🟠 High   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 29 May 2026
Affected versions: Windows Server 2016

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution — Primary Fix
  7. Solution — Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

Boot halts or loops because a required unsigned driver is blocked by code integrity policy.

Environment & Reproduction

Appears after enabling stricter secure boot or driver signature enforcement.

bcdedit /enum {current}
Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational' -MaxEvents 30

Root Cause Analysis

Boot-critical driver lacks valid signature trusted by active integrity policy.

Quick Triage

Identify driver file and publisher details tied to the block event.

sigverif
pnputil /enum-drivers

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Correlate code integrity events with installed storage and network filter drivers.

Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational' -MaxEvents 100
driverquery /v
Illustrative mockup for windows-server-2016 — terminal_or_powershell
Driver signature diagnostics — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution — Primary Fix

Update to a signed vendor driver and remove legacy unsigned package.

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pnputil /delete-driver oemXX.inf /uninstall /force
pnputil /add-driver C:Driverssigned.inf /install
Illustrative mockup for windows-server-2016 — event_or_log_viewer
Code integrity event records — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution — Alternative Approaches

Temporarily disable integrity policy only for controlled recovery window.

bcdedit /set testsigning on

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Server boots cleanly and code integrity log no longer records blocked boot drivers.

Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational' -MaxEvents 20

Rollback Plan

Re-enable prior policy baseline if new driver introduces compatibility issues.

bcdedit /set testsigning off

Prevention & Hardening

Allow only vendor-signed packages and validate signatures before deployment.

Get-AuthenticodeSignature C:Drivers*.sys

Related to secure boot policy conflicts and kernel-mode code integrity failures.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Windows Server 2016.

View all Windows Server 2016 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Microsoft guidance on driver signing and secure boot compatibility.

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