Driver Signing for Windows
Windows device drivers and operating system files have been digitally signed by Microsoft to ensure their quality. A Microsoft digital signature is your assurance that a particular file has met a certain level of testing, and that the file has not been altered or overwritten by another program's installation process.
Depending on how your administrator has configured your computer, Windows either ignores device drivers that are not digitally signed, displays a warning when it detects device drivers that are not digitally signed (the default behavior), or prevents you from installing device drivers without digital signatures.
Windows includes the following features to ensure that your device drivers and system files remain in their original, digitally-signed state:
Windows File Protection
System File Checker
File Signature Verification
Set file signature verification options
Designed for Microsoft Windows XP logo