Windows NT 4.0 default drivers and services

Among the problems troubleshooting hardware in Windows NT is the fact that drivers and services use vague names. Here, for your reference, is a list of default drivers and services.


If you’ve ever browsed through your Devices and Services applets in Control Panel, you’ve seen a lot of entries. Some are started, and some aren’t. Some start at boot, some are automatic, and some are manual. A few are disabled. You might be wondering why.

In Windows NT, tons of devices (device drivers for hardware) and services (useful software for the operating system) are registered in the OS, whether you ever use them or not. Unlike Windows 98, it’s very hard to remove them when you need to (for example, when you change hardware and drivers) and often wiser just to put them on the disabled list. As for services, sometimes you don’t need them, and you can save system overhead by turning them off. But which drivers drive which hardware, and what do those services do?

Vague driver and service names
One thing that interferes with troubleshooting Windows NT is the vague naming convention for many devices and services. For example, Sparrow.sys is the name of the Adaptec SCSI driver. For your reference, here are a couple of tables giving the names and purposes of the drivers that ship with Windows NT (Table 1) and the default services used by the OS (Table 2). Remember to be careful when you work with devices and services. Beware of disabling services that depend on other services, as noted below.

The driver list comes from Microsoft’s MSDN online library. The default services list is available in the NT 4.0 help files. If you ever need them locally, press Start | Help, and type default services in the index to view the topic. Happy troubleshooting!

Table 1: Windows NT 4.0 workstation drivers

4mmdat.sys
4 mm DAT drive support; Archive 4x20, WangDAT, HP 35470a, HP 35480a, Compaq

4mmsony.sys
Archive 4x20 Sony driver

8514a.sys
Miniport driver

Abiosdsk.sys
MCA non-SCSI (WD1003 compatible controller); x86 only

Afd.sys
Ancillary Function Driver that provides kernel-mode support for Windows Sockets transport interface by extending the functionality of TDI

Aha154x.sys
Adaptec 154x SCSI driver

Aha174x.sys
Adaptec 174x SCSI driver

Aic78xx.sys
CSI miniport driver

Always.sys
Always SCSI miniport

Am1500t.sys
AMD AM2100, AM1500T, and PCnet driver support

Ami0nt.sys
AMI series 44/48 SCSI controller driver

Ansi.sys
MS-DOS utility

Archqic.sys
Tape driver support for Archive 2150s, 2525s, 2750

Arrow.sys
SCSI miniport disk driver for Adaptec 2740/AIC 777x

Asyncmac.sys
Remote Access Server Serial network driver

Atapi.sys
CD-ROM driver with non-SCSI interface

Atdisk.sys
ISA/EISA non-SCSI (WD1003 compatible controller)

Ati.sys
ATI video display driver (640 x 480 x 16 colors up to 1280 x 1024 x 16,777,216 colors)

Beep.sys
Speaker port driver (ISA, MCA, EISA)

Bhnt.sys
Network Monitor driver for capturing packets

Brhj770.dll
Network browser kernel component; redirector

Buslogic.sys
BusLogic family SCSI miniport

Busmouse.sys
Microsoft or Logitech bus mouse driver

Cdaudio.sys
CD Audio support, only for specific non-SCSI-2 CD-ROM drives

Cdfs.sys
CD-ROM file system driver

Cdfs_rec.sys
CD-ROM file system recognizer

Cirrus.sys
Cirrus Logic display driver (640 x 480 x 16 colors to 1024 x 768 x 256 colors)

Comm.drv
Win16 communications driver

Country.sys
MS-DOS utility; supports international time, dates, currency, case conversions, and decimal separators

Cpqarray.sys
COMPAQ disk array driver

Dac960nt.sys
Mylex DAC960 SCSI driver

Dell_dgx.sys
Dell DGX video display driver (640 x 480 x 256 colors to 1280 x 1024 x 256 colors; note: 1152 x 900 x 65536 color mode)

Delldsa.sys
Driver for Dell intelligent disk array controller (available on high-end server systems from Dell)

Digifep5.sys
Digiboard FEP 5 adapter driver

Diskdump.sys
Crash dump disk driver

Diskperf.sys
Disk performance statistics gatherer, collects simple statistics on the system disk performance; used in conjunction with the Performance Monitor

Dlc.sys
Data Link Control driver

Dlttape.sys
Digital Equipment TZ86 and DLT2000 SCSI tape driver

Dptscsi.sys
EISA DPT controller

Dtc329x.sys
DTC329x SCSI miniport driver

Ee16.sys
Network NDIS driver: Intel EtherExpress card

Elnk16.sys
Network NDIS driver: 3Com Etherlink-16 card

Elnk3.sys
Network NDIS driver: 3Com Etherlink-III card

Elnkii.sys
Network NDIS driver: 3Com Etherlink-II card

Elnkmc.sys
Network NDIS driver: 3Com Etherlink-MC card, 3Com EtherLink MCA driver

Et4000.sys
Video driver for Tseng Labs ET-4000 video chipset

Exabyte1.sys
Tape driver for Exabyte 8200 series (SCSI-1)

