"A driver cannot load on this device" after a Windows update: which block hit you

Windows names the driver in the Code Integrity log but not in the dialog, so this is the one step that turns a vague breakage into a specific file name you can act on.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2, Windows Server 2025

1. Right-click Start and open Event Viewer.
2. Expand Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > CodeIntegrity > Operational.
3. Choose Filter Current Log, enter 3076,3077 in the event ID box, and press OK.
4. Open the newest entry and read the driver file name in the message. That file name is what you give the vendor, or search for on the manufacturer's download page.
5. If you prefer the command line, run Windows PowerShell as administrator and list the same events. Reading this log requires administrator rights.

   Get-WinEvent -LogName Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational |
     Where-Object { $_.Id -eq 3076 -or $_.Id -eq 3077 } |
     Select-Object -First 20 TimeCreated, Id, Message |
     Format-List

6. Note the timestamps. A block that began at a reboot days after a Windows update is the normal pattern here, not a coincidence.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, Super User

3076 and 3077 mean different things, and the difference decides whether anything is actually being blocked and which of the three mechanisms you are fighting.

Applies to: Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2, Windows 10, Windows Server 2025

1. Event 3077 means the driver was blocked in enforcement. Something is genuinely not loading, and your cause is the vulnerable driver blocklist, Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection, or an App Control policy set by your organisation.
2. Event 3076 means the driver was only audited: it would have been blocked, but it was allowed to load. If your only events are 3076, the cross-signed trust policy has not blocked anything on this machine and is not what broke your device — keep looking.
3. Check whether Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection is on, at Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details. If it is Off, it is not your cause. It is off by default, so an On here means it was deliberately enabled. If the toggle is not listed at all, one of its prerequisites is unmet — Microsoft requires Intel CET or AMD Shadow Stacks hardware, a recent Windows Security app, and VBS plus HVCI enabled — and the feature cannot be what blocked your driver.
4. If that toggle is On and the blocked file belongs to a game's anti-cheat, you have the stack-protection case — BattlEye reports exactly this failure as "Driver Load Error (1275)".
5. Otherwise check whether memory integrity is on in the same screen. The vulnerable driver blocklist is enforced whenever memory integrity, Smart App Control or S mode is active, and it is on by default even when they are not.
6. Do not change any of these toggles yet. Identify the mechanism first — the remedies are different and two of them cost you real protection.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft, BattlEye

This is the only remedy that fixes the problem without giving up a protection, and it is what Microsoft recommends for all three mechanisms.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2, Windows Server 2025

1. Check Windows Update, including optional driver updates under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Optional updates.
2. Go to the hardware or software vendor's own download page and look for a build released after April 2026, or one that explicitly mentions WHCP certification, memory integrity or Windows 11 compatibility.
3. Where a vendor has shipped a replacement, take it rather than re-enabling the old driver. Macrium Reflect X was unaffected by the April 2026 block that broke the legacy Reflect versions, for example.
4. If the vendor has nothing yet, contact them with the exact driver file name from the Code Integrity log and the event ID. That file name is what lets them identify the build.
5. Reboot after installing. A driver that is already loaded is not stopped until the machine restarts, so the reverse is also true — the new one may not take effect until you do.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, Microsoft, BleepingComputer

This is the vendor-documented workaround for kernel anti-cheat, and it is narrower than it looks: the feature is off by default, so turning it off returns you to the Windows default rather than below it.

Applies to: Windows 11 on Intel CET or AMD Zen 3 and newer hardware with VBS and HVCI enabled

1. Confirm first that this is your cause, using the previous fix. If the toggle is already Off, this will not help you.
2. Open Windows Security and go to Device security > Core isolation details.
3. Switch Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection to Off.
4. Restart the PC, then launch the affected game or application again.
5. Leave memory integrity itself On. It is a different setting on the same screen and it is not what blocked your driver here, so turning it off as well would give up a separate kernel protection for nothing.
6. Re-check after the anti-cheat or driver vendor ships an update, and turn the feature back on when it does. BattlEye describes the incompatibility as not resolved yet rather than permanent.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, BattlEye, Microsoft

Included because people reach for it and should understand what it costs; it is not Microsoft's recommendation and it re-exposes the machine to the exact vulnerability the block was added for.

Applies to: Windows 10, Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2

1. Exhaust the vendor-update route first. Microsoft's guidance for the April 2026 backup breakage was explicitly to install the latest application versions, not to remove the protection.
2. Understand what you are turning off: a list of drivers with known privilege-escalation vulnerabilities. The block that broke the backup tools existed to address CVE-2023-43896.
3. Open Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details and switch Microsoft vulnerable driver blocklist to Off, then restart.
4. Note that this does nothing if memory integrity, Smart App Control or S mode is active, because the blocklist is enforced under those regardless of this toggle.
5. Treat it as temporary. Re-enable it as soon as the vendor ships a driver that loads, and check back rather than leaving it off indefinitely.

Reported to work by 2 users; not confirmed by the vendor.

Source: Microsoft, BleepingComputer