Microsoft KB Archive/229043

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INFO: New Network .inf Files Required for Windows 2000

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Q229043

This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.

No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release.

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Driver Development Kit (DDK)

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SUMMARY
You must provide new .inf files for all existing network drivers that will be migrated to Windows 2000. This article contains information on the infrastructure changes that support this requirement, as well as pointers to resources that help you create files in the new format.

MORE INFORMATION
Windows 2000 introduces advanced Plug and Play technology that requires a change to the format of .inf files for all network drivers. Network drivers include NDIS drivers, transport drivers, network file/print providers, and other peripherals.

IMPORTANT: Existing network .inf files created for Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 and earlier versions do not work on Windows 2000. If an existing network device does not have an .inf file in the Windows 2000 format, it will stop working after a user upgrades to Windows 2000.

In the past, developers have been required to create separate .inf files for Windows 9.x and Windows NT operating systems. However, the Windows 2000 .inf file format works on both Windows 2000 and Windows 98. Any Windows NT-specific extensions that are referenced are ignored on Windows 98, but are recognized and processed on Windows 2000.

Because Windows 2000 includes a superset of the Windows 9.x .inf file features, most existing Windows 9.x .inf files port easily to Windows 2000 format.