In Windows 10, in one of the most modern operating systems, by default, the security system works in such a way that it blocks the installation of dubious programs, including drivers that are not digitally signed. On the one hand, this seems to be good, since such a signature is a guarantee of the security of the installation file and the installed software. On the other hand, this is a real problem for owners of outdated, but workable equipment, whose drivers have been released for a long time and do not have such a signature. Unfortunately, the system does not understand this and begins, as they say, to put the sticks in the wheels (although the drivers themselves are official).
This is where it is required to enable the installation of unsigned drivers in Windows 10. For this, you can use at least three simple methods, which are proposed for consideration. Each of them is good in its own way and should not cause any difficulties in the application of any user.
Install unsigned drivers on Windows 10: use system boot settings
So, the first and easiest way is to go to the start menu of specific boot options. You can activate it through the system reboot process with the simultaneous pressing of the Shift key or use the parameters and the update and security section for this, where the restore item is selected, and the immediate restart button is clicked on the right of the window.
In both cases, you will have to make transitions through the menu of action selection, diagnostics and additional settings until the user gets to the coveted menu of boot options. But you have to tolerate.
Finally, the installation of unsigned drivers in Windows 10 can be enabled by activating the seventh item by pressing the F7 key (the line directly indicates disabling signature checks). After that, it remains only to boot in normal mode and install any driver that does not have a signature.
How to allow the installation of unsigned Windows 10 drivers through group policies?
No less effective means can be called the use of permission changes in the Group Policy Editor. You can call it through the usual "Run" console using the gpedit.msc command.
Here, through the sections of administrative templates and the system, you need to go to the driver installation menu, and use the digital signature parameter of the device driver on the right. In Windows 10, the installation of unsigned drivers (NVIDIA, for example) can be activated by entering the editing of the specified parameter, in the settings window of which the shutdown line is marked as a priority (meaning deactivating the requirement of constant checking). After that, as in all other cases of applying such settings, it is necessary to restart the system, after which any driver (if, of course, it is compatible with the system) can be installed without any problems.
Using Disable Signature Verification Using the Command Line
Finally, the installation of unsigned drivers in Windows 10 can be activated through the command line (cmd), which must be run with administrator privileges.
In the console itself, you need to register the two lines shown in the image above. After that, the system reboots. If you need to return to normal mode with activated verification, for the second command, instead of the value “ON”, “OFF” is set with a mandatory restart at the end of execution.
Instead of a total
As you can see, installing unsigned drivers in Windows 10, or rather, deactivating the verification of digital signatures, is not so difficult. In principle, all the methods presented are absolutely equivalent to each other. You could, of course, recommend some more actions in the system registry, but this is completely optional, since they are all duplicated in group policies. In addition, the registry has a higher priority for the set parameters.
If you change the key values in it, it will not work in the policies to return the settings. Yes, and the process of finding the right entries looks a bit more complicated compared to the procedures performed in group policies. Therefore, precisely for these reasons, this method was not considered. Well, which option to use is up to the user to decide. Although none of them is particularly difficult.