ValidateDriver failed issue - Windows 11 24H2 v3 Printer Driver

Question

ValidateDriver failed issue - Windows 11 24H2 v3 Printer Driver

Brett Small 0

I am trying to install a printer / print driver from our print server, but my end-user PC keeps rejecting the signature / certificate via a 0x00000bcb Cannot Connect to Printer errror message. If I manually download the EXE installer from the manufacturer website, and attempt to install drivers that way instead, the driver still ends up failing to install.

Needing to figure out some way (besides re-imaging the PC) to install the driver. Event viewer logs show an error code of 0x800b0004.

Can I force Windows to trust this printer driver that came from the manufacturer's website?

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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3 answers

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Answer 1

Domic Vo 29,480 Independent Advisor

Hi Brett Small,

Has your issue been resolved yet? If it has, please consider accepting the answer as it helps others sharing the same problem benefit too. Thank you :)

Domic V.

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Answer 2

Hi Brett,

The error codes you’re seeing (0x00000bcb and 0x800b0004) indicate that Windows is rejecting the driver package because the signature chain cannot be validated against a trusted root certificate. This is common when the print driver is signed with an older SHA‑1 certificate or when the manufacturer’s certificate authority isn’t present in the local Trusted Root Certification Authorities store. You cannot bypass signature enforcement, but you can import the manufacturer’s certificate into the local machine store. Extract the .cat file from the driver package, open it, and check the signing certificate. Export that certificate and install it under Certificates (Local Computer) > Trusted Root Certification Authorities > Certificates via certlm.msc. Once the certificate is trusted, retry the driver installation.

If the driver is unsigned or uses a deprecated signature algorithm, Windows 10/11 will block it regardless. In that case, you’ll need to obtain a properly signed driver package from the vendor that complies with current Windows driver signing requirements. Re‑imaging is not necessary, but without a valid signature chain, the OS will not allow the driver to load. I recommend confirming with the manufacturer whether they have a WHQL‑signed driver package; that is the only supported long‑term fix.

If the above response helps answer your question, please hit "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

Domic V.

Answer 3

The error codes and behavior match a driver-signature validation failure. Recent Windows updates enforce stricter validation of third‑party driver catalog signatures. When the catalog is malformed or uses unsupported encoding, Windows will reject the driver with signature errors, and this cannot be bypassed by “forcing trust” on the client.

For these cases, Windows requires that the driver package itself be corrected by the vendor. Specifically:

Windows now requires the validity of DER‑encoded PKCS#7 content in catalog files.
Catalog files must be signed per section 11.6 of DER‑encoding for SET OF members in X.690.
The driver catalog file extension must be one of the supported extensions.

If any of these conditions are not met, Windows will treat the catalog as invalid and will not install the driver, regardless of where it is installed from (print server or manufacturer EXE). There is no supported client‑side method to override or bypass this signature validation.

The only supported resolution is to obtain a corrected, properly signed driver package from the printer manufacturer or OEM and deploy that version instead. Contact the vendor and reference that Windows is rejecting the driver due to catalog/signature validation and that the catalog must comply with the DER‑encoded PKCS#7 and X.690 requirements.

References: