Check Solutions and click the View Details option to learn more about the issue. Of course, we can also send the question to Microsoft to find a solution, just click "send information". It should be noted that if the driver is not installed correctly, there will be no "check solution" option, but only the "reinstall device driver" option. In addition, when the device is installed incorrectly or has a problem, Device Manager displays a warning icon indicating a problem with the device. If you double-click on the device, the relevant error code will also be displayed in the General tab of the device's Properties dialog box. We can view the relevant reference documentation from the Microsoft website for troubleshooting. For example, error code 16, indicating that Windows does not recognize all the resources used by the device. The workaround is to check if the device has a signed driver available. If so, and already installed, you may need to manage the device's resources, which are set under the Resources tab of the device properties dialog.