Problem

When installing or updating LucidLink on Windows, the installation is failing at the step of installing the LucidFS Windows driver. After that, the following error is present:

Description

A common reason for the failing installation is a Windows Group Policy that forbids the installation of removable or other devices. Such restrictions can also be applied to a Windows device by directly adding specific keys in the Windows Registry. In the picture below you can have a look at what these policies usually are:

In this example, the following policies are enabled:

• Prevent installation of removable devices
• Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy

These policies usually result in some of the following keys being added to your Windows Registry:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions – DenyUnspecified set to 1

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions –

DenyRemovableDevices set to 1

Or

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DeviceInstall\Parameters - DeviceInstallDisabled set to 1

Note that these restrictions can be applied by directly adding keys to your Windows Registry as well.

Resolution

If your device is managed, please contact your administrator and provide her/him with the information from this article. 

Otherwise, you can check whether your device contains some of the above registry keys or group policies that are applied. If yes, you should consider disabling them to install the necessary drivers for LucidLink on Windows.

Note that these restrictions might be applied for a reason so it is always a good idea to understand who and why has applied them before proceeding with the changes.