Network Component Types in the Registry

The following table describes the network component types.

Table 10.8 Network Component Types

Component type	Meaning
Adapter	A piece of hardware
Driver	A software component associated directly with a piece of hardware
Transport	A software component used by services
Service	A software component providing capability directly to user applications
Basic	A token used to represent a fundamental class name (that is, a class with no parent)

Each type of network component requires a subkey for both software and services. Therefore, the installation of a single network card will usually result in the creation of four distinct subkeys in the Registry:

The software registration subkey for the driver, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Company\ProductName\Version.
For example, the path for the driver for an Etherlink adapter will be HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Elinkii\CurrentVersion.
The software registration subkey for the network adapter card, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\netcard#.
The service registration subkey for the driver, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services.
The service registration subkey for the network adapter card, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services.