What is Plug and Play (PnP)
Plug and Play (PnP) is one of the main features which made the Windows Operating Systems much popular. Plug and Play (PnP) is the feature which enables the Windows Operating Systems to detect hardware changes automatically without manually configuring a newly added hardware device. Plug and Play (PnP) allows just to plug–in your device and the new device is instantly recognized by the Operating System and the device is instantly functional by configuring the necessary device drivers automatically. Microsoft introduced Plug and Play (PnP) long back in Windows 95 on IBM compatible computers.
Please visit the following Microsoft web page to know about different types of drivers. Drivers are normally packed together with the hardware device in CDs/DVDs/USB Drives or are available for download from the device manufacturer’s website.
Plug and Play (PnP) feature allows no user intervention while adding or removing a hardware device. When a Plug and Play (PnP) enabled device is connected to a Windows Operating System based computer, the connected device sends information related to its capabilities to the Windows Operating System. Once the Windows Operating System receives the information about the connected device, it will identify the drivers and automatically configures the newly added device with all the necessary driver files. The Windows Operating System automatically manage to install drivers or configure device settings.
Plug and Play (PnP) feature in Windows Operating Systems saves the time of System Administrators by allowing the new devices to be instantly recognized by the Operating System. System Administrators can save their time by avoiding the complex device installation steps.
The trusted drivers for the devices are installed from the Driver Store. The Driver Store is a trusted collection driver software package. The operating system maintains Driver Store in a secure location on the local hard disk.
Written by Jajish Thomas.
Last updated on 12th July, 2024.