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STATUS_DRIVER_BLOCKED_CRITICAL
Windows deliberately prevented a critical driver from loading
STATUS_DRIVER_BLOCKED_CRITICAL means the operating system rejected a driver that is important enough for the failure to affect startup, device availability, or a protected subsystem. This is not the same as a missing driver file. Windows found the driver request but blocked it because of policy, trust, compatibility, or a known safety problem.
What to inspect
- Check Code Integrity, Kernel-PnP, and Service Control Manager events around the failure time.
- Verify the driver signature, catalog, timestamp, architecture, and compatibility with the installed Windows build.
- Look for a recent security update, blocklist update, or memory-integrity policy change.
- Replace the driver with a vendor-supported build rather than disabling platform protections.
Operational guidance
For a boot-start or storage driver, prepare recovery media before changing the package. For optional hardware, uninstall the blocked package and install the current vendor release. In enterprise deployments, compare the affected machine with policy baselines and confirm whether application control or vulnerable-driver blocking is expected.
References
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