How to bypass “3rd party INF …” in Windows 8 / 8.1 & 10?

Users come across the message “Third Party INF …” when they try to install third party drivers on their computer.

What is an INF file?

First, we need to understand what an INF file is. An INF file is a small text document paired directly with the driver itself. This text file contains instructions for installing the driver into the operating system, as well as a digital signature.

In previous versions of Windows (7 and below), there were no signatures in the INF files, so the user could freely install any drivers, even if it was dangerous for the system. Currently, Windows systems perform mandatory verification of driver digital signatures. If everything is fine with the signature, the driver is installed, if not, it is not installed. All in all, a pretty solid precaution.

How to force driver installation and work around the error?

Much to the happiness of many users, Microsoft has implemented several options for bypassing the driver digital signature verification feature in its OS. In this article, we’ll show you how you can bypass the check and safely install the correct driver on your system.

Attention:

First of all, I would like to warn you that not all third-party drivers can be trusted. Some drivers may actually turn out to be malicious software, the function of which, for example, is to intercept the user’s personal data. Make sure you are trying to install a driver from a trusted manufacturer.

Solution # 1 Downloading the driver from the manufacturer’s website

First, let’s try to force the installation of the driver you need by downloading it from the manufacturer’s website and installing it manually. For example, let it be driver for sound card from Realtek… Once you have the correct driver on your computer, follow these steps to install it on your Windows system:

1. press the combination Windows + R;
2. write the value “devmgmt.msc” and press Enter;
3. open the section “Audio inputs and outputs”;
4. right click on your sound card and select “Update driver”;
5. select the option “Search for drivers on this computer”;
6. specify in the appropriate column the directory to the loaded driver and click the “Next” button;
7. follow the instructions on the screen to install the driver;
8. restart your computer.

Third-party INF … should not appear during driver installation.

Solution # 2 Disable signature verification via the Command Line

Alternatively, you can completely disable the driver digital signature verification feature on your system. Doing this, of course, is not recommended, but if you are confident in the driver, then it can be done. Let’s try to disable the command line check:

1. press Windows + R;
2. write “cmd” and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter;
3. copy the command “bcdedit / set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS & bcdedit / set testsigning on” and press Enter;
4. close Command Prompt and restart your computer.

After logging in, try to install the required driver.

Solution # 3 Disable signature verification via Download Options

Among other things, you can turn off mandatory signature verification through your Windows Boot Options. As a rule, the average user does not have to deal with these parameters, but they can be used to solve a variety of problems. To access them, you need to do the following:

1. press the combination Windows + I;
2. open the section “Update and Security”;
3. go to the “Recovery” tab;
4. click on the “Restart Now” button in the “Special Boot Options” section;
5. on the action selection screen, click on the “Diagnostics” item, then – “Additional parameters”;
6. on the boot parameters screen, click on the “Restart” button;
7. upon logging in, you should see a list of several options – press the F7 button to disable mandatory driver signature verification.

Once on the desktop, try again to install the driver you need. You shouldn’t be bothered by the “third party INF…” message.

Solution # 4 Recovering system files

Perhaps the problem is not at all in verifying the driver signature. Chances are that some of the Windows system files have been corrupted by some process that interrupts driver signature verification or fails. It doesn’t hurt to run SFC and DISM:

1. press Windows + R;
2. enter the value “cmd” and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter;
3. enter the following commands one by one, rebooting each time they are executed:
   • sfc / scannow;
   • DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth.

After repairing potential damage to the system, we try to install the required driver again. If you manage to do this and the “third party INF …” message does not appear, then the problem was indeed corrupted system files.