Signed Driver Install Overwrites Newer Versions of Shared Driver Files (815364)

SYMPTOMS

In rare cases, installing a Digitally Signed driver package causes previously installed devices to stop working correctly.

The devices that are supported by the new driver package will work as expected, but other similar devices may have problems or may appear to lose functionality.

CAUSE

If a driver package is digitally signed, Setup installs the whole package and does not selectively omit files in the package based on other versions already present on the computer. The file version number and date are ignored. This is because although the fileshave the same names, they might come from different vendors. There is no way to guarantee that a file of the same name is actually a newer version of the same file, based on file date or version.

In the worst case scenario, if you keep an existing file, you could cause the device for which you are installing a signed driver to stop working. Another result might be that the device cannot start.

If installing the signed driver package does not update the component, there is no other workaround.

You can be certain that the signed driver package that you are currently installing is complete and that it works with the components in the package. By installing the whole package, you are sure that the signed driver will work, with a small risk that a previously installed device might be affected.

WORKAROUND

The hardware vendor can help prevent this issue by minimizing the potential for conflict. Microsoft recommends the following:

Design driver packages to install only those components that are necessary for the device to operate correctly.
Use an installation application to install value added software and tools, instead of installing them as part of the driver package.
To work around the file name issue, slightly change the file names of necessary shared components for each new version. For example, add "v2" to the file name.

The end-user can work around this issue by re-installing the signed driver for the devices that stopped working correctly. If the overwritten files are actually different versions of components from the same vendor, you can expect that after you re-install the signed driver package with the latest version of shared components, all the affected devices will work correctly.