Searching for a driver each time a smart card is connected

This behavior occurs when Windows detects a smart card with no driver — typically when the manufacturer did not package the CSP or minidriver using an .inf file.

Windows searching for smart card driver
Windows searching for a driver on insertion
No driver found
Driver not found — shown after each insertion

Two solutions are available:

Alternative A — Disable Smart Card Plug and Play
Via Group Policy
  1. Press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, press Enter
  2. Navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Smart Card
  3. Double-click Turn on Smart Card Plug and Play service
  4. Select Disabled, click OK
Via Registry

Create a .reg file with the following content and apply it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ScPnP]
"EnableScPnP"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\ScPnP]
"EnableScPnP"=dword:00000000
Alternative B — Create a fake driver
Step 1 — Find the historical bytes

Open Device Manager, locate the smart card showing the error. Go to Properties → Details → Hardware IDs — look for an entry beginning with SCFILTER\.

Historical bytes in hardware ID
Hardware ID in Device Manager
Historical bytes in certutil -scinfo
Same bytes visible in certutil -scinfo (here: Astrid in ASCII)
Step 2 — Create the .inf file

Create a file with the .inf extension. Replace SCFILTER\CID_51FF0800 with your actual SCFILTER hardware ID:

;
; FabrikamVendor Smartcard Minidriver — x86 and x64
;
[Version]
Signature="$Windows NT$"
Class=SmartCard
ClassGuid={990A2BD7-E738-46c7-B26F-1CF8FB9F1391}
Provider=%ProviderName%
DriverVer=04/03/2013,1.0.0.0

[Manufacturer]
%ProviderName%=Minidriver,NTamd64,NTamd64.6.1,NTx86,NTx86.6.1

[Minidriver.NTamd64]
%CardDeviceName%=Minidriver64_Install,SCFILTER\CID_51FF0800
[Minidriver.NTx86]
%CardDeviceName%=Minidriver32_Install,SCFILTER\CID_51FF0800
[Minidriver.NTamd64.6.1]
%CardDeviceName%=Minidriver64_61_Install,SCFILTER\CID_51FF0800
[Minidriver.NTx86.6.1]
%CardDeviceName%=Minidriver32_61_Install,SCFILTER\CID_51FF0800

[Minidriver64_61_Install.NT]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass

[Minidriver32_61_Install.NT]
AddReg=AddRegDefault
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass

[Minidriver64_61_Install.NT.Services]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.Services

[Minidriver32_61_Install.NT.Services]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.Services

[Minidriver64_61_Install.NT.HW]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.HW

[Minidriver64_61_Install.NT.CoInstallers]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.CoInstallers

[Minidriver64_61_Install.NT.Interfaces]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.Interfaces

[Minidriver32_61_Install.NT.HW]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.HW

[Minidriver32_61_Install.NT.CoInstallers]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.CoInstallers

[Minidriver32_61_Install.NT.Interfaces]
Include=umpass.inf
Needs=UmPass.Interfaces

[Strings]
ProviderName    = "FabrikamVendor"
CardDeviceName  = "FabrikamVendor Minidriver for Smart Card"
Step 3 — Install

In Device Manager, right-click the smart card → Update driver → Browse my computer → select the folder containing the .inf file. If no compatible driver is found, the SCFILTER string is wrong.

Debugging: if installation fails, use chkInf (from the Windows SDK) to validate the .inf file syntax.

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