How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

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I have a very old Knoica Minolta laser printer at home. And when I tried to install it on my newly installed Windows 8 machine, I was told that the driver can’t be installed because the INF file is not digitally signed. It doesn’t even give me the choice to go ahead anyway. So how can I bypass this restriction to have my un-signed driver installed?

The Driver is not digitally signed thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

Here is what I figured and did to get around it.

First, press win + I to launch the charm bar, and click Change PC Settings at the bottom.

Then, go to General, and scroll to the bottom of the page, click Restart Now button under Advanced Startup section. Remember to save all your work first before clicking it.

Note that on Windows 8.1, the Advanced Startup option has moved to Update and recovery section under Recovery.

PC Settings General Advanced Startup thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

The computer reboots to a startup menu, in which click Troubleshoot.

Advanced Startup Option thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

And click Advanced Options at next screen.

Advanced Startup Troubleshoot thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

Choose Startup Settings next,

Advanced Startup Troubleshoot Advanced option thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

And click Restart button.

Advanced Startup Settings thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

The computer reboots and prompts another menu to choose. One of the items is to Disable driver signature enforcement. Press number 7 or F7 to continue booting to Windows 8 with digital sign enforcement disabled.

Startup Settings thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

And then I was able to get the Windows Security warning window offering me to install this driver anyway.

Windows 8 Driver Security Prompt thumb - How To Install An Un-Signed 3rd Party Driver in Windows 8

It was successful! Restart computer once again to re-enable the digital sign enforcement.

I would suggest changing the UAC settings first to see if the Install Anyway window prompts out. The solution showing off in this post should be the last resort to try out. And make sure the driver you are about to install is safe, though not digitally signed.

12 COMMENTS

  1. I’m quite surprised the driver continued to work after re-enabling signature enforcement. It wouldn’t if it was a boot driver (e.g. video), that’s for sure.

  2. I still have problems getting the legacy driver running permantly on every windows start. Even with “test mode enabled” windows won’t accept the driver. I always have to go through the start up procedure as described here. Is there any other option to get the driver working on every new startup?

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