Windows Driver Kit
Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Hatnote list' not found.
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.
| Windows Driver Kit | |
|---|---|
| [[Programmer|DeveloperTemplate:Pluralize from text]] | Microsoft |
| Initial release | Template:Sda |
| Engine | Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.Template:EditAtWikidata |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Website | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:If preview' not found. |
| Repository | Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
|
Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
The Windows Driver Kit (WDK) is a software toolset from Microsoft that enables the development of device drivers for the Microsoft Windows platform.[2] It includes documentation, samples, build environments, and tools for driver developers.[3] A complete toolset for driver development also need the following: a compiler Visual Studio, Windows SDK, and Windows HLK.
Forms of distribution
The Windows Driver Kit is available in several forms, depending on development and build requirements:
- Windows Driver Kit (WDK)[4] – the primary MSI based installation that integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio and includes headers, libraries, documentation, and driver development and testing tools.
- Enterprise Windows Driver Kit (EWDK)[5] – a standalone, self-contained environment that includes the build tools, headers, and libraries needed to build Windows drivers without installing Visual Studio. The EWDK is commonly used in automated build systems or in environments that require an isolated toolchain.
- WDK NuGet packages[6] – package-based distributions of WDK components that can be consumed through NuGet in Visual Studio. These packages allow developers to reference driver development headers and libraries on a per‑project basis without installing the full WDK. They can also be used in continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) environments to automate driver builds and validation.[7]
History
Previously, the WDK was known as Device Development Kit (DDK)[8] for Windows 3.x and Windows 9x. It supported the development of VxD drivers. Later versions for Windows NT and Windows 98SE and ME were called Driver Development Kit (DDK)[9] and supported Windows Driver Model (WDM) development. It got its current name when Microsoft released Windows Vista and added the following previously separated tools to the kit: Installable File System Kit (IFS Kit), Driver Test Manager (DTM), though DTM was later renamed and removed from WDK again.
The DDK for Windows 2000 and earlier versions did not include a compiler; instead one had to install Visual C++ separately to compile drivers. From the version for Windows XP the DDK and later the WDK include a command-line compiler to compile drivers. One of the reasons Microsoft gave for including a compiler was that the quality of drivers would improve if they were compiled with the same version of the compiler that was used to compile Windows itself while Visual C++ is targeted to application development and has a different product cycle with more frequent changes. The WDK 8.x and later series goes back to require installing a matched version of Visual Studio separately, but this time the integration is more complete in that you can edit, build and debug the driver from within Visual Studio directly.
DDK versions
| Version | Build number | Release date | Supported Driver Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 3.0 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD | |
| Windows 3.1 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD | |
| Windows NT 3.1 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | NTDM | |
| Windows NT 3.5 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | NTDM | |
| Windows NT 3.51 DDK | 1025.1 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | NTDM |
| Windows 95 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD | |
| Windows 95 DDK a | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD | |
| Windows 95 DDK b | VxD | ||
| Windows 95 DDK c (MSDN July 1998) | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD | |
| Windows NT DDK (for Windows NT Workstation 3.51) | Script error: No such module "Date time". | NTDM | |
| Windows NT DDK (for Windows NT Workstation 4.0) | 1381.1 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | NTDM |
| Windows 98 DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD, WDM? | |
| Windows 98 SE DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD, WDM? | |
| Windows 2000 DDK | 2195.1 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | WDM |
| Windows Me DDK | Script error: No such module "Date time". | VxD only | |
| Windows XP Driver Development Kit (DDK) | 2600 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | WDM |
| Windows XP SP1 Driver Development Kit (DDK) | 2600.1106 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | WDM |
| Windows Server 2003 DDK | 3790 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | WDM |
| Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 DDK | 3790.1830 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | WDM |
Note: Windows NT DDK, Windows 98 DDK and Windows 2000 DDK are no longer made available by Microsoft because of Java-related settlements made by Microsoft with Sun Microsystems.[10]
WDK versions
