What's actually happening here
Windows has a hard limit on INF section name length — 255 characters. Some driver packages, especially old ones or poorly written ones, have a section name that goes over that. The error 0x800f0002 means the INF parser hit a name that was too long and refused to load it. You'll see this when installing a printer driver, a network adapter, or any custom driver from a manufacturer.
Quick fix (30 seconds): Rename the INF section
This works if the INF file is accessible and you know which section is too long.
- Right-click the failed driver in Device Manager (it'll have a yellow triangle). Select 'Update driver' → 'Browse my computer' → 'Let me pick from a list'. If no driver appears, note the hardware ID.
- Open the INF file in Notepad. It's usually in a temp folder like
C:\Windows\Temp\{random}\or the driver's extracted folder. - Search for 'section' — look for
[SectionName]blocks. The long one will be obvious. Count characters if unsure. Anything over 255 characters is the problem. - Shorten the name. Drop unnecessary words — 'MyCompanyNetworkAdapterDriver' becomes 'MyNetAdpt'. Keep it under 200 chars to be safe.
- Save the INF file. Right-click it and select 'Install'.
Why this works: The INF parser checks name length before processing. Truncating or renaming the section lets it load. That's the entire fix in most cases.
Moderate fix (5 minutes): Use a tool to edit the section name
If you can't find the INF or the rename doesn't help, the section might be referenced by other sections. You need to change all references too.
- Download a free tool like 'INF Editor' from GitHub (search 'INF Editor tool'). Or just use Notepad++ with the 'Find in Files' feature.
- Open the INF folder. In Notepad++, press Ctrl+Shift+F, set 'Directory' to the driver folder, 'Find what' to the old long section name, 'Replace with' to a short name (e.g., 'ShortSect').
- Click 'Replace in Files'. This changes all
[SectionName]and%SectionName%references. - Save all files. Right-click the main INF and select 'Install'.
The gotcha: Some INFs have binary parts or .PNF files (precompiled INF). Those won't update with a text replace. If install still fails, you need the advanced fix.
Advanced fix (15+ minutes): Rebuild the driver package
This is for when the INF is complex, has .PNF files, or the driver is signed and renaming breaks the signature. You'll need Windows Driver Kit (WDK) installed — that's free from Microsoft.
- Install WDK for Windows 10 or 11 (search 'WDK download'). Takes 5 minutes.
- Open 'Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022' as Admin.
- Navigate to the driver folder:
cd C:\path\to\driver - Run this command to rebuild the INF:
Inf2Cat /driver:. /os:10_x64 - If Inf2Cat fails, edit the INF manually to shorten all section names under 255 chars. Then run Inf2Cat again — it creates a new catalog file (.cat) and fixes the .PNF.
- Now run:
pnputil /add-driver *.inf /install
Why step 4 works: Inf2Cat validates the INF against driver signing rules. It will flag section names over 255 chars as errors before it builds the catalog. You fix those errors, and it generates a clean package. The .PNF file gets rebuilt with the new names.
If you still get the error after this, the driver itself might be corrupt or incompatible. Try a different driver version from the manufacturer's site — sometimes the problem is fixed in a newer release.