VS2010 MSI Installer purely to install drivers
<p>Right... have a small project that I have an idea how to BEGIN tackling... but no idea how to execute...</p>

<p>I simply need to install a device driver (I have both x86 and x64 inf, cat and sys files ready).</p>

<p>So: (I think!)</p>

<ol>
<li>I need to first check architecture</li>
<li>I need to stage the driver (the intention is to make sure the computers are ready before the USB device is connected!)</li>
<li>The complete product will be an MSI that will be run silently (the intention will be to deploy the MSI through Group Policy)</li>
</ol>

<p>I'm still learning C# and VS2010 so go easy!</p>

<p>I have an idea:</p>

<ol>
<li>I can put the driver files (inf, cat and sys) into the Installer project</li>
<li>Get the Installer to extract the files to a temporary location on the destination computer</li>
<li>CD to the temporary location and run "PNPUtil -a *.inf"</li>
<li>Verify the drivers are added by "PNPUtil -e" and check the output (all done as the MSI is running, of course)</li>
<li>Finish</li>
</ol>

<p>The Group Policy switches will be set to quiet without a reboot...</p>

<p>I have had a good read about DIFx, DEVCON and SetupAPI but have no idea where to start!</p>

<p>The project is for a university where we have bar-code scanners for student attendance. We have an app already written that works across BizTalk server so it automatically updates, but to install the scanner drivers the user must have Administrator permissions (which we're not going to give!)... it's a shame there isn't a way to have "user space" drivers that are temporary...</p>

<p>I have read another forum post and one person has very rightly hit the nail on the head when it comes to MSDN and the basics of such tasks... MS don't seem to want to ever put simple demos of how to add the ability to install a driver with a project installer...</p>

<p>Has anyone got any experience of this??? Please help!</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>
