title: Why does inf2cat fail with Windows DDK 8.1?
body: <p>I'm trying to sign a driver using the Windows DDK 8.1 and VS 2013, but I am continually getting the same error. However, when I attempt to do the same with DDK 8.0 it works just fine.</p>
  
  <p>To make sure it wasn't something that I had done I downloaded a <a href="http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowshardware/Windows-8-Driver-Samples-5e1aa62e" rel="nofollow">sample driver from MSDN</a> and attempted to build that. The downloaded sample results in the same error.</p>
  
  <p>Here's sample output from using the 8.0 kit version:</p>
  
  <pre><code>C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits&gt;8.0\bin\x86\Inf2Cat.exe /os:8_x64 "/driver:C:\code\NDIS\C++\x64\Win8Release\package"
  
  ..................................................
  Signability test complete.
  
  Errors:
  None
  
  Warnings:
  None
  
  Catalog generation complete.
  C:\code\NDIS\C++\x64\Win8Release\package\netvmini60.cat
  C:\code\NDIS\C++\x64\Win8Release\package\netvmini620.cat
  C:\code\NDIS\C++\x64\Win8Release\package\netvmini630.cat
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Here's the exact same command using the 8.1 kit (wrapping added for readability):</p>
  
  <pre><code>C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits&gt;8.1\bin\x86\Inf2Cat.exe /os:8_x64 "/driver:C:\code\NDIS\C++\x64\Win8Release\package"
  
  ......................
  The integrity check for the Windows file protection data file
  'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\bin\x86\WindowsProtectedFiles.xml'
  has failed. This is most likely due to a modification of the file's contents.
  To fix the problem, obtain a valid copy of the file from Microsoft, restore
  the file to its original state, or reinstall the application.
  Signability test failed.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>When I use Visual Studio I get the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>TRACKER : error TRK0002: Failed to execute command: ""C:\Program Files
  (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\bin\x86\inf2cat.exe" /os:7_x64 /driver:C:\code\NDIS\C++
  x64\Win7Release\package\". The handle is invalid.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have checked the contents of the <code>WindowsProtectedFiles.xml</code> file that was mentioned in the error and it would appear that the file hasn't changed between 8.0 and 8.1. I have searched for another version but haven't been able to find anything. Reinstalling the DDk doesn't fix anything either.</p>
  
  <p>Can anyone offer some insights as to why this is happening and how I might fix it?</p>
  
  <p>Thank you.</p>