Exabyte2.sys
Tape driver for Exabyte 8500 series (SCSI-2)

Fastfat.sys
File Allocation Table (FAT) file system driver

Fat_rec.sys
FAT file system recognizer

Fd16_700.sys
SCSI miniport driver for Future Domain 16xx series cards

Fd7000ex.sys
SCSI disk driver for Future Domain/Western Digital 7000EX controller (EISA)

Fd8xx.sys
SCSI disk driver for Future Domain 8xx controller

Floppy.sys
Floppy disk driver (non-SCSI)

Fs_rec.sys
File system recognizer

Ftdisk.sys
Fault Tolerant volume management driver

Himem.sys
XMS driver for VDMs

Hpfs_rec.sys
High-performance file system recognizer driver

Hpscan16.sys
Scanner

I8042prt.sys
Keyboard and i8042 mouse port driver

Ibmtok.sys
Network NDIS driver for IBM Token Ring adapter and IBM Token Ring adapter/A

Ibmtok2i.sys
IBM Token Ring 16/4 Adapter II ISA network driver

Inport.sys
Microsoft InPort mouse port driver

Kbdclass.sys
Keyboard class driver

Keyboard.drv
Win16 keyboard driver

Keyboard.sys
Command-line keyboard driver

Lance.sys
Network NDIS driver: DEC Lance adapter driver

Lanman.drv
Win16 LAN Manager network driver

Loop.sys
Microsoft loop-back network NDIS driver

Lt200.sys
Software for Macintosh, Apple LocalTalk driver

Mciavi.drv
MCI driver for AVI

Mciseq.drv
MCI driver for MIDI sequencer

Mciwave.drv
MCI driver for waveform audio

Miniqic.sys
Exabyte 2501 miniqic driver

Mipssnd.sys
MIPS ARCSystem 100/150 sound

Mitsumi.sys
Mitsumi non-SCSI CD-ROM driver

Mkecr5xx.sys
MKE CR-56X/CR-52X miniport driver

Mouclass.sys
Mouse Class driver

Mouse.drv
Win16 mouse stub driver

Msacm32.drv
Microsoft Audio Compression Manager driver

Msfs.sys
Mailslot file system driver

Mup.sys
Network Multiple UNC Provider (required)

Mvaudio.sys
Media Vision ProAudio Spectrum 16 driver

Mvopl3.sys
Media Vision OPL3 FM Synthesizer driver

Nbf.sys
NetBEUI Frame (NBF) driver

Nbt.sys
NetBIOS for TCP/IP driver, used for Windows Networking (RFC1001/1002)

Ncr53c9x.sys
NCR SCSI disk driver for MIPS-based computers

Ncr77c22.sys
Video driver for NCR 77C22 SVGA adapters

Ncrc700.sys
SCSI disk driver for NCR 53c700 controller

Ncrc710.sys
SCSI disk driver for NCR 53c710 controller

Ncrc810.sys
NCR 53C810 SCSI driver

Ndis.sys
NDIS wrapper driver; required for NDIS drivers

Ndistapi.sys
NDIS 3.0 connection wrapper driver

Ndiswan.sys
Remote Access network driver

Ne1000.sys, ne2000.sys, ne3200.sys
Network NDIS drivers for Novell NE1000, NE2000, and NE3200 adapters

Netbios.sys
NetBIOS API driver; Microsoft NetBIOS Transport Interface

Netbt.sys
Netbt driver

Netdtect.sys
Network card detection driver

Netflx.sys
Network NDIS driver for Compaq NetFlex/DualSpeed Token Ring adapter card

Etware.drv
Netware driver

Npeisa.sys
Network peripherals FDDI, EISA NDIS driver

Npfs.sys
Named pipes file system driver

Npmca.sys
Network peripherals FDDI, MCA NDIS driver

Ntcx.sys
Network NDIS driver for Digiboard C/X adapter

Ntdos.sys
Command-line emulation drive

Ntepc.sys
Digi International EPC communications miniport driver

Ntfs.sys
Windows NT file system driver

Ntfs_rec.sys
Windows NT file system recognizer driver

Ntio.sys
MS-DOS emulation BIOS driver

Ntxall.sys
Network NDIS driver for Digiboard PC/Xi, PC/2e, PC/4e, PC/8e

Ntxem.sys
Network NDIS driver for Digiboard PC/Xem

Null.sys
NULL device driver

Nwlink.sys
NWLink library

Nwlnkipx.sys
NWLINK2 IPX protocol driver

Nwlnknb.sys
NWLINK2 IPX NetBIOS protocol driver

Nwlnkrip.sys
NWLINK2 RIP protocol driver

Nwlnkspx.sys
NWLINK2 SPX protocol driver

Nwnblink.sys
NetWare NetBIOS Link (NWNBLink) network transport driver

Nwrdr.sys
NetWare redirector file system driver

Oliscsi.sys
SCSI disk driver for Olivetti ESC-1/ESC-2

Parallel.sys
Parallel port driver

Parport.sys
Parallel port driver

Pcimac.sys
Network NDIS driver for Digiboard ISDN adapter

Pinball.sys
HPFS driver

Pronet16.sys
Proteon ProNET4/16 Token Ring network driver

Qic117.sys
Floppy tape driver for QIC 117 floppy/tape drive

Qv.sys
Video miniport driver for Compaq Qvision

Rasarp.sys
Remote Access IP ARP driver

Rashub.sys
RAS Hub driver

Rdr.sys
Network redirector driver

S3.sys
Video driver library for S3 video chipsets (640 x 480 x 256 colors up to 1280 x 1024 x 256 colors)

