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How to Obtain the Current Version of Device Console Utility (DevCon.exe)

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This topic is a how to.
Please keep it as clear and simple as possible. Avoid speculative discussions as well as deep dive into underlying mechanisms or related technologies.

(what is this box?)

There are two main sources one can use to obtain Device Console utility (DevCon.exe). To find out what DevCon.exe is please read [[How to Manage Device Drivers with Command Line]].

Windows Driver Kit (WDK)

This is the recommended option.

  1. Download Windows Driver Kit. See “Links” section for download location of the most recent version of WDK.
  2. Extract or mount ISO.
  3. To obtain DevCon.exe you need either to:
    • install WDK:
      • execute KitSetup.exe and follow on-screen instructions.
    • or perform [[Administrative Installation]] of “setuptools_*<Platform>*fre” [[Microsoft Software Installer (MSI)]] package:
      • execute the following command:
        • "%SystemRoot%\System32\msiexec.exe" /a "<path to WDK>\setuptools_<Platform>fre.msi" targetdir="<Desired Path>"
      • for example, assuming that:
        • you need DevCon.exe for x64 (aka AMD64 aka EM64T) platform,
        • you mounted WDK ISO as drive D:,
        • you want to find DevCon.exe under your Temporary directory;
      • you should execute:
        • "%SystemRoot%\System32\msiexec.exe" /a "D:\WDK\setuptools_x64fre.msi" targetdir="%temp%"

Separate download

Microsoft Support Knowledge Base article 311272 “The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager” contains direct download link.. This option is not recommended because:

  1. you obtain outdated version of DevCon.exe which is 5.2.3790.0 (srv03_rtm.030324-2048). This was intended to work with Windows Server 2003. This version may or may not work correctly with more recent versions of Windows;
  2. you can obtain version of DevCon.exe to work on the following platforms:
    • x86 (aka i386) or
    • ia64 (aka Intel Itanium);
  3. using this option you can not obtain version of DevCon.exe for x64 (aka AMD64 aka EM64T) platform. If you don't match the platform DevCon.exe might be partially functional. For example if you try to use x86 version of DevCon.exe with x64 OS it would correctly read and display information but return errors if you try to make some changes (e.g. update a driver).