Network Component Types in the Registry

Table 23.9 describes the network component types.

Table 23.9 Network Component Types


Component type	Meaning

Adapter	A piece of hardware
Driver	A software component associated directly with a piece of hardware
Transport	A software component used by services
Service	A software component providing capability directly to user applications
Basic	A token used to represent a fundamental class name (that is, a class with no parent)

Each type of network component requires subkeys for both software and services. Therefore, the installation of a single network card usually results in the creation of four distinct subkeys in the Registry:

The software registration subkey for the driver, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Company\ProductName\Version.

For example, the path for the driver for an Etherlink adapter is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Elinkii\CurrentVersion.

The software registration subkey for the network adapter card, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\Netcard#.

The service registration subkey for the driver, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services.

The service registration subkey for the network adapter card, found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services.