When installing some drivers, you may face the fact that an error is displayed in the device manager, and in the device state there is a message that it is not possible to verify the digital signature of the drivers required for this device with the indication “Code 52” and the explanation “When the hardware was last changed or software may have been installed incorrectly signed or damaged file, or malware of unknown origin. ”
This manual details possible methods to solve the problem and fix error code 52 when installing the driver in Windows 10, Windows 11 or previous versions of the system.
- Search for a digitally signed driver
- How to sign a driver or disable digital signature verification
Installing the driver with the correct digital signature
Error code 52 “Unable to verify the digital signature of the drivers” means that the digital signature of the driver being installed is either missing or damaged. And the optimal, although not always possible, way to solve the problem is to find a driver for the same device, with a digital signature everything is in order.
- If you downloaded the driver from a third-party source, try downloading the driver from the official website of the hardware manufacturer. For system devices – from the website of the motherboard manufacturer (in the case of a PC) or the website of the laptop manufacturer. Important:it often happens that the official website contains drivers, but not for the system that is installed (for example, Windows 10 is installed, but on the website – only for Windows 7). This is not a reason not to try installing such a driver: as a rule, it will work fine on a newer system.
- If the driver installer from the official website reports system incompatibility, try unpacking such an installer: sometimes the 7-ZIP archiver can handle the unpacking of EXE installer files, sometimes you need to use solutions like Universal Extractor. If successful, you will find the driver files in the unpacked folder and you can install them manually, as described in the How to install the INF driver file manually .
- If you cannot find drivers from official sources, but the driver is on third-party sites, try several driver options of different versions from such sites. However, keep in mind that installing drivers from third-party sites is potentially dangerous, this is exactly what the text “or a malicious program of unknown origin” reminds you of in the driver status with code 52. Use reputable resources to download.
In the event that none of the 3 suggested driver download methods suits your situation, you can try using third-party driver search and installation programs, for example – Snappy Driver Installer (I cite it as an example as the most “clean” and non-commercial).
Unfortunately, for some specific devices, the driver with the correct digital signature may simply not be available anywhere. In this case, we can use the following methods to solve the problem.
Disable digital signature verification or self-sign driver files
To fix the “Code 52” error when installing the driver, you can try to disable the digital signature verification of the drivers, and if your skills allow it, it is better (in terms of the result and stability of further work) to try to sign the existing driver files yourself.
