Vista 64 bit beta driver issues

[polonyc2]

I'm using Vista Business 64 bit and I noticed I cannot install beta Nvidia video card drivers...after doing some Googling apparently 64 bit versions of vista do not allow you to use beta drivers that don't have digitally signed signatures...there is apparently a work around in which you can hit the F8 key on bootup and choose the option to 'Disable Driver Signature Enforcement'

but this only works for the current boot session...I tried this method and it still did not work every time...do I need to go into F8 every time I boot my system up with the beta drivers or only the first time I install the beta drivers?

makes it a real pain to install beta drivers in Vista

[ATINUT]

It is because of incidents like this, and other issues with Nvidia's drivers on Vista, why I dumped Nvidia, bought my 975XBX2 motherboard, and bought the Radeon 3870X2 that I have now. Wish I knew of something to help you out.

[zman88]

It's usually MS that drops the ball! Now it seems NVidia has this time.

[S.SubZero]

Which drivers are you trying to install? I don't think I've ever had Vista x64 reject nVidia drivers outright. In fact I *have* to break them just to install them on my laptop, and they've never failed to install. They yell at me, but they install and work without any special action.

[tamarelle]

I had the same issue trying to install drivers for my tv tuner card. Vista 64 bit would not install the drivers because they did not have a digital signature.

The "F8" solution only works for a single boot cycle. I did find a solution however. I downloaded vista boot 3.3

PC World - PC World Downloads - VistaBootPro

You can disable Vista's digital signature crap easily using that. My tv tuner card works well now.

[TQ]

Now that's an interesting utility.

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by S.SubZero

Which drivers are you trying to install? I don't think I've ever had Vista x64 reject nVidia drivers outright. In fact I *have* to break them just to install them on my laptop, and they've never failed to install. They yell at me, but they install and work without any special action.

I've attempted to install all the beta Nvidia drivers from the official website and none of them seem to install...it's strange because Ive heard from other forums the same thing that you stated, that it should work fine because even Nvidia beta drivers are digitally signed (an important distinction)

Originally Posted by tamarelle

The "F8" solution only works for a single boot cycle. I did find a solution however. I downloaded vista boot 3.3

PC World - PC World Downloads - VistaBootPro

You can disable Vista's digital signature crap easily using that. My tv tuner card works well now.

very nice link... ...that should be exactly what I'm looking for...unfortuneately it still doesn't work for me

I must be doing something wrong then, but I can't figure out what it could be...I un-install my old "official" drivers from Add/Remove Programs, use DriverCleaner in Safe Mode reboot and install the new beta drivers...it asks me if I want to install the non WHQL drivers, I click 'Yes' and then re-boot....but after it re-boots I don't see the Nvidia Control Panel anymore (so I can't adjust any settings) and the drivers itself are not in my Add/Remove Programs list

also in MSCONFIG I have disabled "Nvidia Driver Helper Service" and "Nvidia Media Center Library"

[tamarelle]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I've attempted to install all the beta Nvidia drivers from the official website and none of them seem to install...it's strange because Ive heard from other forums the same thing that you stated, that it should work fine because even Nvidia beta drivers are digitally signed (an important distinction)



very nice link... ...that should be exactly what I'm looking for...unfortuneately it still doesn't work for me

I must be doing something wrong then, but I can't figure out what it could be...I un-install my old "official" drivers from Add/Remove Programs, use DriverCleaner in Safe Mode reboot and install the new beta drivers...it asks me if I want to install the non WHQL drivers, I click 'Yes' and then re-boot....but after it re-boots I don't see the Nvidia Control Panel anymore (so I can't adjust any settings) and the drivers itself are not in my Add/Remove Programs list

also in MSCONFIG I have disabled "Nvidia Driver Helper Service" and "Nvidia Media Center Library"

Have you patched Vista?

I have read that several patches, including the renowned Vista performance patch, purposely break the disable digital signature setting. Am looking for the list of patches that need to be uninstalled to return this functionality.

edit: FOUND IT (nice that I am home sick I have time to nerdify Here is the link to the patches you need to uninstall:

Unable to Disable Integrity Checks Cause Drivers Not Found in 64-bit Vista (x64) » My Digital Life

[S.SubZero]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

I've attempted to install all the beta Nvidia drivers from the official website and none of them seem to install...it's strange because Ive heard from other forums the same thing that you stated, that it should work fine because even Nvidia beta drivers are digitally signed (an important distinction)

One of the important things here, is that you have not told us exactly what the drivers are doing, ie. what error they are giving.

I *have* installed unsigned drivers, namely VMWare's virtual drivers, in Vista x64. They gave me warnings and told me it wasn't a good idea, but they still let me install the drivers. They would NOT load unless I did F8 at boot. Every boot. This is why I don't like VMWare.

I'm wondering here if something else isn't happening, and you are somehow assuming that since the drivers won't install, it's somehow related to the driver signing thing.

Give us some logs/error files/screenshots mang.

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by tamarelle

Have you patched Vista?

I have read that several patches, including the renowned Vista performance patch, purposely break the disable digital signature setting. Am looking for the list of patches that need to be uninstalled to return this functionality.

edit: FOUND IT (nice that I am home sick I have time to nerdify Here is the link to the patches you need to uninstall:

Unable to Disable Integrity Checks Cause Drivers Not Found in 64-bit Vista (x64) » My Digital Life

thanks for the link!!...good stuff...I'll try it out later...and yes I have all the latest patches + SP1 installed

by the way I also heard that with Vista SP1 the F8 digital signature disable function has been disabled...it's still listed in the boot list but it no longer works

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by S.SubZero

One of the important things here, is that you have not told us exactly what the drivers are doing, ie. what error they are giving.

I stated exactly what they are doing/not doing

"I don't see the Nvidia Control Panel anymore (so I can't adjust any settings) and the drivers itself are not in my Add/Remove Programs list"

the drivers are not working at all

here is a screenshot of the error message I clicked through when first installing the beta drivers...

[zman88]

I'm not having this problem but , I'll bet those updates were added to SP1!


EDIT: Actually it does say that it is a possibilty in the article.

[polonyc2]

for whatever reason I'm now able to install the Nvidia beta drivers with no problem...I did another re-format last night and now everything seems to work fine

I did plenty of Vista re-formats in the past and still encountered the same problem so I don't know why this time things worked...might have to do with the fact that I didn't disable any 'Services' this time...I might have to go through my list of Disabled Services one by one and troubleshoot the issue but for now I'm happy that things work

[XJ.]

nVidia has gotten too used to pumping out beta after beta - now it's biting them in the ****. I hope they learn their lesson.

[tamarelle]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

for whatever reason I'm now able to install the Nvidia beta drivers with no problem...I did another re-format last night and now everything seems to work fine

I did plenty of Vista re-formats in the past and still encountered the same problem so I don't know why this time things worked...might have to do with the fact that I didn't disable any 'Services' this time...I might have to go through my list of Disabled Services one by one and troubleshoot the issue but for now I'm happy that things work

have you installed the service packs, etc? I am wondering if I could get by with installing some hotfixes for Vista as I could use some improvement in Vista 64.