Just want to know if there are devices that can work without installing drivers. If yes, how can any application program communicate with such hardware device since my understanding is that device driver facilitates the communication of application program with hardware device?
Just want to know if there are devices that can work without installing drivers
Yes optical drives normally no longer require the installing of drivers since XP and either the motherboard drivers disk will load the controller to allow the system to use that device or the OS itself loads drivers while installing.
If yes, how can any application program communicate with such hardware device since my understanding is that device driver facilitates the communication of application program with hardware device?
You statement is not completely correct. Drivers are mainly used by the OS to identify and facilitate the use of that device. Programs do not do this but they do depend on that device to run so it looks for the device and not the driver.
I agree. It is the operating system's responsibility to communicate with the hardware, not an application's. And to clarify, all hardware must have drivers installed. But, since a lot of hardware must be accessed for a computer to work, many "basic" drivers are pre-coded into the OS, or as noted, at the motherboard level.
But note these are very basic. For example, all motherboards, graphics cards, and monitors know how to communicate using basic VGA protocols and resolutions so you can see what is happening BEFORE Windows is even installed or loaded. The system knows how to access a hard drive or "read" a optical disk. How to read a mouse or keyboard input.
But to access advanced features (like higher graphics resolutions, or writing to a DVD, or special mouse or keyboard button features), specific drivers must be loaded. Some advanced features may be included in drivers that are included "natively" in the operating system. For example, Windows 7 knows how to write to optical disks because Windows 7 has the necessary drivers included. Just as it knows how to communicate via Ethernet networks - the drivers are in there.
