METHODS, DEVICES AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR AUTOMATICALLY INSTALLING DEVICE DRIVERS FROM A PERIPHERAL DEVICE ONTO A HOST COMPUTER
First Claim
1. A method of automatically installing one or more custom device drivers for a peripheral device from the peripheral device onto a host computer, the method comprising the following that are performed by the peripheral device:
- upon connecting the peripheral device to the host computer, exposing an operating system of the host computer to a default configuration of the peripheral device that comprises only a device driver class interface or interfaces for which the operating system includes preinstalled class level device drivers, at least one of which includes an automatic run routine but does not comprise a device driver class interface for which the operating system does not include a preinstalled class level device driver; and
in response to receipt of an install command directly from the automatic run routine in the host computer and/or from an executable routine in the host computer that is pointed to by the automatic run routine, automatically transmitting one or more custom device drivers from the peripheral device to the host computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One or more custom device drivers for a peripheral device may be installed from the peripheral device onto a host computer. Upon connecting the peripheral device to the host computer, an operating system of the host computer is exposed to a default configuration of the peripheral device that contains only a device driver class interface or interfaces for which the operating system includes preinstalled class level device drivers. The peripheral device then receives an install command from the host computer, and automatically transmits one or more custom device drivers from the peripheral device to the host computer. In response to receipt of a change command from the host computer, the configuration of the peripheral device is changed to an alternate configuration that includes interfaces for the custom device drivers.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of automatically installing one or more custom device drivers for a peripheral device from the peripheral device onto a host computer, the method comprising the following that are performed by the peripheral device:
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upon connecting the peripheral device to the host computer, exposing an operating system of the host computer to a default configuration of the peripheral device that comprises only a device driver class interface or interfaces for which the operating system includes preinstalled class level device drivers, at least one of which includes an automatic run routine but does not comprise a device driver class interface for which the operating system does not include a preinstalled class level device driver; and in response to receipt of an install command directly from the automatic run routine in the host computer and/or from an executable routine in the host computer that is pointed to by the automatic run routine, automatically transmitting one or more custom device drivers from the peripheral device to the host computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of installing one or more custom device drivers for a peripheral device from the peripheral device onto a host computer comprising the following that are performed by an operating system of the host computer in response to connecting the peripheral device to the host computer:
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if a custom device driver that matches a product identification for the peripheral device is installed in the operating system, loading the custom device driver and issuing a change command to the peripheral device to change its configuration from a default configuration to an alternate configuration that includes interfaces for the one or more custom device drivers; and if a custom device driver that matches a product identification for the peripheral device is not installed in the operating system, loading at least one driver class interface or interfaces that is exposed to the operating system by the peripheral device and for which the operating system includes preinstalled class level device drivers, at least one of which includes an automatic run routine, executing the automatic run routine to issue the change command to the peripheral device directly from the automatic run routine and/or from an executable routine that is pointed to by the automatic run routine, and in response to receiving the one or more custom device drivers from the peripheral device, installing the one or more custom device drivers on the host computer. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A peripheral device that is configured to connect to a host computer, the peripheral device comprising:
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a plurality of custom devices for which custom device drivers are not preinstalled in an operating system of the host computer; a default configuration that comprises a device driver class interface or interfaces for which the operating system includes preinstalled class level device drivers but does not comprise a device driver class interface for which the operating system does not include a preinstalled class level device driver; an alternate configuration that comprises custom device driver interfaces for the plurality of custom device drivers; a plurality of custom device drivers for the plurality of custom devices; and a controller that is configured to expose the default configuration to the operating system of the host computer upon connection of the peripheral device to the host computer, to transmit the plurality of custom device drivers to the host computer in response to an install command from the host computer and to switch from the default configuration to the alternate configuration in response to a change command from the host computer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification