Unable to load a .sys driver file from a WinFsp drive
Author: bilkankorunmazCreated Aug 5, 2026Updated Sep 9, 2026
Hello,
I've been trying to load a custom .sys driver file directly from a WinFsp-mounted drive using sc start, but Windows keeps refusing to load it.
I tested this with the official passthrough-x64 sample project to rule out any issues in my own code, but the behavior is the same. The same driver file loads completely fine when it's placed on C: drive or inside a mounted VHDX file, but fails as soon as it's on a WinFsp drive.
Is loading kernel driver files from a WinFsp volume supported, or is there a specific setting/flag needed for this to work?
Thanks!
Source: winfsp/winfsp