Getting Started with Driver Development

Are you starting with drivers after first learning application development? Have you developed drivers for other operating systems, but never for Windows? Are you interested in the Windows Driver Foundation? Here you’ll find information, tools, and resources to get you started.

Getting Started with Driver Fundamentals

	Windows Roadmap for Drivers Choose the right driver model for your device class.
	Book reviews for beginning driver developers
	Russinovich, Mark E., and Solomon, David A. Microsoft Windows Internals, Fourth Edition. Build a solid understanding of Windows architecture, drivers, and kernel-mode development.
	Videos for beginning driver developers

Getting Started with WDF Drivers

	Architecture of Microsoft’s Windows Driver Foundation Get a basic introduction to the new driver model for creating object-oriented, event-driven drivers.
	Architecture of the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework Learn the basic components and structure of a KMDF driver.
	Architecture of the User-Mode Driver Framework Learn how to use UMDF to create user-mode drivers for protocol-based or serial-bus-based devices.
	Sample Drivers for the Kernel Mode Driver Framework Study several KMDF samples in detail.
	Sample Drivers for the User-Mode Driver Framework Study several UMDF samples in detail.
	Developing Drivers with Windows Driver Foundation by Orwick and Smith Comprehensive Guide from Microsoft Press

Getting Started with Other Types of Drivers

	Toaster Sample Drivers in the Driver Development Kit Study the Toaster sample to understand the basic concepts and technical issues involved in writing a WDM kernel-mode device driver.
	Getting Started with Windows Drivers in the WDK Follow the introductory steps for design, development, test, and installation of Windows drivers.
	Oney, Walter. Programming the Microsoft Windows Driver Model, Second Edition. Learn how to implement drivers based on the Windows Driver Model (WDM).

Building, Testing, and Debugging Drivers

	Getting Started with the Windows Driver Development Environment Check this overview of tools for driver development from a Windows driver professional.
	Introduction to How to Build, Install, Test, and Debug KMDF Drivers Follow this step-by-step guide to help you understand and prepare to use the build environment and tools for KMDF driver development.

Kits and Tools

	About the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Learn about the WDK, which provides the build environment, tools, samples, and documentation that are required for driver development.
	Debugging Tools and Symbols: Getting Started Learn how to set up and use the Microsoft tools for debugging device drivers.
	Testing Tools: Getting Started Install and use sophisticated tools to help find bugs and tune drivers.
	Windows Hardware Platform Preview Labs Preview self-paced labs for tools and technologies for developing Windows drivers and hardware support.

Resources

	WDK Documentation Download
	Driver Developer Community Resources
	Driver Signing Requirements for Windows
	Driver Tips: Best Practices for Windows Device Drivers
	Notes from Windows Development Teams
	Support for Developer Kits and Tools
	Driver Developer Blogs
	WDK Online

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