Unable to install a device due to "driver tampering" on Windows 10?

Question

I have used the same usb-midi adapter to sync my digital mixer, digital multitrack recorder, and midi music devices with my in my recording studio pc, for a number of years. Since moving to Windows 10, I have had to edit the driver file to make it compatible with Windows 10. Normally I keep my pc offline, to prevent any Windows updates. But following a catastrophic failure last week, I have had to do a system rebuild, and the latest version of Windows 10 will no longer allow the edited driver file to be installed, saying it may have been the victim of "tampering". Which it has, of course.

Now I can no longer use the expensive piece of equipment I bought to perform a specific task. Which it has done admirably up until now.

Can someone explain to me what Microsoft has put into Windows 10 to stop edited driver files being installed, and if there is anything I can do to circumvent this? I really can't afford to buy another otherwise top class piece of equipment, due to Microsoft's heavy hand.

Answer 1

@Michael McGreevy

You can attempt to remove some driver checks to see if it'll let you run the driver. See:

How to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement Windows 11,10

However, certain kernel mode drivers will still refuse to load for security reasons even with these settings non-enforced. Editing the INI files invalidates the integrity checks, which results in the driver failing to load.

If the latest build of Windows 10 won't run your driver, you could possibly try to find an older build of Windows under which it will run, then just stay offline and use that.

Please upvote or accept this thread as answered if it's helpful, thanks!