Installing Test Builds of Inbox Drivers on Windows Vista
Updated: July 18, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista provides a mechanism to rank Microsoft-signed and third party-signed drivers equally, so driver developers can install private builds of inbox drivers for testing purposes. Ordinarily, a Microsoft-signed driver outranks a driver that is signed by a third party, which makes it difficult for driver developers to install private builds of an inbox driver.
This paper describes how driver developers can configure Windows Vista to install updated versions of Microsoft-signed drivers by configuring group policy to treat drivers that are signed by Microsoft the same as those that are signed by third parties. The information in this paper applies only to driver installation packages that contain an INF file and a CAT file.
Important. The group policy setting that is described in this paper should be used only by driver developers who are testing private builds of inbox drivers or by enterprise network administrators who sign driver packages internally for installation within the enterprise. It should not be used in set up applications in production environments for drivers to be delivered by Windows Update.
Included in this white paper:
| • | How Setup Ranks Driver Signatures on Windows Vista |
| • | Creating a Private Build that Outranks an Inbox Driver |
| • | Configuring Windows Vista to Rank Driver Signatures Equally |
| • | Installing the Updated Version of the Driver Package |
