Install unsigned printer drivers without being prompted?

[Ric_]

I need to install some printer drivers which are unsigned but I am prompted to accept their unsigned-ness upon first installation.

 

I run a VBScript at startup to install all the drivers that may be needed but this doesn't work because the prompts cannot be accepted.

 

I've tried changing the GPO regarding 'Point-and-Print' to allow unsigned drivers but this hasn't worked

 

Please help!

[sted]

ive found the best way to add printers to vista/7 is using the method that appeared in 2003 r2 and publish them to a gpo and set them per pc then just use the vb script to set the default

[Ric_]

@sted: Does that get around the unsinged driver problem? I also have a need to set the printers based on computer name rather than OU membership because of the number of thin clients that I have.

[sted]

im not 100% sure i cant rememebr the last time i used an unsigned driver its rare these days to use anything other than the hp universal for me. You could shove those pcs into a group and apply printer policy a to group a full of the pcs you would normally list in your script though if that helps

[DMcCoy]

Can you use the drivers supplied via windows update? I've got signed ones from it for all of our drivers for R2/7 (which work perfectly with Vista/2008). You could try installing the drivers with pnputil onto the install image as it will end up in the driver store and shouldn't prompt then.

[Ric_]

The option of adding the clients to an OU isn't there because the majority of them don't run Windows and the ones that do aren't domain-joined anyway.

 

To add to the challenge, I run a Linux print server and use the genric CUPS drivers for the clients because (until now) it was easier.

 

The pnputil option gave me hope, except there is no .inf file (randomly enough) for the driver. It appears to work by magic!

[SYNACK]

Assuming that you have the scripted driver stuff set to not prompt as shown here:

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-vista/22950-solution-mapping-printers-logon-scripts-vista-7-without-uac-interupting.html

 

You can apparently turn off driver signing requirements in GP like this:

Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7

 

text version below quoted from: Unsigned Driver Disable Fails

To Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7 Using Group Policy Editor:

 

a. Click on Start, then click on run, type gpedit.msc to open the local group’s policy editor.

b. Expand ‘Administrative Templates’ (it’s under ‘User Configuration’). Expand ‘System’. Click ‘Driver Installation’.

c. In the right panel, double click on ‘Code Signing for Device Drivers’.

 

d. Choose ‘Enabled’ in the window that appears. In the underlying options, choose ‘Ignore’. This disables drivers signing in Windows 7, and now you can install unsigned drivers in Windows.

 

e. Click Apply, OK. Restart your computer to install unsigned drivers.

 

If that does not work you could try installing the CUPS driver in the base image using the F8 at startup to disable signing requirement and see if that deploys out alright.

Edited April 20, 2010 by SYNACK

[Ric_]

It magically started working earlier!