Manufacturer Section in a Network INF File

The Manufacturer section in a network INF file is based on the generic INF Manufacturer section.

Starting with Windows OS build version 25319, you can create a network driver package that can be executed from the Driver Store. An INF that is using 'run from Driver Store' means that the INF uses DIRID 13 to specify the location for driver package files on install.

You can't install a driver package through the network configuration interfaces and use the driver store feature on older Windows versions. To successfully install the driver package in this scenario, you need to have a minimum OS build number of 25319.

To use DIRID 13 for installation in newer builds, it's useful to create an INF Manufacturer section that includes multiple models-section-name entries that specify target operating system versions. Different INF Models sections can be specified for different versions of the operating system. The models-section-name entries indicate operating system versions with which the INF Models sections are used.

The following example shows how to create an OS-specific INF Manufacturer section using two models-section-name entries. OS builds 25319 and later will use MyMfg.NT$ARCH$.10.0...25319. All other builds will use MyMfg.NT$ARCH$. This example uses build 25319 because it's the first build that allows for installation using DIRID 13.

[Manufacturer]
%ManufacturerName%=Standard,NT$ARCH$,NT$ARCH$.10.0...25319 

[Standard.NT$ARCH$.10.0...25319]
%NDISPROT_Desc%=InstallA, MS_NDISPROT

[Standard.NT$ARCH$]
%NDISPROT_Desc%=InstallB, MS_NDISPROT

[InstallA]    ; OS build numbers 25319 and higher
AddReg=Inst_Ndi
Characteristics=0x0 ; 
CopyFiles=CpyFiles_Sys_A

[InstallB]    ; OS build numbers lower than 25319
AddReg=Inst_Ndi
Characteristics=0x0 ; 
CopyFiles=CpyFiles_Sys_B

For an example of how an OS-specific Manufacturer section can allow for installation using DIRID 13 for new builds and DIRID 12 for older builds, see the Sample NDIS Protocol Driver.