Abstract: An advanced configuration and power management system is described which supports an unload command by identifying those objects that are to be unloaded and, rather than simply attempting to delete the objects, detaches them from the namespace while keeping them in memory in a location accessible by the system. In this way, the system avoids the problem of trying to synchronize accesses to the objects, yet the objects not longer exist in the tree, so namespace collisions are avoided.

Abstract: A method and system for configuring and executing device drivers in a computer system. In a preferred embodiment, a device driver comprises a plurality of component drivers. Each component driver performs a function that may be used in accessing a device. The component drivers of a device driver are ordered from a top layer to a bottom layer. When accessing a device, the top layer component driver of the device driver is first invoked. Each component driver performs its function and invokes the next lower layer component driver to the bottom layer component driver, which interacts directly with the device. An operating system dynamically configures the device drivers at computer system startup. The operating system invokes each of a plurality of component drivers to determine based on device-specific information and configuration requirements of previously included component drivers whether the component driver should be selected to be included as a layer in a particular device driver.