Patent ID: 7010624

Claim:
A method of connecting a device to a host computer comprising; detecting a connection of a device in a host computer; loading a default driver, wherein the default driver establishes a default communication link between the device and the host computer, the device being a member of a family of devices, the family of devices including a plurality of devices, the default communication link capable of providing limited communication between each member of the family of devices and the host computer, wherein the default communication link provides access to only a first plurality of functions of the device, the first plurality of functions being compatible with the family of devices; identifying the device; and loading a device-specific driver on the host computer, wherein the device-specific driver is stored in a device memory, wherein the device-specific driver corresponds to the identified device, wherein the device specific driver establishes a device-specific communication link between the device and the host computer and wherein the device-specific communication link provides access to a plurality of device-specific functions including the first plurality of functions of the device and wherein loading the device specific driver includes: unloading the default driver in the host computer; and detecting the device in a device-specific state in the host computer, wherein the device specific state includes access to the plurality of device-specific functions.