To install unsigned drivers, you need to disable driver signature enforcement on Windows 10. Here’s how.
Every driver you install on your Windows machine is signed by its manufacturer. Driver signing is a process of identifying or associating the driver’s signature with its package.
Windows uses the driver signature to verify driver integrity. If the driver package is modified in any way, the signature becomes invalid. When a driver is not signed or has an invalid signature, Windows refuses to install that driver.
Windows won’t install unsigned drives mainly to protect your system from any malware, viruses, or any unwanted issues caused by the modified drivers.
If you want to install an unsigned driver, you can do that by disabling driver signature enforcement. After disabling driver signature enforcement, Windows will no longer look for driver signature and allows the unsigned driver to be installed.
Let me show you how to disable driver signature enforcement on Windows 10.
Disable Driver Signature Enforcement on Windows
There are three ways to disable driver signature enforcement. The first method is temporary and the other two methods are permanent (need to enabled signature enforcement manually). Follow the one depending on what you need.
Jump to:
- Advanced startup options (temporary method, resets after reboot)
- Disable integrity checks
- Test signing mode
Method 1 – Use Advanced Startup Options to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement
The advanced startup options allow you to disable driver signature enforcement temporarily. i.e, once you reboot the system next time, the driver signature enforcement will be automatically enabled. In general, this method is good enough for most users.
1. Open the Settings app and go to the “Update and Security -> Recovery” page. Click on the “Restart now” button under the “Advanced Startup” section.
2. Your system will automatically restart. In the options screen, select “Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options”.
3. Click on the “See more recovery options” link.
4. Select the “Start-up settings” option.
5. Click on the “Restart” button.
7. Windows will now show you a bunch of startup options. Find the “Disable driver signature enforcement” option and press the number associated with it. In my case, that is “7”.
8. Windows will automatically restart with driver enforcement is disabled. You can now install unsigned drivers without any blocks.
After installing the unsigned driver, restart your system to enable driver signature enforcement automatically.
Method 2 – Disable Integrity Checks to Install Unsigned Drives
To permanently disable driver signature enforcement, you can disable integrity checks. This method is especially useful when you are testing multiple drivers or when you want the driver enforcement to stay disabled for multiple reboots.
1. Search for Command Prompt in the Start menu, right-click on it and select “Run as administrator”. This will open Command Prompt as administrator.
2. Execute the below command and restart your system to disable driver signature verification.
bcdedit /set nointegritychecks on
To enable driver signature enforcement, use the below command.
bcdedit /set nointegritychecks off
Method 3 – Enable Test Signing Mode to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement
You can enable test signing mode to disable driver signature and install unsigned drivers. Here’s how
1. Search for “Command Prompt” in the start menu, right-click on it and select “Run as administrator”.
2. Execute the below command and restart your system.
bcdedit /set testsigning on
3. Once you restart your system, driver signature enforcement is disabled and you can install unsigned drivers.
To enabled driver signature enforcement, turn off the test signing mode with the below command and restart your system
bcdedit /set testsigning off
That is all. It is that simple. Comment below if you have any problems or want to know something about the disabling process.
If you like this article, do check out how to delete files using command prompt and how to zoom in and out in command prompt and PowerShell.
