- Computer Fundamentals
A hardware ID is a vendor-defined identification string that Windows uses to match a device to an INF file. In most cases, a device has more than one hardware ID associated with it. Typically, a list of hardware IDs is sorted from most to least suitable for a device. To find hardware ID for a given device, follow these steps: Open Device Manager. Whether you're looking to update your cabinet knobs or simply replace your mailbox, finishing touches can make a big impact on the look and feel of your home. And, Ace Hardware has all the home hardware supplies and advice you need to get the job done.
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- Jul 06, 2021 What are hardware upgrades? A hardware upgrade is any new hardware better than that which it replaced or additional hardware that improves performance. An example of a common hardware upgrade is a RAM upgrade, where the user increases the computer's total memory. Another example is a video card upgrade, which is the act of removing an old video.
Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer, i.e. the components that can be seen and touched.
Examples of Hardware are the following − Fuel for keynote themes 2 0 8.
Input devices − keyboard, mouse, etc.
Output devices − printer, monitor, etc.
Secondary storage devices − Hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.
Internal components − CPU, motherboard, RAM, etc.
Relationship between Hardware and Software
Hardware and software are mutually dependent on each other. Both of them must work together to make a computer produce a useful output.
Software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware.
Hardware without a set of programs to operate upon cannot be utilized and is useless.
To get a particular job done on the computer, relevant software should be loaded into the hardware.
Hardware is a one-time expense.
Software development is very expensive and is a continuing expense.
Different software applications can be loaded on a hardware to run different jobs.
A software acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
If the hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then the software is its 'soul'. Both are complementary to each other.
A hardware ID is a vendor-defined identification string that Windows uses to match a device to an INF file. In most cases, a device has more than one hardware ID associated with it. Typically, a list of hardware IDs is sorted from most to least suitable for a device.
To find hardware ID for a given device, follow these steps:
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- Open Device Manager.
- Find the device in the tree.
- Right-click the device and select Properties.
- Select the Details tab.
- In the Property drop-down, select Hardware Ids or Compatible Ids.
Creating a hardware ID for a device
Typically, when you create a new hardware ID for your device, you'll use one of the following generic formats:
This is the most common format for individual PnP devices reported to the Plug and Play (PnP) manager by a single enumerator.
*
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The asterisk indicates that the device is supported by more than one enumerator, such as ISAPNP and the BIOS.
For more information, see Generic Identifiers.
Selecting a hardware ID
Root enumerated devices sharing generic namespace such as ROOTSYSTEM may conflict and result in an yellow-bang error icon in Device Manager when updating Windows.
You can prevent this by using a unique namespace for each driver that has a root enumerated device. For a USB or system device, instead of using ROOTUSB or ROOTSYSTEM' use ROOT[COMPANYNAME][DEVICENAME]. Then, before installing, check to see if the devnode is already present.
Hardware Resources
An existing device class that has established its own naming convention might use a custom format. For information about their hardware ID formats, see the hardware specification for such buses.
The number of characters of a hardware ID, excluding a NULL terminator, must be less than MAX_DEVICE_ID_LEN. This constraint applies to the sum of the lengths of all the fields and any field separators in a hardware ID. For more information, see the Operations section of IRP_MN_QUERY_ID.
Obtaining the list of hardware IDs for a device
To obtain the list of hardware IDs for a device, call IoGetDeviceProperty with the DeviceProperty parameter set to DevicePropertyHardwareID. The list of hardware IDs that this routine retrieves is a REG_MULTI_SZ value.
The maximum number of characters in a hardware list, including a NULL terminator after each hardware ID and a final NULL terminator, is REGSTR_VAL_MAX_HCID_LEN. The maximum possible number of IDs in a list of hardware IDs is 64.
Examples of Hardware IDs
Here is an example of a generic identifier for a PnP device:
root*PNP0F08
Here is an example of an identifier for a PCI device:
PCIVEN_1000&DEV_0001&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_02
See Also
