general driver installation question

Microsoft installers have consistantly asked for driver software, when installing operating systems. Since 'Dos 3.0' this has consisted of a note on the screen generally 'insert driver disk'. When a software is made available ( through disk, search or directory ) the installer says 'not found' or installs the driver. If the installer knows what ii is looking for, why can't the *** thing let us in on the secret. I also appreciate the 'unknown device' in device manager. OK, in Dos3.0 this was understandable, limited resources one or two devices,... Installing Vista, this is the result of sheer laziness :( The peripherals, are self identifying, the drivers are 75% identification, and Vista knows it's the wrong driver without Beginning to install it. But we still get the Dos3.0 prompt 'guess which driver I'm looking for - and i'll tell you if your wrong, Sorry no hints!!!' Oh, sorry it's not laziness, Microsoft isn't using the P4, 512Meg, 80Gig, and 128meg graphics, to process data, it's to display the 35 full-color graphic desktops.

Here's how this works in simple terms.
When Windows starts up, the Plug-And-Play (PNP) enumerator polls to see what devices might be plugged into the various PC motherboard slots, serial ports, USB ports, etc. If it finds a device, it asks that device what it is and the device replies with a simple PNP ID. Windows then looks up this PNP ID in its internal tables to see if it already knows about this particular device. If it finds the PNP ID in the list, Windows then can categorize the device (disk drive, modem, printer, graphics adapter, etc.) and actually name it ("Printer", "Modem", etc.). If Windows doesn't find the PNP in its tables, or if the device doesn't return a PNP ID, it classifies the device as an "Unknown Device". At this point Windows tries to load a driver for the device. Again using the PNP ID information, Windows searches its inventory of drivers already loaded with Windows. If it finds the right driver, it installs it and activates the device. If Windows can't find an appropriate driver already in Windows, it then goes through the process of asking you to provide the driver disks, look online, etc. If the device is classified as an "Unknown Device" but has a valid PNP ID, it's still possible that you can provide the right driver disk and the device will install properly.
Again, the above explanation has been simplified.
If Windows reports an "Unknown Device", it really is an unknown device. Windows might know it's PNP ID, but still not have a clue what kind of device it is. Don't blame Microsoft for this. If you want to blame someone it might be best to blame the peripheral device manufacturer who didn't provide the right driver or PNP information.
"st1" wrote in message

Microsoft installers have consistantly asked for driver software, when installing operating systems. Since 'Dos 3.0' this has consisted of a note on the screen generally 'insert driver disk'. When a software is made available ( through disk, search or directory ) the installer says 'not found' or installs the driver. If the installer knows what ii is looking for, why can't the *** thing let us in on the secret. I also appreciate the 'unknown device' in device manager. OK, in Dos3.0 this was understandable, limited resources one or two devices,... Installing Vista, this is the result of sheer laziness :( The peripherals, are self identifying, the drivers are 75% identification, and Vista knows it's the wrong driver without Beginning to install it. But we still get the Dos3.0 prompt 'guess which driver I'm looking for - and i'll tell you if your wrong, Sorry no hints!!!' Oh, sorry it's not laziness, Microsoft isn't using the P4, 512Meg, 80Gig, and 128meg graphics, to process data, it's to display the 35 full-color graphic desktops.