How to Disable Enforced Driver signing in Vista x64

squall_leonhart · February 11th, 2007, 10:50 AM

Windows Vista x64 originally allowed you to disable enforced driver signing in the bootloader, but this was removed in RC2, and not present in RTM

this meant you have to go into the boot menu ( f8 ) every time you wanted to run an unsigned driver.

a new way has been found to disable driver signing permanently

open up a command prompt (usually start > run > cmd - hit enter)

in the command prompt enter the following

Code:

bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

thanks goes out to Nalin at the XBCD forums for finding this.

Mac Daddy · February 11th, 2007, 01:00 PM

Thanks for the tip Squall should be helpful for those running this

MrSlartybartfas · March 19th, 2007, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squall_leonhart

Windows Vista x64 originally allowed you to disable enforced driver signing in the bootloader, but this was removed in RC2, and not present in RTM

this meant you have to go into the boot menu ( f8 ) every time you wanted to run an unsigned driver.

a new way has been found to disable driver signing permanently

open up a command prompt (usually start > run > cmd - hit enter)

in the command prompt enter the following

Code:

bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

thanks goes out to Nalin at the XBCD forums for finding this.

This does not work. Neither does pressing f8 at boot. Both options were taken out at RC2. Driver signing is required for Vista x64. If you don't believe me try it and you can find out for yourself.

squall_leonhart · March 21st, 2007, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlartybartfas

This does not work. Neither does pressing f8 at boot. Both options were taken out at RC2. Driver signing is required for Vista x64. If you don't believe me try it and you can find out for yourself.

im sorry, but stop spreading fud.

is has already been confirmed to work by a member of the XBCD forums, where he has installed the drivers on Vista X64 by using this key.

Arklon · August 21st, 2007, 01:11 AM

This doesn't seem to work anymore after a recent update.

Update: The update that disables this is Vista Kernel Update KB932596, released August 14th. Do not install it! If you do, though, no worries, you can uninstall it and hide it from Windows Update. After uninstalling, you'll need to do the "bcdedit.exe -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS" thing in command prompt again. You do not need to reboot after doing that, but you may need to enter the command multiple times for it to stick.
Unfortunately, since service packs include all updates up to the point of their release, Vista SP1 will include this update. Hopefully, someone will find another workaround before then.
Update 2: Vista Kernel Update KB938979 (labeled as a recommended rather than an important update), released August 28th, also disables this. Do not install it!

Arklon · January 21st, 2008, 11:37 PM

Here's a more recent list of updates that enforce driver signing. There may have been more since this list was compiled (December 12 2007).

KB932596
KB938979
KB938194
KB941649
KB943078

Will M$ just ever fucking give it up?! I hope someone finds a way around this by the time SP1 comes out.