When we install the operating system from scratch, Windows creates its own folders to function: Program Files, Windows, Program Data, Users, etc. Inside each one of them a series of files necessary for everything to work properly is stored. And, from those folders, we can create the ones we want. However, surely when we see a folder that we have not created, and that does not sound like having seen it before, we are curious: where did it come from? Should i delete it? This is what happened to the new OEMDRIVERS directory .
How Microsoft saves Windows drivers
Since the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has saved all the drivers on the computer in the directory ” % SystemRoot% / System32 / DriverStore “. There we can find all the drivers for our PC, drivers validated by Microsoft. When we connect a new hardware component, the operating system first looks to see if the correct driver is in that folder. If it is, it loads it, and if it isn’t it will search for it and download it from Windows Update . Windows 10, for security, only allows the installation of drivers saved in this folder. If we try to load a driver from another directory, we will get an error.
If the driver is not saved in that folder, we must download it manually from the manufacturer’s website. And what the installer does is copy the driver to this directory (after validating the online digital signature) so that, if everything is correct, the corresponding driver can be installed .
Until now, Windows keeps all drivers in the DriverStore folder, regardless of whether it is a third-party driver or a Microsoft driver. But this is going to change as of Windows 10 21H2 .
What is OEMDRIVERS?
Albacore, a well-known Windows hacker, has discovered an interesting change in the latest build of Windows 10 21H2. Similar to Windows 10X, Microsoft is working on a new way to store drivers for its operating system. On the one hand, the DriverStore directory will continue to be used to store Microsoft drivers, while for OEM drivers, from third parties, a new folder will begin to be used: OEMDRIVERS.
This new folder is located within the C: / Windows / directory, and is part of a feature called ” Writeable_DriverStore “. Insider users can enable this new feature manually, or by installing the latest build from scratch from their ISO it is automatically enabled.
Initially, this new feature will have no direct benefit to users, but removing third-party drivers from the System32 directory will certainly add security and reliability to the operating system. It looks like System32 is going to become, little by little, a private folder , only used by Microsoft to save its own libraries and executables, which was its original function. Unfortunately, over time, developers have been using this directory to store all kinds of external files and data. And this is something that must end.
By removing these drivers from System32, Microsoft can further harden this critical Windows directory, which will ultimately translate into better quality and greater security. Creating the OEMDRIVERS folder is just the first step towards that.