| Criteria | Verdict | |----------|---------| | Casual user trying to tether a modern phone | ❌ No – use native Windows 10 driver. | | Industrial/legacy hardware owner | ⚠️ Only as last resort, inside a controlled environment. | | Hobbyist/retro computing enthusiast | ✅ Yes – but in a VM or dedicated offline PC. | | Driver developer testing legacy behavior | ✅ Yes – knowledge is valuable. |
Windows 10 blocks unsigned or modified legacy drivers by default. If you receive an error about driver signature, enable Test Mode:
bcdedit /set testsigning on
bcdedit /set nointegritychecks on
Reboot, install the driver, then revert with /off after success.
Note for iPhones: Install the latest iTunes (from Apple, not Microsoft Store) – it includes the necessary Windows 10 driver. Then enable Personal Hotspot via USB.
Try this method first. It works if the driver is compatible with Windows 10 architecture but simply isn't automatically recognized.
If you receive an error stating "The hash for the file is not present in the specified catalog file" or "Driver is not digitally signed," proceed to Method B.
Cause: Windows 10 blocks the driver due to a signature or compatibility issue. This is rare with tetherxp.inf but can occur if the system has driver enforcement enabled or if the .inf file is corrupted.
Fix:
If you want, I can:
The file tetherxp.inf is a legacy driver configuration file originally created for Windows XP to enable Android USB tethering, and it is entirely unnecessary for Windows 10. Windows 10 has native, built-in support for Remote NDIS (RNDIS) devices and does not require this file to share your smartphone's internet connection. 📄 Overview of tetherxp.inf
Purpose: It tells legacy Windows operating systems how to use their own built-in network drivers (usb8023m.sys and rndismpm.sys) to communicate with an Android device acting as a USB modem.
Origin: It was historically provided by Google or phone manufacturers as a lightweight setup file specifically for Windows XP.
How it worked: It matched the unique Hardware ID (Vendor ID and Product ID) of a phone to the generic Windows Remote NDIS driver. 💻 Windows 10 Compatibility & Usage
You should not attempt to force-install tetherxp.inf on Windows 10. Doing so can cause system instability or driver conflicts because:
Native Support: Windows 10 automatically detects Android phones in USB tethering mode and loads the modern, integrated RNDIS driver by default.
Architecture Differences: The file points to legacy NDIS 5.1 driver structures meant for 32-bit Windows XP, which are incompatible with the advanced driver architecture of Windows 10. 🛠️ How to USB Tether on Windows 10 Properly
If you are trying to share your phone's internet connection with a Windows 10 computer, no external files are required. Follow these steps:
Connect your Android smartphone to your Windows 10 PC using a high-quality USB cable.
Open your phone's settings and navigate to Network & Internet (or Connections). Select the Hotspot & Tethering sub-menu. Toggle on the USB Tethering switch.
Wait a few seconds as Windows 10 will automatically install the correct network adapter. Troubleshooting on Windows 10
If your computer fails to recognize the tethered phone, the issue is usually a corrupted driver or a bad cable, not a missing .inf file:
Try a different USB cable or port to rule out physical hardware issues.
Update the driver manually through the Windows Device Manager: Right-click the Start Button and select Device Manager. Expand the Network adapters list.
Look for a device with a yellow exclamation mark or named something similar to "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device".
Right-click it, choose Update driver, and select Search automatically for drivers.
Are you trying to resolve a specific error code on your Windows 10 computer while tethering? configuration file tetherxp.inf - Microsoft Q&A
Anonymous. Apr 17, 2013, 1:17 PM. where do i find a configuration file called tetherxp.inf that i can download. Windows for home | Microsoft Learn tetherxp/tetherxp.inf at master · imrehg/tetherxp - GitHub
It sounds like you're referring to the tetherxp.inf driver file — which was originally designed for Windows XP to enable USB tethering (often for older mobile phones or PDAs) — and noting that it still gets mentioned or even used on Windows 10.
The "interesting" part is likely that:
If you’ve seen a specific review or article calling tetherxp.inf "interesting" for Windows 10, they’re likely highlighting how an ancient driver still finds occasional, unsupported use — a testament to Windows’ long‑standing backward compatibility quirks.
Would you like a step‑by‑step guide to safely try installing it (if you have legacy hardware), or want to know the modern equivalent for USB tethering on Windows 10?
Windows 10 uses a generic driver architecture that is significantly different from Windows XP.