NI-VISA Driver Wizard Overview

To make your PXI/PCI, USB, or FireWire device visible to NI-VISA applications, the operating system (OS) must know to associate your hardware with the NI-VISA driver. This association is accomplished on Microsoft Windows operating systems using a Setup Information file (.inf file).

The NI-VISA Driver Wizard generates one .inf file for your PXI/PCI or FireWire device for use on all supported operating systems. For a USB device, the wizard generates two .inf files, one for Windows XP/2000, the other for Windows Vista. Using the wizard for a USB device is not necessary for use on Linux or Mac OS X. At this time, the list of supported operating systems includes Windows Vista/XP/2000, LabVIEW RT, Linux, and Mac OS X. The .inf file created by the wizard can then be distributed with an instrument driver distribution kit.