Add Device Drivers to Windows During Windows Setup

To install Windows on some hardware designs, you may need to add device drivers to Windows Setup. You can add drivers to Windows

Setup by using an answer file that specifies the path to the driver files. To do this in new installations, you add the Microsoft-Windows-

PnpCustomizationWinPE component during the windowsPE configuration pass, add the driver paths, and then specify the answer file.

You can also modify existing images and add and remove drivers. You can service offline images in several ways. For example, you can

add the Microsoft-Windows-PnpCustomizationsNonWinPE component during the offlineServicing configuration pass, add or remove

the driver paths, and then specify the name of the answer file. For more information about how to modify drivers on an offline Windows

image by using an answer file, and also other methods of adding drivers to and removing drivers from an existing image, see Add and

Remove Drivers to an Offline Windows Image.

Add Drivers to New Installations (windowsPE)

For new installations, you add drivers during the windowsPE configuration pass.

This method initializes Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and processes Windows PE settings from the answer file, as

follows:

1. Windows stages the Windows PE drivers in the RAM driver store.. Windows loads boot-critical drivers that Windows PE

requires to access the local disk and network. When you right-click DevicePaths and select Insert New PathAndCredentials

into Windows PE, Windows PE processes other Windows PE customizations that the answer file specifies.

2. The Windows Setup process applies the Windows image. Boot-critical drivers appear on the Windows image before Setup

installs that image. Other drivers that you added to the Windows PE driver store appear in the Windows image driver store.

When Windows Setup processes the offlineServicing pass, Windows Setup also adds any drivers that the driver path specifies

to the Windows image driver store.

To add a device driver during the windowsPE pass

1. Use Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) to create an answer file that contains the paths to the device drivers that

you intend to install.

2. Add the Microsoft-Windows-PnpCustomizationsWinPE component to your answer file in the windowsPE configuration

pass.

3. Expand the Microsoft-Windows-PnpCustomizationsWinPE node in the answer file. Right-click DevicePaths, and then select

Insert New PathAndCredentials.

A new PathAndCredentials list item appears.

4. For each location that you access, add a separate PathAndCredentials list item.

You can include multiple device driver paths by adding multiple PathAndCredentials list items. If you add multiple list items,

you must increment the Key value for each path. For example, if you add two separate driver paths, the first path uses the Key

value of 1, and the second path uses the Key value of 2.

/conversion/tmp/activity_task_scratch/570108505.doc 1
 5. Save the answer file, and then close Windows SIM. The answer file must resemble the following example:

6. Boot to Windows PE.

7. At a command prompt, run Windows Setup. Specify the name of the answer file. For example:

Copy

Setup /unattend:C:\unattend.xml

Windows Setup adds the device drivers in the \\server\share\drivers path to the system during the setup process.

For more information about drivers, see Device Drivers and Deployment Overview and Add a Driver Online in Audit Mode. For more

information about Windows components, see Unattended Windows Setup Reference.

About which files are the real drivers. I'm not 100% up to date on this but I believe .inf is an
install file for the driver and .sys files are part of the driver as well as any other .dll files and
sometimes other files. The .inf file list a number of things including matching Hardware ID's,
the required files to copy (.sys, .dll), reg entries and the Device Description that shows in
Device Manager.

For example if you required the drivers to complete the steps in "How to Load SATA Driver in
Windows 7 setup" you would download the latest "Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology" driver
and extract it. Open the folder and browse to "\Driver\64bit" (or "32bit" if you had a 32bit
Windows). Then copy all the files except the 2 .txt files to a floppy, CD/DVD or USB. You
shouldn't have to copy the iaAHCI files really unless your SATA mode in the BIOS is configured
as AHCI. The txtsetup.oem is only required for this type of install and the .cat files I'm not sure
but you need them. This will only install the driver and not the software that comes with it.

For your LAN driver you would find the required files in "\Win 7\64" (without space) or
"\RIS\64". If you don't know what RIS is then you don't need them, you only need one of the
folders and I'm 99% sure it won't be RIS. Do you need both the .sys and .dll file, who cares
keep them all together and you can't go wrong, you could go through the .inf to find out but
thats not always easy and not necessary. You won't be able to install the LAN driver the same
way as your SATA above.

When Installing windows 7 and after clicking on the CUSTOM install, you get a option to "Load
Driver" at bottom left of the dialog box. Clicking on it takes you to another Dialog Box and you
need to supply the Device Driver, that is navigate to where the Device Driver/Drivers are!!
This, from what I can figure out, is the FOLDER Containing the Device Drivers. The Device
Drivers are actually made up of AT LEAST twp (2) file's. One with a ".inf" the other a ".cat"
extension. The ".inf" file is actually a text format file containing information about the
manufacturer, the specific device etc etc - IT's a Infomation file!
The ".Cat" would contain (I'm NOT 100% Sure) other info such as registry keys etc to be set
in the Registry.

IN A NUTSHELL, Locating a Device Driver is a matter of finding the ".inf" & ".cat" file's in a
Folder such as "Win_7" or "x64". Once Selected the "Load Driver" pass the Source back to the
Windows 7 Installer which then installs the Device Driver by finding ANY ".inf" files!

I managed to find the following "Working with Setup Information (.inf) Files" (Click on
Link) which explains a lot.

I'm NOT SURE if you can say Install your ChipSet Drivers & then go back and Load additional
Drivers (SATA, LAN etc) individually by selecting a different folder each time OR maybe you
can setup a Folder with sub folders containing each set of drivers. EG $Drivers$/Chipset -

/conversion/tmp/activity_task_scratch/570108505.doc 2
$Drivers$/SATA - $Drivers$/LAN. Then if you Select the "$Drivers$" Folder will the "Load
Driver" find the Sub folders??? Hopefully some will know the answer to that One.

/conversion/tmp/activity_task_scratch/570108505.doc 3