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Tech Tips / Windows 2000 Professional / Hardware and Drivers

Controlling driver and service installation behavior

Windows 2000 introduced a new feature called Driver Signing, which enables drivers and services to be digitally signed to indicate that they've been tested for compatibility by Microsoft. While Driver Signing doesn't guarantee a problem-free driver or service, it's a good first step.

Windows 2000 checks during installation to determine if a driver or service is signed, and if not, takes an action based on the way you've configured the appropriate security policy. You have three choices: Allow the installation to silently succeed, have Windows 2000 warn the user that the driver is unsigned but allow the installation to proceed, or not allow the driver to be installed. As with most other policies, the domain policy, if there is one, overrides the local policy.

You'll find the two policy settings in the Local Policies/Security Options branch of the Local Security Policy console as Unsigned Driver Installation Behavior and Unsigned Non-Driver Installation Behavior. Just double-click the policy, select the desired value, and click OK.