Driver Store and Driver Packages

Windows Vista and Windows 7 utilize the Driver Store for the installation of all device drivers for the operating system. Driver Store is the replacement for the DRIVERS.CAB file used in Windows XP. Unlike the DRIVERS.CAB, the Driver Store not only stores inbox drivers, but also any additional drivers that are installed after Windows is installed are also copied there for their installation. These drivers are maintained as “driver packages” in the DriverStore folder. If the driver exists in the driver store then any user, regardless of their permissions, will be able to connect a device and know that it will function.

Because we don’t wish people without administrative rights to be able to install new drivers on a PC, only local administrators can add devices into the Driver Store.

The Driver Store provides more efficient interaction with System File Protection, a more reliable driver rollback, and a single standard for uninstalling drivers and faster device installations.

The driver store is located at the following path:

\Windows\System32\DriverStore

The contents of the Driver Store are within the “File Repository” folder. The file repository contains a separate folder for each device in the system.

The files are not encrypted, compressed or protected by any normal file attributes. NTFS permissions that are set on the driver packages in the DriverStore folder only allow for modification of those driver packages by the SYSTEM account.

Beyond the addition of the driver store, Windows Vista and Windows 7 include several other improvements to the driver management and installation infrastructure when compared to previous versions of Windows:

• Drivers are protected from corruption to improve reliability using System File Protection. Installation and removal of all drivers will be monitored by the Operating System.
• New anti-tampering features are included to prevent malicious changes to drivers installed on the machine. All installed driver packages can be traced back to an organization for trust verification through a mechanism called Driver Signing. Tampered with a driver package will invalidate that driver’s signature, at which point it will not be allowed to install.
• Pre-Windows Vista driver installers will continue to work in most cases.
• Diagnostic improvements help make troubleshooting easier.
• Devices that come with applications will work even if the software isn’t installed before plugging in the device. Windows will offer the user a chance to install additional applications after basic driver support is automatically installed.

Understanding Driver Packages

A driver package contains all of the files needed to install a device. This includes its INF, driver files, any co-installer routines and files and any other file that may be needed to install the driver once the device has been physically connected to the system.

To install a device, all of the files needed must be present in one central location. This extends to more than just their location on the hard drive to include the location on their source media. Windows Vista and Windows 7 do not allow drivers to span media. If all of the files needed to install a device are not on the same physical media (single CD, DVD or floppy) then Windows will block the installation of that driver.