Install a 32-bit driver on 64-bit Windows

Yesterday a found out that my super cheap Chinese PCMCIA-SERIAL adapter didn't come with a driver for x64 based systems. The adapter uses a CH352 chip and the manufacturer of the chip (www.wch.cn) doesn't even have any drivers on the website, let alone provide 64-bit versions.

Surprisingly, Microsoft had the answer this time.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/64INF_reqs.mspx#E1G

You can install a driver not marked as 64-bit compatible if you create the following DWORD key in the registry and set the value to 1 (or anything but zero)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\DisableDecoratedModelsRequirement

I didn't even have to restart the computer and it worked like a charm.

Of course, you do this and any other modification of the registry at your own risk. It is only recommended for testing purposes.