WinUSB

A WCID device, where WCID stands for "Windows Compatible ID", is a USB device that provides extra information to a Windows system, in order to facilitate automated driver installation and, in most circumstances, allow immediate access. WCID allows a device to be used by a Windows application almost as soon as it is plugged in, as opposed to the usual scenario where a USB device that is neither HID nor Mass Storage requires end-users to perform a manual driver installation. As such, WCID can bring the 'Plug-and-Play' functionality of HID and Mass Storage to any USB device (that sports a WCID aware firmware). WCID is an extension of the WinUSB Device functionality.^[1]

One solution is the use of a predefined USB device class. Operating systems provide built-in drivers for some of them. The most widely used device class for embedded devices is the USB communications device class (CDC). A CDC device can appear as a virtual serial port to simplify the use of a new device for older applications.

Another solution is UsbDk. UsbDk supports all device types including isochronous and provides simpler way for device access acquisition that does not involve INF files creation and installation. UsbDk is open source, community supported and works on all Windows versions starting from Windows XP.

If the previous solutions are inappropriate, one can write a custom driver. For newer versions of Microsoft Windows, it can be done using the Windows Driver Foundation.

• "How to Use WinUSB to Communicate with a USB Device". Microsoft. 2007-12-05. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
• "WinUSB". Microsoft Developer Network. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
• "USB 2.0 Specification". USB Implementers Forum, Inc. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-03-27.^{[dead link]} The newest version can be found at USB.org
• As of this edit, this article uses content from "WCID Devices", authored by Pete Batard (pbatard), Patrick Stewart (patstew), Chih-Wei, and Manuel Odendahl (wesen), which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.