CODEWITHSUNDEEP
driverndis
gdb
gdb

Reputation: 7809

Does a ndis filter driver belong to NT driver or WDM driver?

NT driver doesn't support plugin and play.

Does ndis filter belong to NT driver or WDM driver?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 368

Answers (1)

Jeffrey Tippet
Jeffrey Tippet

Reputation: 3026

NDIS filter drivers are typically "legacy WDM" drivers. They can be started/stopped through SCM (e.g., the StartService API).

However, NDIS will technically permit any driver to be an NDIS filter driver: as long as the driver calls NdisFRegisterFilterDriver with a valid UniqueName, it's a filter.

NDIS filter drivers do not participate in traditional WDM PNP operations (e.g., they do not handle IRPs). However, NDIS has its own PNP model, which allows filters instances to be created, started, stopped, and detached dynamically. (In fact, if the filter is marked as Optional in its INF file, it can be inserted and removed without breaking active TCP connections. You can install a filter driver without even interrupting a background download!)

Don't walk away from this explanation with the wrong idea -- the NDIS filter model is really quite modern, powerful, and flexible. It just doesn't use WDM for PNP.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions