SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMISING A DEVICE DRIVER BY INCORPORATING DEBUGGING AND TRACING

The invention relates to a method for executing, in a computer system 5, a device driver 10 which is used by a number of applications running on that system. A first 12 and second version 11 of the device driver are provided, with the first version being optimised and the second version containing debug code for providing trace information. Upon discovering a problem with the device driver, it is possible to selectively switch to the debug version of the code without any of the applications already using the device driver being aware of the switch. Having gathered the necessary trace data, it is then possible to transparently switch back to the optimised version. Conventionally, device drivers form part of the operating system within a computer and so are difficult to remove and re-load without taking the whole system down and re-booting. The invention however affords continuous service to any application already using the device driver and does not require a time-wasting reboot which may in any event remove the error condition.