What is a good resource to get started with Windows file system driver development?

Question

What is a good resource to get started with Windows file system driver development for a newbie?

Answer 1

Windows NT File System Internals by Rajeev Nagar.

OSR Online's File System Resource page (and OSR Online in general):

• http://www.osronline.com/section.cfm?section=20

The NTFSD mailing list/forum (also hosted by OSR):

• http://www.osronline.com/page.cfm?name=ListServer

And starting with Vista, the Windows Driver Kit (WDK), which used to be called the DDK, now includes the Installable File Systems (IFS) Kit:

• http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/wdk/default.mspx

Just a heads up - Windows file system development is extremely complex because the file system is tightly integrated with the Windows memory manager. It's the kind of thing that people dedicate careers to. Just so you have an idea what you may be getting into.

Answer 2

You might try Windows Hardware Developer Central, which has links to blogs, newsgroups, books, and other useful resources for driver authors.

I also recommend downloading and installing the Windows DDK and exploring some of the included samples. There should be various skeleton drivers that can be used as starting points for your custom work.