Windows 10: Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10

With the XP Mode that was the previous MS attempt to bridge the gap between XP and 7 users when MS wanted businesses in particular lingering around and clinging onto XP to move up into 7 after Vista didn't take off so well mainly due to how MS Understated things like the actual need for more ram but instead simply allowing OEMs to slide by with under equipped gear resulting he bad rep that one got fast! 7 came along with the MinWin success story while not seeing the hardware requirement go up any as well as what we now find with 10! If they had only stated ... Vista wouldn't have been seen as such a flop as it actually wasn't but still needed the MinWin kernel.

MS tends to do things half baked at times as when 8 was a flop attempt to bring in the dual platform OS which went nowhere fast! 8.1 smoothed things a little but it was still going to take 10 or newer for MS to progress far enough along to worth the look! The initial hardware detection and auto find incorrect and hang drivers problem will have to be worked by MS before the next time comes along? however.

What is now being implemented this fall by MS however is to take the Windows OS namely with 10 for businesses and turn it into a monthly paid for service rather then simply being a newer version of the OS. All support is paid for as you would for any other monthly service by subscription. For us home users on the other hand we will still need to learn how to debug things on our own like tracking down support site updates from the OEMs out there.

Fortunately months back I had already tracked down the updates I would need here as far as a few expansion cards go to save a great deal of time when avoiding debugging hassles. This is one of the main reasons I would advise looking things up first you will need for each type of hardware(s) you before 10 looks them up in order to verify and see that the correct drivers go on. The guide here will show how to stop 10 from gumming up the works in the meantime. *Smile

 

There is also a second place in the registry where to apply the "nodriverquality"... Key/value for Windows 10 64-bit versions.

 

The 64bit Windows will be found to be slightly more involved since it host both the 64bit as well as emulates the 32bit kernels simultaneously requiring more entries in the System Reg itself.

The guide here simply explains the more commonly used and easier to follow options. You'll find out soon enough we have a rather authorative expert at writing guides here as seen over the last decade from Vista to present. *Thumbs Even while having found an option or two for other things at times when stuck I seem to always find my way back.

 

This is probably the reason I had issues with 14393.67.
I disabled the driver update.
Thanks @Brink .

 

Ideally, I would like to block GPU updates only. I guess the reg file fix for Windows Home is the next best solution. Can I still search for updated drivers from within Device Manager and will the drivers be updated after this manual search when the reg file fix has been applied?

 

I'm same as you. I want Windows to be able to update drivers for new hardware should I apply it but I absolutely despise the fact it has the potential to auto update GPU drivers. I will only update those when good and ready, as we know Nvidia puts out some shocking driver releases and I always want to be in full control of the GPU driver set. MS should really return to putting driver updates in an optional section.

 

Couldn't agree more about the optional section. Their thinking these days however is on Tablet and Windows Phone as well as other hand held devices where touchscreen rules not on continuing to carry on with the more traditional approaches to things.

In fact phasing the entire Control Panel out is something being considered. The WU and a few other things have already been removed from there. The Feedback Hub would be the best place to express the concerns on these things however.

One thing I haven't be seeing in any form here would be the automatic updates for the AMD Catalyst now practically since Vista early 7 days when a bug or two had been run into prior to ATI being bought out by AMD. Expansion cards seeing correct drivers but no apps where those had to gone for manually in order to substitute 8.1 updates for those. For clean installs of 10 unchecking the check box for updates if having problems would be the advice since the optional section of the WU is no longer!

 

If you don't have "Anniversary edition" but older v1511 Build 10586 this policy will disable all driver updates:
Computer configuration=>Administrative Templates=>System=>Device installation=>Device Installation Restrictions=>Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy settings

which says:

So, if you don't configure anything else under this branch, except enabling this policy, all driver
updates are disabled.

(This policy is also present in v1607)

Cheers *Thumbs

 

Just be warned that this policy will prevent any device from being installed on the computer.

Prevent Installation of All Devices By Default

 

Yep, but you can disable it temporarily while doing a driver/s update.
(Which you rarely need when you have a functioning setup)
Or use the ""Allow installation of devices that match any of these device IDs" or the "Allow installation of devices for these device classes" policy setting." in conjunction with this policy.

I've heard from members in the MDL community that the "Do not include drivers with Windows Updates"
policy wont work for some, and drivers still get d/l?

The policy I posted also gives v1511 users a way to stop the auto install of drivers from MS,
as that policy isn't present.

 

Another option to tend with problematic driver updates as mentioned earlier would be a quick trip to the manufacturer(s)'s support site(s) to look things up. If the WU downloads and installs the wrong driver the next stop is the Device Manager to manually remove the incorrect with a fast right click on the item(s) there and then followup by running the correct update(s)'s installer(s).

It's not as complicated as some may think. The guide here shows how to temporarily disable the Group policy or registry entry that more or less controls the WU actions as far as automatically looking things up and getting it wrong at times. The "gpedit.msc" as well as reg mod combined will simply insure nothing wanted goes on over the long term when both options are deployed.

The most common type of mix up as far as the 10 installer going for the wrong driver set would be for those older hardwares that won't be seeing any active 10 support while might be seeing a 3rd party type web update tool look up the correct drivers for use on 10. The discontinued sound card model here on the oldest build ran into that.

 

There are a couple Windows 10 Home machines on my network (leftover from the previous "administration" that I haven't replaced yet). I'm having the NVidia driver issue. I've added the registry key and made sure it's set to "1". The machine I'm testing on is running build 14393.82 and it still updates the drivers. I have the correct driver (well the one that works...whether MS sees it as the correct driver or not) so I just install it when this happens and all is well. But the incorrect driver gets installed again once a day or so. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Chris

 

Have you tried the rollback? In AU, it should be permanent, well until the newer driver gets released.
The other option is to hide the driver. Use Windows Updates - Hide or Show in Windows 10 or WUMT.

 

Hello Chris, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

Just to verify, is this driver being updated via Windows Update or NVIDIA's GeForce Experience automatic updates?

 

I've tried hiding it also to no avail.
Thanks