How does Windows determine device categorization in "Device Manager"?
For instance, Device Manager lists such categories as "Imaging devices", "Keyboards", "Sound, video, and game controllers", etc. — how does Windows "know" to put a device into any of these categories?
How does Windows decide which device is which, and then file it under a category?
For reference, I understand Windows uses hardware and vendor IDs to "know" what a device is, and that the visible naming of a device stems from the initial INF file. But from my understanding, INF files don't define the category or type of device, hence why I'm wondering how Windows is making the distinction.
Best Answer
It's basically the device driver's responsibility. Windows represents devices by device objects. Each device object has a device type, which is stored in the DeviceType member of its DEVICE_OBJECT structure. The device type represents the type of underlying hardware for the driver. See the source page below as well as related MSDN documentation about kernel and user-mode drivers, the Windows Driver Model (WDM) architecture etc.
Source