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So I recall there was much gnashing of teeth when Microsoft said they were going to validate applications for Windows 10, or maybe it was Windows 7, or maybe I imagined it, but I don't think so. The idea was to push for compliant applications so that the Windows platform was stable and applications behaved properly.
Assuming I'm not imagining this (if I am just say so), does anyone know if Microsoft ever went to the same effort to validate device drivers for Windows 10? or 7 or anything?
I'm trying to track down issues with a number of devices I use, and the standard response in the Windows help forums is a) make sure you're using the latest driver and b) probably malware. Other than being absolutely useless suggestion (might as well make it the header read me of all the forums), I guess locating the latest drivers make sense.
So, one device is a USB to serial adapter - last updated 2010, 5 years before Windows 10. I think the vendor just used the Windows 7 drivers, but it sort of begs the question: if Microsoft wants stable platforms and user experience, why do they always bend over in the community shower reaching for the driver soap?
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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charlieg wrote: the standard response in the Windows help forums is a) make sure you're using the latest driver and b) probably malware.
really? that's what they said? I'm surprised 
actually you forgot: "c) make sure you have latest windows updates," and still very often: "d) reinstall your windows [after full format/wipe/blessing from an archbishop or better]."
What's worse is they that make those really "useful" suggestions always include a long list of ms certifications under their avatar and have really high 5/6 digit rep scores?
Once in a while (if you're really lucky) someone, usually no certs and a low maybe 3 digit rep, will post a proper answer - which itself will quickly elicit 5 - 10 "no don't do that! [I've got certs]" responses from the former member types and often soon after deleted by a moderator. (Seen more than a few where the original properly useful response is removed but still quoted in it's replies.)
Some ms products really are good/useful, but the "ms way" philosophy has given us scores of useless idiots that would make the flu virus blush if it had cheeks. (And the flu, even without meds, will go away after a couple of weeks.)
Signature ready for installation. Please Reboot now.
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I like lopatirs answer much better, but driver verifier (verifier.exe) has been included in windows since win2000. Since xp it's even graphical.
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I agree with loptair, even if he is being a smart-ass  . Seriously, I didn't want to list all of the damn stupid suggestions that the support people make on those sites. We could be here for a long time. 
It is true that the driver verifier has been around since 2000, so why are drivers still crashing Vista, 7, 10? It would appear that device makers just don't use the tool (or it's insufficient - more likely). And for all of MS' anal retentive desire to make the device a better place for users, they leave this gaping, easily infected hole in their backside available.
So, was I dreaming about the application verification push?
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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There are WHQL drivers, but I think many manufacturers don't bother about paying to certify them, and when you buy "brand" computers they are often preset to accept nonsigned drivers.
You can check if a driver is signed in the device manager, check driver details and look for a MS signature, if I recall correctly you need to be an administrator to do that.
My solution is to install Microsofts own drivers instead of the manufacturers. You'll lose a ton of setting, but usually gain both performance and stability. Assuming the driver is made for the hardware that is.
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charlieg wrote: driver verifier has been around since 2000, so why are drivers still crashing Vista, 7, 10? It would appear that device makers just don't use the tool (or it's insufficient - more likely)
Driver verifier is different to driver verification (the signing process).
Verifier WAS a very good tool, before Microsoft made a complete balls up of its low resource simulation. Well, in fact it still is a good tool, you just cant do low resource simulation anymore, it is bollocks.
Dis I say its low resource simulation was a complete and utter TOTAL F***ING JOKE MICROSOFT YOU C***S ARE YOU F***ING LISTENING! yet?
And you are right, many companies obviously dont use it because their drivers fail when verified.
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Driver signing (validation), an immensely painful process, was mandatory post vista, but oddly has been almost dropped in windows 10.
ON windows 10 you no-longer need to run thousands of tests that take days and fail randomly, for no apparent reason, you just pay Symantec $750 for a certificate and sign your drivers yourself.
I guess provenance is more important than stability (and you could get any driver through the old signign process if you know a few tricks  )
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Awwww bugger, here I was thinking I was doing proper work like the grown-ups. 
Signature ready for installation. Please Reboot now.
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That looks perfectly stable... Compared to some of the software I've been working on
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Sander Rossel wrote: Compared to some of the software I've been working on
They were written from Youtube videos ... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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So I felt like playing some tunes. I don't do playlists. Normally I'll double-click on a file in Explorer, which launches VLC (my player of choice), and then I might drag some more random items on the queue.
This time around I picked all the files in a folder (20 or so), right-clicked on the bunch, and selected Play. I thought VLC was taking more time than usual to start playback...until 20 instances of VLC appeared, each one playing a different song...all at the same time.
Oh, the humanity cacophony! 
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That musta sucked. 
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I believe data was able to listen to multiple tunes at once but I think 20 was over even his limit.
Someone's therapist knows all about you!
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Off Topic, but Mike how is the robot going, I spent a little while trying to find the articles the other day I could only find the 293 H bridge one...
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Glenn,
To put it roughly I've been busier than a cat trying to busy sh*t on a marble floor.
I moved into a 23 ft. camper so I could do volunteering at Florida State parks, I'm currently at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park[^]. To say cramped would not describe it; mid tower computer, large ups, two 23" monitors and a host of electronic test equipment and parts. Actually I've got all that crammed into what used to be the dining booth but work and storage space is at a premium so, and here's the point, because of this limited space I had to take the robot apart. I'm limited in the size of projects I'm able to do and I've got a ton of them. Plus I've been busting butt working on a web site for my oldest son's business and it's been a bitch.
[rant]
Don't ever offer to create a web site for relatives. They don't know what they want, when you give them what you think they want it's not what they wanted. So I've had to design it so versatile that I can hand it to them, teach them how to use it and say the balls in your court.
[/rant]
Someone's therapist knows all about you!
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I have purposly stayed away from web stuff to avoid that very reason, I have had issues with becoming the help line to my cousin when she was trying to use her Apple Mac something or other,
didn't know anything about them, then know less now...
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I should have known but it's near the end and I'll be turning over soon. They're already using/seting it up.
Someone's therapist knows all about you!
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That must have been the evil Linux influence 
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And ironically, if you select a several audio files to play with Microsoft's player, and you want them in the right order (from first to last) you have to select the last one first, then shift-select the first one last, otherwise, if you select from top to bottom, it plays them in reverse order!
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Yeah--that's a pet peeve of mine. I've learned to live with it and adapt to it.
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Oh, the Cacophony[^], now that brings back some memories.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Now we will expect one each day CTJOTD.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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