Hardware Developer Program

Question

Hello,

I have a question regarding the publication of signed drivers in the Hardware Developer Program.

If a driver is signed using an EV (Extended Validation) code-signing certificate issued to our organization, but the registration in the Hardware Developer Program is done under a different organization (the customer’s organization), what will be displayed in the driver’s metadata regarding the publisher?

Specifically, will the driver be published under the organization registered in the Hardware Developer Program, or will the publisher information reflect the organization that holds the EV certificate, even if it differs from the registered organization?

Answer 1

Hello Myslitskaya Tatsiana**,**

Good day! Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft community.

As per your description, it seems like that your question is about how publisher metadata is displayed for a signed driver when the EV Code Signing Certificate belongs to one organization, but the driver is published under another organization’s Hardware Developer Program account.

For your information: The publisher's name shown in driver metadata depends on the EV Code Signing Certificate used to sign the driver rather than the organization registered in the Hardware Developer Program.

• If the driver is signed with an EV Code Signing Certificate from Organization A, Windows will recognize Organization A as the publisher in driver properties.
• The Hardware Developer Program (HDP) account used for submission does not override the publisher's name.

When a driver is signed using an EV (Extended Validation) code-signing certificate, the publisher information displayed in the driver's metadata will reflect the organization that holds the EV certificate, even if it differs from the organization registered in the Hardware Developer Program. This means that the driver will be published under the organization that holds the EV certificate.

For your reference:

• Partner Center for Windows Hardware - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn.
• Register for the Microsoft Windows Hardware Developer Program - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Thanks for choosing the MS community.

Looking forward to your response and have a great day ahead!!

Sincerely

S M Nazmun Nur | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

HelloMyslitskaya Tatsiana,

Thanks for your response.

Since I have limited knowledge regarding windows driver section because my support scope is under office 365 for business.

However, as of my knowledge,

As per the MS article:

• You must have an extended validation (EV) code signing certificate. Check whether your organization already has a code signing certificate. If your company already has a certificate, have the certificate available. If your organization doesn't have a certificate, you must purchase an EV certificate. You only need the certificate to register for the Hardware Developer Program. You don't need to sign your driver with it.

The purpose is to approved EV certificate from a certificate authority, after that you can use it to establish a Partner Center account. So, the priority is given to the company A who is registered in the developer program.

On the other hand, if there is a mismatch (Company A's account but Company B's EV certificate), Microsoft might flag the submission for additional verification or reject it.

To ensure smooth submission, Company B should either:

1. Register its own Hardware Developer Program account, or
2. Provide Company A with the driver so it can be signed using Company A’s EV certificate.

Meanwhile, to double confirm I would suggest reaching out to the dedicated support for more accurate and updated information (since the policy changes in time).

• If you need support during the registration process, you can open a support ticket.
• Or you can also reach out here, if you still can't find a solution to your issue, then contact Windows HLK support.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

If you think that I have provided the necessary information related to this post and it's Helpful, you can also vote for this thread.

In order to make this thread a top content and help any other community users who might be facing a similar scenario to easily find this thread/post.

Appreciate your patience with us.

Looking forward to your response and have a great day ahead!!

Sincerely

S M Nazmun Nur | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

Thank you for the clarification.

I would like to confirm one key point further:
Is publishing a driver through the Hardware Developer Program permitted when the program account is registered under Company A, but the driver is signed with an EV Code Signing Certificate issued to Company B?

In that case, under which company name will the driver be officially published and visible to users — Company A (the one registered in the Hardware Developer Program) or Company B (the one that owns the EV certificate)?

Thank you in advance for your clarification.