Method and apparatus for adding or removing devices from a computer system without restarting

摘要

A method and apparatus provide a mechanism for a personal computer to allow the insertion and removal of devices to and from device ports without re-starting the operating system of the computer. Device drivers are pre-loaded during the start-up process of the computer system for devices that may be inserted in the system later. Upon detection of device insertion, a high priority thread process determines the type of device inserted and determines which pre-loaded device driver can operate the newly inserted device. The selected device driver is linked to the file system and is activated by signaling to the device driver or to the operating system of the existence of the newly inserted device. The operating system can then operate the inserted device. Upon device removal, device drivers for the removed device can be deactivated. The system also allows a docking station to have devices added or removed from device ports after the docking process has been completed.