8.4 OEM Interfaces for NIC Installation

This describes OEM interfaces for installing network interface cards.

Adding NICs to Existing Windows NT System

Windows NT supplies the basic driver and DLL used to communicate with the hardware. In addition, DLLs that support a family of NICs used in Windows NT platforms are supplied. The complete list of NIC-detection DLLs used by the NCPA and the Windows NT setup program is extracted from the registry during runtime. All DLL information is merged with information from the .inf files located in the system32 directory. The cumulative results of this merge are then used for autodetection of NICs and to provide installation selections to the user.

There are two cases in which an OEM will add new NICs to the Windows NT system. In the first scenario, the OEM makes a NIC part of the primary system by installing it and its driver directly on the Windows NT release media (such as CD-ROM, diskette, tape, and so forth) or on a preinstalled network share point. In the second scenario, the OEM provides support for adding NIC drivers to a running installation or for adding NIC drivers supplied as add-on diskettes during installation.

The NIC detection capabilities described here are intended to be extended by OEMs and ISVs. These capabilities include an API that supports one or more NICs from one or more DLLs.

Adding NICs during Primary Installation

OEMs can add information into the Windows NT registry before NIC detection commences. To facilitate this operation, the primary network installation file ntlanman.inf calls the oemhook.inf file. This call is made through the Win32 setup.exe shell command. No errors are reported if oemhook.inf is not found.

The oemhook.inf file allows an OEM to provide automatic NIC detection during the primary system installation of Windows NT. This file can perform any operations the OEM deems necessary.

Adding NICs during Secondary Installation

NICs can also be added after the system has been completely installed, or during a later phase of installation (in custom mode). This type of secondary installation uses the network control panel application (NCPA). In secondary installation, the supporting DLLs are not used for automatic detection of network adapters. Their primary purpose is to provide the installation .inf file with the proper NIC parameter definitions and available value ranges.