| Version | Build number | Release date | Develops drivers for | Visual Studio integration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Driver Kit for Windows Vista | 6000 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows Vista | - | - |
| Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) | 6001.18000 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows XP SP1 – Vista SP1, Windows Server 2000 SP4 – 2008 | - | - |
| Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) | 6001.18001 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | - | - | - |
| Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 Release SP1 (x86, x64, i64) | 6001.18002 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows XP SP1 – Vista SP1, Windows Server 2000 SP4 – 2008 SP1 | - | - |
| Windows Driver Kit 7.0.0 | 7600.16385.0 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 | - | - |
| Windows Driver Kit 7.1.0 | 7600.16385.1 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows XP SP3 – 7, Windows Server 2003 SP1 – 2008 R2 | - | [11] |
| Windows Driver Kit 8.0 | 8.59.25584 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows 7 – 8, Windows Server 2008 R2 – 2012 | Visual Studio 2012 | Downloads before 8/17/2012 had a bug in WDF co-installer[12] |
| Windows Driver Kit 8.1 | 8.100.26638 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows 7 – 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2 – 2012 R2 | Visual Studio 2013[13] | - |
| Windows Driver Kit 8.1 Update | 8.100.26846 | Script error: No such module "Date time". | Windows 7 – 8.1 Update, Windows Server 2008 R2 – 2012 R2 | Visual Studio 2013 | - |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1507 | 10.0.26639 | July 2015 | Windows 7 SP1 – 10 | Visual Studio 2015 RTM – Update 3 | - |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1511 | 10.0.10586 | November 2015 | Windows 7 SP1 – 10 Version 1511 | Visual Studio 2015 Update 1 – 3 | Windows 10 November Update |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1607 | 10.0.14393 | August 2016 | Windows 7 SP1 – 10 Version 1607 (Excludes Win10 Version 1507 & 1511) | Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 | Windows 10 Anniversary Update |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1703 | 10.0.15063 | April 2017 | Windows 7 SP1 – 10 (Version 1607 & 1703 only), Windows Server 2008 R2 – 2016 | Visual Studio 2017 Ver.15.1 | Windows 10 Creators Update |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1709 | 10.0.16299 | October 2017 | Visual Studio 2017 Ver.15.4 | Windows 10 Fall Creators Update | |
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1803 | 10.0.17134 | April 2018 | Windows 10 April 2018 Update | ||
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1809[14] | 10.0.17763 | October 2018 | Windows 10 October 2018 Update | ||
| Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1903 | 10.0.18362.1 | April 2019 | Windows 7 SP1 – 10 (Version 1607 to 1903), Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 – 2019 | Visual Studio 2019 Ver.16 | Windows 10 May 2019 Update |
| Windows Driver Kit 11, Version 25H2 | 10.0.26100.6584 | November 2025 | Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 | Visual Studio 2022 Ver.17 | Windows 11 Nov 2025 Update |
See also
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Other WDK downloads". Microsoft Learn. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Enrico Perla; Massimiliano Oldani (2010). A Guide to Kernel Exploitation; Attacking the Core. Elsevier Science. p. 277. ISBN 9781597494878.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.BHATT, PRAMOD CHANDRA P. (2019). AN INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING SYSTEMS : CONCEPTS AND PRACTICE (GNU/LINUX AND WINDOWS), FIFTH EDITION. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 529. ISBN 9789387472884.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Download the Windows Driver Kit (WDK)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Enterprise WDK (EWDK)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Using the WDK NuGet packages". Microsoft Learn. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Building Windows driver projects with CI and CD". Microsoft Tech Community. Microsoft. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
- ^ README.TXT from Windows 3.1 Device Development Kit (DDK)
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bill Blunden (2009). The Rootkit Arsenal; Escape and Evasion. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 142. ISBN 9781449661229.
- ^ MSDN: Products Unavailable due to Java-related Settlement
- ^ [1] Windows Driver Kit Version 7.1.0
- ^ WDF co-installer issue
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kraig Brockschmidt (2014). Programming Windows Store Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Pearson Education. p. 1002. ISBN 9780735695702.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Liu, Zhifeng; Zheng, Desheng; Wu, Xinlong; Chen, Jixin; Tang, Xiaolan; Ran, Ziyong (2021). VABox: A Virtualization-Based Analysis Framework of Virtualization-Obfuscated Packed Executables. International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Security. Springer International Publishing. pp. 73–84. ISBN 9783030786212.
We use Visual Studio 2017 and WDK for Windows 10, version 1809 for development.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found.
