Supplying a Device Installation Application

A device installation application can handle a variety of installation tasks, from setting up the hardware to installing device-specific application software.

Consider writing a device installation application if either of the following apply:

• You supply value-added software that should be installed at the same time as the driver.
• The driver shipped with your device replaces a similar driver that ships with the operating system. For example, a generic driver for your device ships with the operating system, but you supply a driver with additional features designed specifically for your device.

Any device installation application should be able to handle the following scenarios:

1. The user installs the software package before installing the hardware.
2. The user installs the hardware before installing the software package.

For more information, see Writing a Device Installation Application.

A device installation application should conform to the user interface guidelines that are described in the MSDN Library and in the Wizard 97 section of the Platform SDK.