Scsicdrm.sys
SCSI CD-ROM class driver

Scsidisk.sys
SCSI disk class driver

Scsiflop.sys
SCSI class floppy driver; not required for startup

Scsiport.sys
SCSI port driver

Scsiprnt.sys
SCSI print class driver

Scsiscan.sys
SCSI scanner class driver

Serial.sys
Serial port driver

Sermouse.sys
Serial mouse driver

Setupdd.sys
Windows NT Setup (kernel mode portion of character-based phase)

Sfmatalk.sys
Services for Macintosh AppleTalk protocol driver

Sfmsrv.sys
Services for Macintosh file server driver

Slcd32.sys
SLCD CD-ROM controller driver

Smbtrsup.sys
SMB trace support; required for Rdr.sys and Srv.sys

Smc8000n.sys
Network NDIS driver for SMC (Western Digital) network adapter cards

Sndblst.sys
Audio driver for Creative Labs Sound Blaster, also the Media Vision Thunder Board

Sndsys.sys
Multimedia kernel driver

Sonic.sys
Network NDIS driver for MIPS (built-in on Jazz computers)

Sound.drv
Win16 Sound driver

Sparrow.sys
Adaptec 151x and 152x SCSI miniport driver

Spock.sys
SCSI MCA SCSI driver

Srv.sys
Network Server driver

Streams.sys
Streams driver; used by Streams-based protocols including TCP/IP and NWLink

Synth.sys
Synthesizer driver

System.drv
Win16 system driver

T128.sys
Trantor 128 SCSI miniport driver

T13b.sys
Trantor 130b SCSI miniport driver

Tandqic.sys
Tape driver for Tandberg 3660, 3820, 4120, and 4220

Tcarc.sys
ARCNET network driver

Tcpip.sys
TCP/IP driver; includes TCP/IP modules such as IP, UDP, TCP, and ARP

Tdi.sys
Network TDI wrapper (required)

Telnet.sys
Telnet driver

Timer.drv
Timer driver for PC compatibles

Tmv1.sys
SCSI miniport driver for Trantor MediaVision

Trident.sys
Video driver for Trident display adapters (640 x 480 x 16 colors to 1024 x 768 x 256 colors)

Ubnei.sys
Ungermann-Bass network adapter driver

Ultra124.sys
SCSI disk driver for UltraStor 124f controller

Ultra14f.sys
SCSI disk driver for UltraStor 14f, 34f controller

Ultra24f.sys
SCSI disk driver for UltraStor 24f controller

V7vram.sys
Video Seven VRAM driver

Vga.drv
Windows-16 VGA stub driver

Vga.sys
VGA class driver

Vga_alt.sys
VGA alternate video driver

Videoprt.sys
VGA video port driver

Videosim.sys
Frame buffer simulator

Wangqic.sys
Tape driver for Wangtek 525, 250 tape drives

Wd33c93.sys
SCSI disk driver for Maynard/Western Digital 33c93 controller (ISA)

Wdvga.sys
Video driver for Western Digital/Paradise display adapters (604 x 480 x 16 colors to 1024 x 768 x 256 colors)

Wfwnet.drv
Windows for Workgroups 16-bit network stub driver

Winspool.drv
Win32 print spooler interface that contains the print spooler API calls

Xga.sys
XGA video driver


Table 2: Windows NT 4.0 workstation default services

Alerter

Notifies users and computers of administrative alerts. Requires the Messenger service and is used by the server as well as other services.

ClipBook Server

Supports the ClipBook viewer.

Computer Browser

Maintains a list of computers on the network. When you use dialogs to select a computer and select a domain, the selection options come from this list.

Directory Replicator

Replicates directories and files between computers.

Event Log

Records system, security, and application alerts into the logs you see in Event Viewer.

Messenger

Sends and receives messages sent by administrators or the Alerter service.

Net Logon

Used to authenticate a workstation on a domain, or by an NT server to synchronize the domain database with the domain controller.

Network DDE

Provides network transport and security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE).

Network DDE DSDM

Manages shared DDE conversations and is dependent on the Network DDE service.

NT LM Security Support Provider

Provides Windows NT security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs using transports other than named pipes.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator

Manages the RPC named services database.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service

RPC subsystem for Windows NT.

Schedule

Enables the console AT command, used to schedule commands and programs to be run.

Server

Provides RPC support, file, printer, and named pipe sharing.

Spooler

Provides printer spooler services.

UPS

Manages an uninterruptible power supply connected to the computer.

Workstation

Provides network connections and communications.