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-->It is challenging to give a single precise definition for the term driver. In the most fundamental sense, a driver is a software component that lets the operating system and a device communicate with each other. For example, suppose an application needs to read some data from a device. The application calls a function implemented by the operating system, and the operating system calls a function implemented by the driver. The driver, which was written by the same company that designed and manufactured the device, knows how to communicate with the device hardware to get the data. After the driver gets the data from the device, it returns the data to the operating system, which returns it to the application.
Expanding the definition
Our explanation so far is oversimplified in several ways:
Not all drivers have to be written by the company that designed the device. In many cases, a device is designed according to a published hardware standard. This means that the driver can be written by Microsoft, and the device designer does not have to provide a driver.
Not all drivers communicate directly with a device. For a given I/O request (like reading data from a device), there are often several drivers, layered in a stack, that participate in the request. The conventional way to visualize the stack is with the first participant at the top and the last participant at the bottom, as shown in this diagram. Some of the drivers in the stack might participate by transforming the request from one format to another. These drivers do not communicate directly with the device; they just manipulate the request and pass the request along to drivers that are lower in the stack.
The one driver in the stack that communicates directly with the device is called the function driver; the drivers that perform auxiliary processing are called filter drivers.
Some filter drivers observe and record information about I/O requests but do not actively participate in them. For example, certain filter drivers act as verifiers to make sure the other drivers in the stack are handling the I/O request correctly.
We could expand our definition of driver by saying that a driver is any software component that observes or participates in the communication between the operating system and a device.
Software drivers
Our expanded definition is reasonably accurate but is still incomplete because some drivers are not associated with any hardware device at all. For example, suppose you need to write a tool that has access to core operating system data structures, which can be accessed only by code running in kernel mode. You can do that by splitting the tool into two components. The first component runs in user mode and presents the user interface. The second component runs in kernel mode and has access to the core operating system data. The component that runs in user mode is called an application, and the component that runs in kernel mode is called a software driver. A software driver is not associated with a hardware device. For more information about processor modes, see User Mode and Kernel Mode.
This diagram illustrates a user-mode application communicating with a kernel-mode software driver.
Additional notes
Software drivers always run in kernel mode. The main reason for writing a software driver is to gain access to protected data that is available only in kernel mode. But device drivers do not always need access to kernel-mode data and resources. So some device drivers run in user mode.
There is a category of driver we have not mentioned yet, the bus driver. To understand bus drivers, you need to understand device nodes and the device tree. For information about device trees, device nodes, and bus drivers, see Device Nodes and Device Stacks.
Our explanation so far over simplifies the definition of function driver. We said that the function driver for a device is the one driver in the stack that communicates directly with the device. This is true for a device that connects directly to the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. The function driver for a PCI device obtains addresses that are mapped to port and memory resources on the device. The function driver communicates directly with the device by writing to those addresses. However in many cases, a device does not connect directly to the PCI bus. Instead the device connects to a host bus adapter that is connected to the PCI bus. For example, a USB toaster connects to a host bus adapter (called a USB host controller), which is connected to the PCI bus. The USB toaster has a function driver, and the USB host controller also has a function driver. The function driver for the toaster communicates indirectly with the toaster by sending a request to the function driver for the USB host controller. The function driver for the USB host controller then communicates directly with the USB host controller hardware, which communicates with the toaster.
Below are the steps required to connect to a working printer on a network, and use it to print.
Connect network printer in Windows 10
- Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected to the network.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click the Devices and Printers icon or View devices and printers link, depending on the view type you are using in the Control Panel.
- In the Devices and Printers window, click the Add a printer link in the menu bar at the top.
- Let Windows scan for the printer. If detected, select the printer and click Next. If the printer is not listed, click The printer that I want isn't listed and skip to add the printer by name or TCP/IP address.
If you know the printer's name, choose Select a shared printer by name and enter the path to the printer. For example, with a network named hope and a printer named hp, the network path would be: hopehp.
If you do not know the printer's path, but have the printer's IP address, select Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname.
Click Next.
- If, during the installation, Windows asks for drivers, point to the location of your printer drivers. If you do not have drivers, visit our printer drivers section to find links to all printer drivers.
Connect network printer in Windows 8
- Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected to the network.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click Hardware and Sound.
- Double-click the Add a printer icon.
- Select Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer and click Next.
- Let Windows scan for the printer. If detected, select the printer and click Next. If the printer is not listed, click The printer that I want isn't listed and skip to add the printer by name or TCP/IP address.
If you know the printer's name, choose Select a shared printer by name and enter the path to the printer. For example, with a network named hope and a printer named hp, the network path would be: hopehp.
If you do not know the printer's path, but have the printer's IP address, select Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname.
Click Next.
- If, during the installation, Windows asks for printer drivers, point to the location of your drivers. If you do not have drivers, visit our printer drivers section to find links to all printer drivers.
Connect network printer in Windows Vista and 7
- Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected to the network.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click Hardware and Sound.
- Double-click the Add a printer icon.
- Select Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer and click Next.
- Let Windows scan for the printer. If detected, select the printer and click Next. If the printer is not listed, click The printer that I want isn't listed and skip to add the printer by name or TCP/IP address.
If you know the printer's name, choose Select a shared printer by name and enter the path to the printer. For example, with a network named hope and a printer named hp, the network path would be: hopehp.
If you do not know the printer's path, but have the printer's IP address, select Add a printer using a TCP/IP address or hostname.
Click Next.
- If, during the installation, Windows asks for printer drivers, point to the location of your drivers. If you do not have drivers, visit our printer drivers section to find links to all printer drivers.
Connect network printer in Windows 2000 and XP
- Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected to the network.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Double-click the Printers or Printers and Faxes icon.
- Double-click the Add a printer icon.
- Once in the printer wizard, click the Next button to get started.
- Select either A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer or Network Printer and click Next. The option depends on what version of Windows you are using.
- Type the name of the printer's network address. The address is the name of the computer and then the name of the printer. For example, with a network named hope and a printer named hp, the network path would be: hopehp. If you are adding the printer on a Windows XP computer, click the Browse icon to browse your network and locate the printer. If you're unable to connect to the printer or browse and see the printer, make sure you have network rights and that any installed firewall is temporarily disabled.
- Once the network path to the printer is typed in, click Next.
- If the computer doesn't have the printer drivers, you need to install them from a driver's disc or a download on the Internet. If you no longer have the software or drivers for your printer, locate the drivers for your printer through our printer drivers section.
Connect printer in Windows 95, 98, or ME
- Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected to the network.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Double-click the Printers icon.
- Double-click the Add a printer icon.
- Click Next to start the Add a printer wizard.
- Select Network Printer and click Next.
- Type the network path for the printer. For example, with a network named hope and a printer named hp, the network path would be: hopehp.
- If the computer doesn't have the printer drivers, you need to install them from a driver's disc or a download on the Internet. If you no longer have the software or drivers for your printer, locate the drivers for your printer through our printer drivers section.
Connect printer in macOS
- In the menu bar, click the icon to open the Apple menu.
- In the Apple menu, click System Preferences.
- Click the Printers & Scanners shortcut icon.
Canon Printer Drivers I-sensys Lbp6030b
- Click the + symbol in the lower-left section of the window.
- In the next window, click the IP tab (A), type in the IP address for your printer (B), and then click Add (C).
Download All Printer Drivers Windows 10
- Once you've added the printer, you'll see it on the Printers & Scanners window.