how many sys file i need?

Hi all:
My device has to support xp32,xp64,vista32,vista64,so generally the
solutions is to have 4 sys files for each OS:
xp32.sys,xp64.sys,vista32.sys,vista64.sys(built with corresponding build
enviornments)

My question is: can i reduce my sys file numbers?

for example,use vista x86 build enviornment,and this vista32.sys supports
both xp32 & vista32.
Is this possible?How to do?

Or just one sys file to support all the OS,possible??

Thanks in advance.

Ian
Fri Oct 12 02:35:21 PDT 2007

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:28:57 +0800, "laudraup" <laudraup@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>Hi all:
>My device has to support xp32,xp64,vista32,vista64,so generally the
>solutions is to have 4 sys files for each OS:
>xp32.sys,xp64.sys,vista32.sys,vista64.sys(built with corresponding build
>enviornments)
>
>My question is: can i reduce my sys file numbers?

For most drivers if you target the XP build enviroment it should work
on all the more recent platforms. There are a few exceptions.

>
>for example,use vista x86 build enviornment,and this vista32.sys supports
>both xp32 & vista32.
>Is this possible?How to do?
>
>Or just one sys file to support all the OS,possible??
>

No you need a 32 and a 64 bit version. However you should only need
one set of source files. Although you may need #ifdef _WIN64 here and
there.

So you need two drivers.

>Thanks in advance.
>

Maxim
Sun Oct 14 07:21:48 PDT 2007

> for example,use vista x86 build enviornment,and this vista32.sys supports
> both xp32 & vista32.
> Is this possible?How to do?

No. You must use XP x86 build env, and the binary will be compatible with xp32
and Vista32.

The build env version must be <= the target OS version. So, if you will build
using Vista build env, then the binary will be Vista and Server 2008 only. To
build XP compatible binary, you will need XP build env or w2k build env.

Correct, this means the refusal to use the Vista's new features. So, you have 2
choices:
a) same binary for XP and Vista and no ability to use Vista's new features
b) 2 different binaries for XP and Vista, and you can use the Vista's new
features in the Vista binary.

It's your choice. I personally prefer to refuse to use the newer OS features,
but have only 1 32bit binary for all OSes I support.

Surely you will need separate binaries for x86 and x64.

--
Maxim Shatskih, Windows DDK MVP
StorageCraft Corporation
maxim@storagecraft.com
http://www.storagecraft.com