Windows Update KB932596 and VMWare Server on Vista x64

August 20, 2007

I was surprised to see that after a major Windows update process (the August 14th one) my VMWare Server stopped working. It began to give this error in the System Event Log:

The VMware Authorization Service service depends on the VMware vmx86 service which failed to start because of the following error:
Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file. A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

I tried the usual trick (disabling driver integrity check) but it didn't help.

The culprit is the Windows Security Update KB932596 ("Kernel Patch Protection Feature"). It reestablishes driver integrity check every time you reboot.

I uninstalled this update and rerun the trick. It is now working.


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Written by Edin Kapić Insatiably curious code-writing tinkerer. Geek father. Aviation enthusiast. Cuisine journeyman. Follow me on Twitter