USB-blaster won't install, certificate outdated

Dear community and Intel employees,

I just bought a new laptop and had to reïnstall Windows and Quartus. But the USB-blaster drivers just wouldn't install. After a whole day of trying to figure out the problem I noticed that the certificates for the USB-blaster drivers had expired last month (Januari-2021).

If USB-blaster just won't install and you are installing the drivers for the first time on a Windows system after 1-2021 you probably have this problem.

The solution:

1) Follow these "instructions" to start Windows in a way that it doesn't require drivers to have valid signatures.

2) Restart the driver installation program located at: "C:\intelFPGA_lite\<version>\quartus\drivers\DPInst.exe"

3) When asked, allow Windows to install drivers that have an invalid signature.

4) Use device-manager to reïnstall the driver for your USB-blaster device. You can let Windows look for the correct driver by itself of select the folder "C:\intelFPGA_lite\<version>\quartus\drivers\"

If it still doesn't work try rebooting with your device disconnected.

I posted this message to prevent other people from wasting their time and in the hope that Intel will renew the certificates.

Cheers,

Jan