Select Help»Find Instrument Drivers to display the NI Instrument Driver Finder. You also can select Tools»Instrumentation»Find Instrument Drivers or click the Connect to Instruments link on the Find Drivers and Add-ons pane of Getting Started window to display the Instrument Driver Finder. Before you begin using the Instrument Driver Finder, make sure you choose the appropriate method of instrument control.

Note (Windows) You also can search in LabVIEW for instrument drivers on ni.com.

Use the Instrument Driver Finder to search for and install LabVIEW Plug and Play instrument drivers without leaving the LabVIEW development environment. You must have Internet access to use the Instrument Driver Finder. If the Instrument Driver Finder cannot connect to ni.com, it displays an error message and closes after you click the OK button.

You must be a registered user at ni.com to install drivers from the Instrument Driver Finder. Click the Login button to display the Login page, where you can log in or register for an account. If another user is logged in, click the Change User button to log out and display the Login page.

The Instrument Driver Finder includes the following pages and components:

Option Description
Configure Search Allows you to search for instrument drivers based on search terms you specify. This page also displays instruments connected to the computer and drivers installed in the labview\instr.lib directory.
  • Scan for Instruments—Detects instruments connected to the machine that use NI-VISA and displays the instruments in the Connected Instruments list. You also can select the Connected Instruments folder and then press the <F5> key to refresh the list.
  • Manufacturer—Contains a list of instrument manufacturers, which you can use to refine the search. If an instrument manufacturer is not in the list, visit the Instrument Driver Network on the National Instruments website and search for the manufacturer manually, or contact the manufacturer directly.
    Note When you double-click a connected instrument on the Configure Search page, the Instrument Driver Finder populates the Additional Keywords text box. You must select a manufacturer again to enable the Search button.
  • Additional Keywords—Accepts keywords, such as the instrument model number, to refine the search. Do not use wildcard characters in this text box. The Instrument Driver Finder appends wildcard characters automatically, and any additional wildcards cause the search to return no results.
  • NI Certified Drivers Only—Restricts the search to NI-supported drivers that comply with instrument driver standards.
Search Results Displays the results of the search. You can click different files and use the detailed information to the right to choose the correct driver for the instrument.
Note If the search is not successful, you can launch the Instrument Driver Network in a Web browser from the window at the right to search for drivers manually.
Select an instrument driver file from the Driver list and click the Install button. If you are not logged in, the Instrument Driver Finder displays the Login page.
Start Using Instrument Driver Includes the following components:
  • Open Project—Opens the LabVIEW project that contains the instrument driver VIs, if the driver is project-based.
  • Open Palette—Opens the palette that contains the driver VIs.
  • Examples—Displays any example VIs included with the instrument driver. Double-click a VI in the Examples list to open the example VI.
  • Instrument Driver Location—Displays the path to the location in the labview\instr.lib directory where the driver is installed.
  • Explore—Opens the location of the driver on disk.