Requirements for Vendor-Supplied Parallel Drivers
This section describes Microsoft Windows requirements for vendor-supplied drivers for parallel ports and devices attached to parallel ports.
Vendor-supplied function drivers and bus drivers for parallel ports are not required because the system-supplied parallel drivers provide these functions. The system-supplied parallel drivers provide extensive support for operating parallel ports and devices attached to parallel ports.
Vendor-supplied function drivers for parallel devices attached to parallel ports are optional. The system-supplied parallel drivers provide extensive support for directly controlling a parallel device as a raw device, and for operating a device's parent parallel port.
If a vendor provides a function driver for a parallel device, the driver must support Plug and Play and power management. Microsoft recommends that the driver be a WDM driver.
The following topics describe how a vendor-supplied function driver for a parallel device operates a device and the device's parent parallel port: