A doozie: W7 will not verify digital signature of drivers and W7 updates nogo

[docteuro]

This newly re-installed W7 laptop will not update, and even says the Intel drivers are not digitally signed. Please read below for the background story.

I don't know how much background info on this issue I should provide because I don't want to overwhelm anyone, but I guess it's better to have too much than not enough.
Acer Laptop with W7 Home Prem 64 bit belonging to a customer. He had issues with it and brought it back to the store several times after which they finally replaced the motherboard. A couple years later he started getting popups and that's when I entered the picture. Instead of using the original OS license that came with the PC the store must have used an unattended install that was later declared by MSFT to be not genuine. The customer did not then get all his updates and several rootkits were found and removed. Clearly the MacAfee av he was using did not detect and remove them so I wanted to remove it and replace it with MSE. When this did not work I proposed reformatting and re-installing so he could use the genuine license he paid for. The store he bought it from had lost his restore disks during the mobo so they burnt him a new copy which is what he gave me. I thought this would be a walk in the park...

I made sure to reformat and wipe the partitions to ensure any rootkit presence would be destroyed. I then started with his 4 restore disks that worked until they were installing the Acer drivers and software. It got stuck at installing AHCI driver (2/29 items), and stayed there overnight. The next day I removed the DVDs and rebooted and it seemed to load normally... However whenever I tried running or installing a software it would BSOD Stop 3B luafv.sys. I thought to myself: OK the OS is not loaded correctly so I will just use an OEM version of his W7 Home Prem 64 bit. After again deleting partitions, and 3/4 through the OS install I get an error: Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware (?!).  I found what I thought was the solution to this error on tomshardware.com website but no... FYI it was saying to go to a command prompt at that error and then run Msoobe located at %windir%\system32\oobe. Guess what I started getting the BSODs with the finger being pointed at luafv.sys again.

I was able to download the drivers from Acer website and even tried a few of the BIOS updates. Several of the drivers indicated issues on install with Windows saying they were not digitally signed. I turned off the digital signature enforcement temporarily at bootup to install the drivers and everything looks fine in Device Mgr until reboot where those drivers that had signature issues have a Yield sign with exclamation point saying that Windows cannot verify the digital signature... MSE will not install. AVG Free will install but will not update.

I did a file integrity scan and it found corrupted files that could not be repaired. I am attaching the CBS.log.

I've never seen this in my 10 years as a tech and am lost... and a bit discouraged. Any help appeciated.

In any event I am stuck there. I can't give this laptop back in this shape

PS: the captchas on this site are a b!tch. I have pretty good eyesight but cannot make some of those letters out.

[Rolemodel]

Good day,

Here is some information I was able to gather on your issue

STOP 0x0000003B: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
Usual causes:  System service, Device driver, graphics driver, memory

luafv.sys - Microsoft Windows LUA file virtualization filter driver file - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/alexcarp/archive/2009/06/25/the-deal-with-luafv-sys.aspx

Error messages during the initial installation of windows is never a good thing, and seldom a fluke so I would start by figuring out why the installation fails in the first place. This can cause serious issues later when installing drivers & software.

As you mentioned it happens with both installation discs I would start by testing the hardware, as failing DVD & Hard Drives as well as memory can cause installation failures. To eliminate hardware I would suggest:
- Run MemTest [To test the RAM] - http://www.memtest.org/
- Run SeaTools [For the Hard drive regardless of the make] - http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/ or http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/
- Create bootable Windows 7 Flash drive with the OEM version to eliminate a faulty DVD drive [I make use of NoviCorp WinToFlash] - http://wintoflash.com/download/en/
- Ensure your IDE or SATA Mode setting in the BIOS is set for AHCI as you are installing Windows 7.

After installing windows clean do not install any of the drivers. First try play around with the OS to see if it BSOD's again. If it does not then install each driver from Acer's website individually starting with the chipset and reboot each time to see if any problems occur.

[docteuro]

Rolemodel, thanks for the advice. I will do these things and report back. I previously did a chkdsk and memtest for one full pass. I'm not holding my breath however as the client used this OS for a couple of years without any hardware symptoms. It was working smoothly while I was removing the rootkits and other viruses, and I was able to install several programs without any issues. I'm running Spinrite now and will follow with Seatools. As I have an external DVD drive I will try an install from there. And as memtest is not perfect I will likely swap mem sticks to see.

[Shane]

I stopped installing Windows 7 on my customers machines from the dvd and started using usb  because of this same problem.

For me what the problem was, was the dvd drive itself. It wasnt reading the disks correctly. So there was times where I would get to the Windows setup and it would give me the same error. Other times Windows would be missing icons or even programs. All because the dvd drive wasnt reading the files correctly and so they where corrupt.

When I made a bootable USB of Windows 7 setup instead, not only does the usb transfer files faster but I can also do scans on the usb if it ever has trouble.

Haven't had the problem since. Also there is a trick that I do every time I reinstall 7 on a store bought computer.

When windows comes pre loaded it is not installed with the cd key on the sticker. Instead it is installed with a OEM key. And there is a cert file installed as well. And in the bios is a SLIC table from the OEM. When Windows looks at all 3 and they match the system is activated. This is why people never need to active new store bought machines.

So when I reinstall those I just skip the cd key part of the setup and I use a tool to install the correct OEM key and cert file. Done, activated and proper.

I never, ever use restore disks. They pre load everything to the way it was when it was bought, which means outdated and loaded with crap. Always do a fresh install

If you like I can give you the link to the tool to make the bootable usb windows 7 setup. And I modified mine to show ever version of Windows to choose from during setup so I only need the one USB drive instead of one for each version of Windows 7

If all other hardware tested fine, then I think you should try USB and see how it goes.

Shane

[docteuro]

Hi Shane, yes thanks for replying and send me the link. In 10 years however I can count on the fingers on one hand the times I've had issues with DVD-CD drives.... over 100s of re-installs. This would mean that in addition to the built in DVD drive on the laptop, my external DVD drive would also not be reading both my OEM and the 4 restore disks provided by the customer.

To date, I have passed Spinrite twice and Seatools and the disk seems perfect. I have switched power supplies.
I have run memtest overnight without any errors. I have removed one ram chip and reinstalled and still get the same issues. I plan on purchasing another 4GB DDR3 chip just in case both original chips are bad (extremely unlikely). Once I reinstall with the new chip and get an error I will try a reinstall using a flash drive and that will be my last attempt at repair.

[Shane]

I have been doing computers since I was 15, I turn 35 this year And the number of times it has happened to be is actually very large lol

But with reasons.

1. I burn a copy of the Windows iso to a cd or dvd depending on which version of Windows. Some drives have trouble reading certain burnable disks. Which is why they have firmware updates for them which allows them to read it better.
2. Bad drives of course.
3. Small scratches or scuffs on the disk that you cant see (Some drives read them fine while others cant) or just some random odd thing with the drive and disk combo.

In fact one time, and only once, I had a cd actually explode in a drive lol. When a cd drive spins up and it is super loud that noise is normally from vibration of the disk spinning. I had a old cd drive that was the loudest I have ever heard. I put in a burned disk that I think had a small amount of warp to it. When that old drive started to spin up the disk, the combo of the crappy vibration the drive causes on its own, plus the small warped cd caused it to vibrate so bad that the cd popped of the track at full spin. Hit so hard in the drive that the disk shattered into hundreds of pieces and had a large sharp chunk sticking out of the cd drive door! And I mean stabbed itself through the door!

Never seen something like that happen before or since, but man was it something to see lol.

Point is that I haven't had a single problem installing Windows off of usb as I did the dvd/cd drives. There was plenty of times where I installed Windows off the cd and something was wrong, using the same drive and disk I would install it again and it would be fine. This is even with my external usb dvd drive. I truly think it has more to do with the cheapness the burnable disks have come down to more than the drives themselves.

I dont know if that is the problem here for you, but so far every other piece of hardware has tested fine, no harm in trying the install with a usb instead

Shane

[docteuro]

Great, can you provide the link to the tool to make the bootable usb windows 7 setup?

[Shane]

Here you go
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

Shane

[docteuro]

Shane & Rolemodel, Thanks for your suggestions. I did as you suggested and burned the image on a usb flash drive. Unfortunately the same error appeared: "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware."  From there I can run Msoobe and enter a profile name and reboot to Windows but the same hell starts over with the lovely BSODs starring luafv.sys. Even though the HD tests perfectly I went ahead and tried another known good working HD and the same error appeared. There must be a defect on this mobo preventing it from properly installing. This is a first for me.

Anyone have any further suggestions?

[Shane]

Any chance of a picture of the error itself for I can see it?

Motherboard always a possibility, it is one of the harder things to test without the right test tools.

Also what version of Windows are you installing 32 or 64 bit? And when you install Windows does it need any drivers loaded to see the hard drive?

Name:    LUA File Virtualization Filter Driver
Filename:    luafv.sys
Command:    %System%\drivers\luafv.sys

Description:
   
LUA File Virtualization Filter Windows driver.
File Location:    %System%\drivers\luafv.sys
Startup Type:    This startup entry is a Windows Driver. A driver is a program, that when started, allows Windows to communicate with specific hardware or virtual devices that are installed on your computer. Therefore, if you disable a Windows Driver, the piece of hardware that it was designed to work with may no longer work or have limited functionality.
Service Name:    luafv
Service Display Name:    LUA File Virtualization Filter Driver

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/alexcarp/archive/2009/06/25/the-deal-with-luafv-sys.aspx

Also if possible can you go into safemode? And if so can you turn off the UAC?

Shane

[docteuro]

Hi Shane, after spending more than 15 hours on this I decided it was time to cut my losses and the customer agreed. He will be replacing his laptop because it cannot be made secure even though I explained to him that using Sandboxie could (maybe) do it. The error was plain: "Windows Setup could not configure Windows to run on this computer's hardware." It was W7 Home Prem 64 bit = both giving the same errors regardless of using the Acer Restore Disks or OEM version on DVD & flash. As far as disk drivers are concerned, the restore disks did install all the drivers but it made no difference, the OEM has the hd driver as well. Regardless of which install, it continued to not recognize the digital signature of approx 3 drivers: video, audio and Turbo Boost from Intel, would not allow any Windows updates or any AVG antivirus updates. MSE would not even install. Yes in one of the installs, I did shut down UAC but it made no difference. Thanks for your time and effort.

[Shane]

Given the fact you covered all the bases it really does look like it is the motherboard. If something on the board was going bad such as a part of the chipset then a driver would fail for it, also the chipset and motherboard is used for the vitalization of Windows, some motherboards let you turn on or off it in the bios.

Given all the facts you have given me it does truly sound like a bad motherboard.

Shane