When you try to install an unsigned driver in Windows 7, you are given a warning that the driver is unsigned and so cannot be installed. This is frustrating as some of the devices you buy online come with unsigned drivers and Windows 7 will not let them install on your computer. The only way you can install an unsigned driver in Windows 7 is to disable integrity check at boot time. Here is how you can install an unsigned driver in Windows 7:
Method 1 :
- Open an elevated command prompt in Windows 7 as shown in this article : how to open an elevated command prompt.
- In the elevated command prompt, type the following in it and press Enter :
bcdedit /set nointegritychecks ON
- Reboot your computer and proceed to installing any unsigned drivers. After the installation of the drivers is complete, you should turn on integrity check as it was before. Again open an elevated command prompt, type the following in it and press Enter :
bcdedit /set nointegritychecks OFF
- Reboot your computer again.
Method 2 :
- Open an elevated command prompt in Windows 7 as previously mentioned in this article.
- In the elevated command prompt, type the following in it and press Enter :
bcdedit -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON - Reboot your computer and proceed to installing any unsigned drivers. After the installation of the drivers is complete, you can revert the changes again. Again open an elevated command prompt, type the following in it and press Enter :
bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
bcdedit.exe -set TESTSIGNING OFF - Reboot your computer again.
Method 3 :
- Press the keyboard shortcut Windows Logo Key + R to open the Run dialog.
- Type gpedit.msc in the Run dialog and press Enter.
- In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Driver Installation.
- Double-click on Code signing for device drivers in the right-side pane as shown above.
- In the windows that opens, choose Enabled. In the Options, choose Ignore as shown. Then click on the OK button to save the settings.
- Restart your computer for changes to take effect.
It is not safe practice to install any unsigned drivers on your computer. You should check the product’s web site if you can find any updated drivers which are digitally signed. But if you cannot find any other drivers, only then choose to install the unsigned drivers.
None of the methods worked for me for an older Win7 Ultimate 64-bit. I get ‘access denied’ for the first two but even more frustrating, the third one seems to work, but it still blocks the un-signed driver. Preparing to throw the computer.
This worked for me! I could not install an unsigned driver because of, apparently, the security policies on my Windows 7 PC. And the error messages I was getting were not useful, just things like driver not found or failed to install. I applied the nointegritychecks modification and after that the driver installed as expected. Thank you.