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Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device

Fri, 03/11/2011 - 08:01 — sylvain
Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device

I use an external USB disk as a repository store for subversion. When I tried to plug it in this morning, I noticed it not showing in Explorer. I thought nothing of it and stuck it in another port. Still nothing. That was kind of worrying. Going to Device Manager, there was an exclamation mark next to the device, which was even more worrying because why wouldn't Windows be able to load drivers for a friggin' hard disk...

The device status field in device properties said:

Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source. (Code 52)

My first thought was it had something to do with custom bluetooth drivers I tried yesterday. So I went ahead and got rid of those. Still no go. Next I was, just for the fun of it, looking at the driver details of the device and noticed there was an Acronis driver loaded. This driver happened to be unsigned. Then it struck me: I installed Acronis Disk Director Server to give it a go and remember Windows complaining during installation. Now I know why...

Bottom line is: do not run Acronis Disk Director Server on Windows 2008 R2. Before you know it, you'll be in a world of pain :)