Installation of Intel i225-V and i226-V driver in Windows server 2022

Intel's 2,5 Gigabit network chips i225 and i226 are available in three variants each (-V, -LM, -IT). Intel only supports for Windows server 2022 the variants -LM and -IT (not -V). In this article, we will show you a workaround on how you can still use the i225-V and i226-V network chips under Windows server 2022.

Download

First, download the NDIS driver for I225/I226 of Intel. It is available as complete Intel Ethernet driver package (here with NDIS driver version 1.1.4.43):

i225/i226 driver version 1.1.4.43: Intel® ethernet adapter complete driver pack 29.1.2 (www.intel.com, download size 794,6 MB)

The NDIS driver package contains the following files:

e2f.cat
e2f.inf (this file must be adapted)
e2fmsg.dll
e2f.sys
readme.txt

You can find more information on the i225/i226 chips in the article Intel network cards - I225/I226.

Adjustment e2f.inf

Add in the area **[Intel.NTamd64.10.0...17763]** (approx. from line 94) the four listed lines. Hint: The name of the area in square brackets differs only in the missing number "1" from the previous area **[Intel.NTamd64.10.0.1..17763]**.

In the area [Intel.NTamd64.10.0...17763], add in the file e2f.inf the four following lines. Three lines (DEV_15F3) of this are for revision 1, 2 and 3 of i225-V chips, one line (DEV_125C) for the i226-V chip:

%E15F3NC.DeviceDesc%      = E15F3.10.0.1..17763,        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_15F3&REV_01
%E15F3_2NC.DeviceDesc%    = E15F3_2.10.0.1..17763,      PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_15F3&REV_02
%E15F3_3NC.DeviceDesc%    = E15F3_3.10.0.1..17763,      PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_15F3&REV_03
%E125CNC.DeviceDesc%      = E125C.10.0.1..17763,        PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_125C

Deactivation of driver signature

Please deactivate the driver signature so that the adjusted driver can be installed:

bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON
bcdedit -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

After this, perform a reboot.

Installation of driver

Install now the adjusted driver as depicted in the screenshots:

Reactivate driver signature

Activate now the required driver signature for the installation of drivers:

bcdedit /deletevalue loadoptions
bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING OFF
bcdedit -set loadoptions ENABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

After this, perform a reboot.

More information

Installing Intel I211, I217V, I218V and I219V drivers on Windows Server 2016 with EUFI boot (blog.workinghardinit.work, 19.06.2017)

Author: Werner Fischer

Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger

Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.