Hardware Design Guide Compliance and Testing Programs

A specific hardware model is compatible with Windows NT if it has a Windows NT device driver designed to interact with that hardware model, and if Windows NT and that driver interoperate with the hardware in a stable manner.

Hardware Compatibility Tests (HCTs). Microsoft evaluates hardware compatibility using the Windows NT HCTs, which are run to test the interaction between device drivers and hardware. These tests issue the full range of commands available to applications and operating system software, and they stress hardware beyond the level of most real-world situations. The Windows NT HCT team runs the tests and reports results to the manufacturer. You can obtain a Windows NT HCT kit from the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) web site at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/testkits/.

Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). Hardware that passes the HCTs is eligible to be included on the Windows NT HCL, available to customers by way of the World Wide Web and other sources. The HCL helps interested parties identify hardware and software that has been verified to run on Windows NT Server.

WHQL administers the hardware compliance testing programs at Microsoft. Hardware developers whose products pass the WHQL testing program receive a detailed report about how the system runs Windows NT Server based on the results of the testing. Hardware that passes testing is included on the Windows HCL at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/hcl/.

Compliance Dates. Typically, these hardware design requirements go into effect on July 1, 1999, and are applicable to servers that are designed and built after this document’s initial publication date. Compliance testing for some requirements may begin later because of the time required for technology changes to become widely available. For information about actual compliance testing dates for specific requirements, or about any of the hardware testing programs at Microsoft, contact WHQL: