The white paper Troubleshooting Device Installation with the SetupAPI Log File provides information about debugging device installation for Windows XP and later versions of Windows. Specifically, the paper provides guidelines for driver developers and testers to interpret the SetupAPI log file.

Windows XP and later Windows versions log system operations more extensively than previous versions of Windows. One of the most useful log files for debugging purposes is the SetupAPI.log file. This plain-text file maintains the information that SetupAPI records about device installation, service pack installation, and update installation. Specifically, the file maintains a record of device and driver changes as well as major system changes beginning from the most recent Windows installation. This paper focuses on using the SetupAPI log file to troubleshoot device installation; it does not describe the log file sections that are associated with service pack and update installations.

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Driver Installation