Windows 8 Resolving Windows Code 52 Error for Unsigned Drivers in Windows 8.1

Hi,
this guide shows how to turn driver signing off:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-can-i-install-hardware-with-unsigned-drivers-in-windows-8/

If that still doesn't work can you post a little more detail on what system you have and what driver your trying to install.

kemical said:

Hi,
this guide shows how to turn driver signing off:

If that still doesn't work can you post a little more detail on what system you have and what driver your trying to install.

Click to expand...

That is one of the pages I looked at while trying to solve this issue. In fact, I posted a comment on that exact page about this same problem.

Everything works as indicated on that page until "Windows will alert you if you try to install a driver that isn’t properly signed, but you’ll see an “install this driver software anyway” option you can choose." The "Windows can't verify" dialog never appears; it just installs the driver silently and everything works. Then, that page says "When you’re done installing the unsigned drivers, reboot your computer. Windows will keep using any unsigned drivers you’ve already loaded, even as it enforces signature requirements for new drivers." This is not true; Windows does not continue to use the driver, it throws an error until rebooted in "Disable driver signature enforcement" mode again.

So, to repeat my initial question, how do I make windows remember an unsigned driver? Or alternatively, how do I make it always boot into "Disable driver signature enforcement" mode?

I'm running windows 8.1 on a Toshiba Satellite. The driver is a USB serial converter for a USB device.

If you have disabled driver signing but still getting the error message something else must either be wrong with the driver or the os. Is this a driver you've used before? Can you actually list what driver it is and if possible link to a download.

kemical said:

If you have disabled driver signing but still getting the error message something else must either be wrong with the driver or the os. Is this a driver you've used before? Can you actually list what driver it is and if possible link to a download.

Click to expand...

No, no, no. That's not what I said at all. Everything works fine when driver signing is disabled.

Let me repeat that: everything works fine when driver signing is disabled.

AFTER REBOOTING windows won't allow the driver to work anymore.

Let me repeat that: Windows doesn't remember the driver; windows doesn't allow it to continue working; windows isn't correctly storing the driver in it's whitelist. There is nothing wrong with the driver.

No, no, no????

Ok so let me try and get this straight.

You boot into the advanced boot options to disable driver signing then reboot.

You then install the driver which does so 'silently' to use your term and then reboot again and it's this point you get the error message?

If this is the case, have you tried going back in and disabling driver signing again or does it already look disabled?

As far as I'm aware I've never heard of any other method of making windows remember unsigned drivers apart from the process you already tried. That's why I'm trying to determine whether you've installed this driver before or if it's even the correct driver.

> You boot into the advanced boot options to disable driver signing then reboot.

Correct.

> You then install the driver which does so 'silently' to use your term

And then test the device, which works normally.

> and then reboot again and it's this point you get the error message?

Correct.

> If this is the case, have you tried going back in and disabling driver signing again or does it already look disabled?

At this point, if I reboot back into the disabled driver signing mode, the driver is already installed and ready. Every time I boot windows normally, the driver is code 52 disabled and every time I reboot into non-driver-signing mode, it works normally.

> As far as I'm aware I've never heard of any other method of making windows remember unsigned drivers apart from the process you already tried. That's why I'm trying to determine whether you've installed this driver before or if it's even the correct driver.

It's possible that I've installed this driver before. I have a few devices that are similar and they may be using the same USB to serial chip.

I've found other websites that claim the command "bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON" will permanently disable driver signing, but on this computer it throws the error:

An error has occurred setting the element data.
The value is protected by Secure Boot policy and cannot be modified or deleted.

I think it's likely that this is part of the same problem: something in Windows is preventing the correct settings from being written to wherever they need to be stored.

kemical said:

What about trying a system file scan? If something within Windows is stopping the correct process (I guess it could even be another piece of software??) then perhaps running the system file scan will correct it...
You probably know how to run an sfc but if not open an admin command prompt and type:
sfc /scannow
Press enter and await results.

Click to expand...

The system file scan is finding problems:


C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 45% complete.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some
of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
supported in offline servicing scenarios.


The lines in CBS.log that appear to report problems are:


2015-05-07 09:46:46, Info CBS SQM: Requesting upload of all unsent reports.
2015-05-07 09:46:46, Info CBS SQM: Failed to start upload with file pattern: C:\WINDOWS\servicing\sqm\*_std.sqm, flags: 0x2 [HRESULT = 0x80004005 - E_FAIL]
2015-05-07 09:46:46, Info CBS SQM: Failed to start standard sample upload. [HRESULT = 0x80004005 - E_FAIL]
2015-05-07 09:46:46, Info CBS SQM: Queued 0 file(s) for upload with pattern: C:\WINDOWS\servicing\sqm\*_all.sqm, flags: 0x6
2015-05-07 09:46:46, Info CBS SQM: Warning: Failed to upload all unsent reports. [HRESULT = 0x80004005 - E_FAIL]

2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_1, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_2, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_3, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_18_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_1, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_2, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Appl: Package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0, Update: Trigger_3, Applicable: NotApplicable, Disposition: Staged
2015-05-07 09:49:25, Info CBS Failed to get session package state for package: Package_20_for_KB2894852~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.2.0 [HRESULT = 0x80070490 - ERROR_NOT_FOUND]

2015-05-07 09:48:26, Info CBS Perf: Stage chain complete.
2015-05-07 09:48:26, Info CBS Failed to stage execution chain. [HRESULT = 0x800f0816 - CBS_E_DPX_JOB_STATE_SAVED]
2015-05-07 09:48:26, Info CBS Failed to process single phase execution. [HRESULT = 0x800f0816 - CBS_E_DPX_JOB_STATE_SAVED]
2015-05-07 09:48:26, Info CBS WER: Failure is not worth reporting [HRESULT = 0x800f0816 - CBS_E_DPX_JOB_STATE_SAVED]

Hi,
if possible please zip the log and post.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the packages that were causing problems, sfg is still failing at 45%. I believe the zipped CBS.log was uploaded.

zsdgf344w55yrsdgfSDfc said:

sfg is still failing at 45%

Click to expand...

Do you mean by this that the system file checker is failing at 45%? If this is the case then ideally you want to be thinking about either a factory reset, re-install or similar.

It may help if you tried a chkdsk to see what state the HDD is in. The guide below has a number of methods. Please make sure that whichever method you choose that bad sectors will be searched for and repaired.
Link Removed

I ran chkdsk. It ran for somewhere between 4 and 8 hours but I can't find a log for it.

I was able to get sfg to complete by running "Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" first. After a few more reboots and runs of sfg, I'm getting

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.


The operating system still won't let the driver load.

Could you post a link to the driver in question?

Link Removed

This device claims it uses ftdibus.sys, ftbusui.dll, ftd2xx.dll, FTLang.dll, and another copy of ftd2xx.dll.

Hmm... Well the driver doesn't seem wildly exotic tell me have you tried installing said driver as administrator? Also you said that you may have possibly installed this driver before. Do you mean on the same system?