Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC), also known as Wireless Auto Configuration, or WLAN AutoConfig, is a wireless connection management utility included with

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

XP and later operating systems as a

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

that dynamically selects a

wireless network A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables int ...

to connect to based on a user's preferences and various default settings. This can be used instead of, or in the absence of, a wireless network utility from the manufacturer of a computer's wireless networking device. The drivers for the wireless adapter query the NDIS Object IDs and pass the available network names ( SSIDs) to the service. The service then lists them in the user interface on the ''Wireless Networks'' tab in the connection's ''Properties'' or in the ''Wireless Network Connection'' dialog box accessible from the notification area. A ''checked'' (debug) build version of the WZC service can be used by developers to obtain additional diagnostic and tracing information logged by the service.

Overview

Wireless Zero Configuration was first introduced with

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

. In

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

and

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

, the service that provides equivalent functionality is called "WLAN AutoConfig". It is based on the '' Native Wi-Fi'' architecture introduced in Windows Vista. Initially, there was no Wireless LAN API in Windows XP for developers to create wireless client programs and manage profiles and connections. After the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft released KB918997, which includes a Wireless LAN API for Windows XP SP2. It was later integrated into Windows XP Service Pack 3.

References

External links

Wireless Zero Configuration application programming interface

Active Directory Schema Extensions for Windows Vista Wireless and Wired Group Policy Enhancements

The Cable Guy: Wireless Group Policy Settings for Windows Vista
{{Windows Components Windows services Wireless networking

Overview

See also

References

External links