Windows Driver Kit

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Software tool for developing device drivers

title: "Windows Driver Kit" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1992-software", "products-and-services-discontinued-in-2015", "device-drivers", "microsoft-application-programming-interfaces", "microsoft-development-tools", "programming-tools-for-windows"] description: "Software tool for developing device drivers" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Driver_Kit" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Software tool for developing device drivers ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]

FieldValue
nameWindows Driver Kit
developerMicrosoft
released
latest release version10.1.26100.2454
latest release date{{Cite web
urlhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/other-wdk-downloads
titleOther WDK downloads
websiteMicrosoft Learn
access-date2024-12-03}}
operating systemMicrosoft Windows
languageEnglish
licenseProprietary commercial software
website
::

| name = Windows Driver Kit | developer = Microsoft | released = | latest release version = 10.1.26100.2454 | latest release date = {{Cite web | url = https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/other-wdk-downloads | title = Other WDK downloads | website = Microsoft Learn | access-date = 2024-12-03}} | operating system = Microsoft Windows | language = English | license = Proprietary commercial software | website = The Windows Driver Kit (WDK) is a software toolset from Microsoft that enables the development of device drivers for the Microsoft Windows platform. It includes documentation, samples, build environments, and tools for driver developers. 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) |title=Download the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/windows-hardware/drivers/download-the-wdk |website=Microsoft Learn |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2026-01-26 – 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){{Cite web |title=Enterprise WDK (EWDK) |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/windows-hardware/drivers/develop/enterprise-wdk |website=Microsoft Learn |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2026-01-26 – 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 – 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.

History

Previously, the WDK was known as Device Development Kit (DDK) 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) 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

::data[format=table] | Version | Build number || Release date || Supported Driver Model | |---|---| | Windows 3.0 DDK | | | Windows 3.1 DDK | | | Windows NT 3.1 DDK | | | Windows NT 3.5 DDK | | | Windows NT 3.51 DDK | 1025.1 | | Windows 95 DDK | | | Windows 95 DDK a | | | Windows 95 DDK b | | | Windows 95 DDK c (MSDN July 1998) | | | Windows NT DDK (for Windows NT Workstation 3.51) | | | Windows NT DDK (for Windows NT Workstation 4.0) | 1381.1 | | Windows 98 DDK | | | Windows 98 SE DDK | | | Windows 2000 DDK | 2195.1 | | Windows Me DDK | | | Windows XP Driver Development Kit (DDK) | 2600 | | Windows XP SP1 Driver Development Kit (DDK) | 2600.1106 | | Windows Server 2003 DDK | 3790 | | Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 DDK | 3790.1830 | ::

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.

WDK versions

::data[format=table] | Version | Build number || Release date || Develops drivers for || Visual Studio integration || Notes | |---|---| | Windows Driver Kit for Windows Vista | 6000 | | Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) | 6001.18000 | | Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 (x86, x64, ia64) | 6001.18001 | | Windows Driver Kit – Server 2008 Release SP1 (x86, x64, i64) | 6001.18002 | | Windows Driver Kit 7.0.0 | 7600.16385.0 | | Windows Driver Kit 7.1.0 | 7600.16385.1 | | Windows Driver Kit 8.0 | 8.59.25584 | | Windows Driver Kit 8.1 | 8.100.26638 | | Windows Driver Kit 8.1 Update | 8.100.26846 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1507 | 10.0.26639 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1511 | 10.0.10586 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1607 | 10.0.14393 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1703 | 10.0.15063 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1709 | 10.0.16299 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1803 | 10.0.17134 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1809 | 10.0.17763 | | Windows Driver Kit 10, Version 1903 | 10.0.18362.1 | | Windows Driver Kit 11, Version 25H2 | 10.0.26100.6584 | ::

References

References

  1. (2010). "A Guide to Kernel Exploitation; Attacking the Core". [[Elsevier Science]].
  2. BHATT, PRAMOD CHANDRA P.. (2019). "AN INTRODUCTION TO OPERATING SYSTEMS : CONCEPTS AND PRACTICE (GNU/LINUX AND WINDOWS), FIFTH EDITION". PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
  3. "Using the WDK NuGet packages".
  4. "Building Windows driver projects with CI and CD". Microsoft.
  5. README.TXT from Windows 3.1 Device Development Kit (DDK)
  6. Bill Blunden. (2009). "The Rootkit Arsenal; Escape and Evasion". [[Jones & Bartlett Learning]].
  7. [http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/ff723773.aspx MSDN: Products Unavailable due to Java-related Settlement]
  8. [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11800] Windows Driver Kit Version 7.1.0
  9. [https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsdesktop/en-US/91def370-1703-4b9d-b626-3d7d16870092/whck-error-for-wdk-80-user-mode-driver-coinstaller-does-not-match-rtm-fre-version?forum=wdk WDF co-installer issue]
  10. Kraig Brockschmidt. (2014). "Programming Windows Store Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript". [[Pearson Education]].
  11. (2021). "VABox: A Virtualization-Based Analysis Framework of Virtualization-Obfuscated Packed Executables". [[Springer International Publishing]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1992-softwareproducts-and-services-discontinued-in-2015device-driversmicrosoft-application-programming-interfacesmicrosoft-development-toolsprogramming-tools-for-windows